I am hoping that our new album of songs inspired by our balcony concerts will be ready before the end of December. In the meantime, for those of you new to my blog I just wanted to take this opportunity to share the background of our last album “Down The Rabbit Hole” which you can listen to here:
All of the songs are classical English Art Songs and the spoken sections are prose and a monologue from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. It’s quite bonkers and a bit ‘off the wall’ but I didn’t want to lose it, so we recorded it live last year. ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll is the epitome of nonsense literature and fills our heads with imagination.
The album is my reimagining of adventurous Alice exploring ‘down the rabbit hole’. Using the vast depth of English song repertoire full of wonderfully illustrative poetry and Lewis Carroll’s prose to rework the tale of one glorious golden afternoon’s adventure, where everything is imagined as the only weapon in the war against reality –with a philosophy of life to finish my program when a girl goes through that awkward stage of transition, imagined by her sister at the end of the book, and how she hoped Alice would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood. If you want to know more about what happened in Wonderland you will need to read the wonderful book. I tried to tailor the songs to express my ideas and emotions about the start and end of Alice’s Adventure and in the words of the King of Heart’s ‘Begin at the beginning…and go on till you come to the end: then stop’.
1. Sweet Chance That Led My Steps Abroad
‘Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do: when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her’. I selected Michael Head’s ‘Sweet Chance That Led My Steps Abroad’, using the poetry ‘A Great Time’ by W.H. Davies to create the scene.
2. A Piper
‘Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge’. I imagined the White Rabbit was rather like the Pied Piper leading Alice astray so follows ‘A Piper’ also by Michael Head from O’Sullivan poetry. It’s one of my favourite English songs.
3. Do Not Go My Love
“Why, how impolite of him. I asked him a civil question, and he pretended not to hear me. That’s not at all nice. I say, Mr. White Rabbit, where are you going? Hmmm. He won’t answer me and I do so want to know what he is late for, I wonder if I might follow him. Why not? There’s no rule that I mayn’t go where I please. I– I will follow him. Wait for me, Mr White Rabbit. I’m coming, too.”
‘Do Not Go My Love’ without asking my leave by Hageman with text by Tagore. This is an English song I’ve sung for a couple of years and was included to represent the dreamlike fall into the unknown.
4. Monologue
‘I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time? I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth… I wonder if I will fall right through the earth! How funny that would be. Oh, I think I see the bottom. Yes, I’m sure I see the bottom. I shall hit the bottom, hit it very hard and oh how it will hurt!’
5. Let the Florid Music Praise
“At this moment, Five, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out “The Queen! The Queen!”, and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen…… “And who are these?” said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners who were lying round the rose-tree; … How should I know? Said Alice, surprised at her own courage. It’s no business of mine.” The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off___”
Only one song could fit this moment of chaos at the end of the day ‘Let the Florid Music Praise’ by Benjamin Britten with the words of WH Auden. I chose this dark humourous song because it’s so full of energy and excitement I think it fits that moment of panic, with a bold opening flutes and trumpets, imperial standards flying, hot sun raising temperatures. The unloved Queen of Hearts with too much power.
The three final songs were chosen from works by Roger Quilter (1877-1953).
6. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
“Wake up, Alice Dear! said her sister…why, what a long and lovely sleep you’ve had’. ‘Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal’ now the white. The beautiful sonnet poetry of this song is by Lord Tennyson. Tennyson discloses in this poem the stillness of the twilight, beautiful rest and stillness of sleep. That time in sleep opens your heart and mind to new adventures with an emphasis on what you can see.
7. Dream Valley
“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice. And she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange adventures’. Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been. Memory, hither come, begins Dream Valley’ with words by Blake . Lewis Carroll’s adventures included: happy and sad tales with lots of morals.
8. Love’s Philosophy
Lastly, her sister sat still just as she left her… till she too began dreaming after a fashion:
‘As Alice remembered her dream, her sister, …. pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman… ‘. ‘Loves Philosophy’ with poetry by Shelley that describes how different parts of nature interact and depend upon one another and is a classic story of unrequited love using natural imagery.
This final picture was created by Pascal Barnier who used our photographs to imaginatively create the artwork that now hangs on my Mum’s office wall and is used on my ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ album cover. You can see more of his work on his website by following the link.