David Del Tredici Final Alice Acrostic Song About
David Del Tredici Final Alice “Acrostic Song”
About Del Tredici l Prominent neo-romantic composer l l “recognized as the father of the neo-romantic movement” Has composed in many genres, including: l Orchestral works, chamber works, piano works, melodrama/theater
What others say about Del Tredici l Copland: l l [Del Tredici] is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift. I venture to say that his music is certain to make a lasting impression on the American musical scene. I know of no other composer of his generation who composes music of greater freshness and daring, or with more personality. New York Times (of a performance of ‘Child Alice’) l “To ask Mr. Del Tredici to moderate his excesses would be to request a falsification of his basic purpose. Excess is the point. The musical substance matches: it is Mahlerian excess squared. ”
Some neat people.
The “Alice Works” l l l l l 1968: Pop-Pourri 1969: An Alice Symphony 1969: Illustrated Alice 1969: In Wonderland 1972: Vintage Alice 1975: Final Alice 1980: Child Alice 1984: Virtuoso Alice 1994: Heavy Metal Alice
Why Alice in Wonderland? l “Del Tredici has already shown his fondness for surprising juxtapositions of seemingly unrelated material in Pop-Pourri; with Gardner's book, he had a wealth of highly contrasting material, all of which related directly to the Wonderland world. ” -from daviddeltredici. com (maintained by Boosey & Hawkes)
Performances of Acrostic Song (from “Final Alice”) l Harry Christophers and the Sixteen (vocal recording) l No version that matches the score is readily available (there is an instrumental version on Del Tredici’s website scored for wind ensemble.
Interesting Features l l l Acrostic – “Whisper Chorus” spells Alice’s full name, matching the first letter of each line of text. Scoring oddities – Piano and tubular bell do not follow the tonality of the rest of the piece. Piano/Bell ‘chimes’ get longer, then shorter to match the climax of the piece Gradual drift from tonality into increased dissonance – following text.
Score example – acrostic (whisper chorus, soprano, piano, tubular bells)
Text of “Acrostic Song” from Final Alice A boat ‘neath a sunny sky Ling’ring onward dreamily In an evening of July Children three that nestle near Eager eye and willing ear Pleased a simple tale to hear Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and mem’ries die: Autumn frosts have slain July, Still she aunts me, phantom-wise Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes. Children yet the tale to hear Eager eye and willing ear Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream Ling’ring in the golden gleam. Life what is it but a dream?
Issues using just MIDI l l Whisper chorus/vocal line are unreproducible Many special effects in score (harmonics, use of mutes, etc. ) Incredibly detailed phrase shaping in the score Irregular score printing in original text
Excerpt from available score. (note performance directions, irregular time signature placement. Also of note – the entire score is in concert pitch…)
Solutions l l Cubase – adding whispered/sung parts is far more simple in Cubase than in Finale (using the Place Audio tool) Exporting MIDI data from Finale would give a passable framework when working in Cubase.
- Slides: 13