Vintage Alice/Dracula

Chamber music plus soprano vocal.

Tracks 1-13: are based on the mad tea party from Alice in Wonderland. An appropriately whimsical mood, but your ears will still recognize it as "serious" classical, in unsettling and even goofy tones. The vocalist has some fun with the wordplay and silliness (tracks 6 and 7, e.g.) "God Save the Queen" and "Twinkle Twinkle" get quoted and twisted around.

3&4, 6&7, or track 9: These make for nice scene-setter interludes during an experimental or eclectic show; would also be good late-night "WTF" fare.

1- Spoken word, from the text, female narrator.
2- "God Save the Queen" in drunken swirly tones. 24 seconds.
3- Soprano syllables, echoed by clarinet(?)
4- Track 3 continues, gets nuttier
5- Like #2, "with crude pomposity"
6- Vocal solo, gets a bit out there. Pauses before track 7, although I like the sound of both of them together
7- Teetering, a feeling of being off-balance and crazy.
8- More spoken text, then a french horn interlude
9- Busy, bustling "changing places" music; lots of text
10- Small vocal peeps
11- High peeping "Ah" sounds, a bit athletic. Then murky, off-toned music and a madwoman's "Twinkle Twinkle."
12- "GSTQ" returns
13- Fading little "twinkle," then a strong ending.


Track 14: Dramatic 21-minute piece titled "Dracula." Spoken narration and occasional singing, including the soprano reaching for deep, croaky tones representing The Count. Music starts surprisingly upbeat; even gets tuneful for passages around -17:00 and -13:00. Big crescendo around -10:30. Dig the theremin warbles at around -7:00.