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How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear (1971) |
For narrator and chamber orchestra - c. 24'
At the time of his death in 1888, Edward Lear had become known as the Laureate of Nonsense. This epithet bears a touch of irony because he was a very lonely person, in spite of the worldwide travels that filled his life. Like the clown in a circus, the nonsense is ingenious, often rising from a deep sadness. The nonsense verse was a way of relieving his melancholy and for us it leaves a magic world of fantasy and wild imagination.
The music is designed to set off the atmosphere and characters portrayed; but, as with opera, music and words maintain independence as well as reflective worlds of reference.
After the introduction, which is a self-portrait, six poems are set:
The Owl and the Pussycat – Tells of the strange marriage of night creatures.
The Jumblies – A group of ‘hobbit’-like beings who go to sea in a sieve.
Calico Pie – Dozens of little animals who pass by and never come back!
The Dong with a Luminous Nose – A strange, sad story about a being who loses his Jumbly Girl and becomes rather mad; what he does is quite macabre.
Uncle Arly – A carefree person who drifts through life with a cricket for a companion and shoes that are ‘far too light’.
The Akond of Swat – An eastern ruler who is questioned by the orchestra.
This work is dedicated to Diana and Yehudi Menuhin who commissioned it. It was conceived as a work for children of all ages from nine to ninety.
© Edwin Roxburgh