Description
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Kallman Creates Publications
Lewis Carroll’s poem about the frightening Jabberwock, set for 2- or 3-part treble voices and full orchestra.
Duration: 7’00”
Listen to “Jabberwocky”
(Minnesota Boychoir and Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, Marlene Pauley conducting)
View “Jabberwocky” PDF’s
View PDF, Choral parts only (no piano)
Composer’s Notes
Composers often choose the poem “Jabberwocky” for the challenge and fun of painting the musical narrative of a youth’s quest to slay a monster called the Jabberwock. It is most often composed for singers with piano accompaniment. This may be the first setting of the text for singers with full orchestra, written on commission from the Minnesota Boychoir and the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra in 2014.
You can find Lewis Carroll’s poem in his novel, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), a sequel to the well-known Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The poem is full of nonsense words, some of which are portmanteaus (e.g., the word frumious – a combination of the words furious and fuming). Carroll’s genius is evident in that there are enough familiar words in the text to make the story line clear and easy to follow. Yet there are enough invented words within the story to help our imaginations run free. It is a classic tale of boy versus imaginary beast, in which the boy eventually returns home triumphant.
The project was made possible in part through a 2013 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
