Work
Lobster tales and turtle soup : for flute/piccolo, clarinet in Bb/bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano
by Holly Harrison (2016)
Selected products featuring this work — Display all products (1 more)
Display all products featuring this work (1 more)
Work Overview
Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup is inspired by chapters nine and ten of Lewis Carroll's nonsense book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), 'The Mock Turtle's Story' and 'The Lobster Quadrille'. Along with Alice, the main characters in these chapters are the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. Both creatures are composites of two animals: the Gryphon - the head and wings of an eagle, and the body and tail of a lion, and the Mock Turtle - the head, hooves and tail of a cow, and the body and flippers of a turtle. I see the chimera characters as a type of metaphor for the amalgam of musical styles in the piece; rock, jazz, metal, hip-hop, pop, blues and funk. The Gryphon and Mock Turtle scold Alice for imagined slights, tell long stories and sing long songs which never quite end, order her to recite poetry (which comes out all muddled!), and insist on her taking part in an unusual dance; the Lobster Quadrille.
A modern piece of programme music, Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup features playful juxtapositions between text and music, frenetically illustrating the characters and narratives through changes of style, tempo, time signatures, and warping phrases.
Work Details
Year: 2016
Instrumentation: Flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano.
Duration: 12 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Commission note: Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia with funds provided by Geoff Stearn.. Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia with funds provided by Geoff Stearn. Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia with funds provided by Geoff Stearn. Commissioned with support from Geoff Stearn and the Hildegard Project
First performance: by Eighth Blackbird (Musical group) at PIAF: Eighth Blackbird (Perth Concert Hall) on 20 Feb 2017
The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with this work:
rock, jazz, metal, hip-hop, pop, blues, funk.
Winner of the Sue W Chamber Music Composition Prize.
Awards & Prizes
Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for/to |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Art Music Awards: Performance of the Year | Winner | Eighth Blackbird (Musical group) |
Analysis
Resonate article: Sue W Chamber Music Composition Prize to Holly Harrison by Australian Music Centre
Resonate article: 2018 Art Music Awards - comments by judging panels by Australian Music Centre
Videos
Lobster tales and turtle soup |
Subjects
- Influenced by: Jazz
- Influenced by: Popular music
Performances of this work
3 Nov 2018: at Wonderland (Sydney Opera House, Utzon Room). Featuring Hourglass Ensemble.
13 Aug 2018: at Rubiks Collective: Species (Melbourne Recital Centre, Primrose Potter Salon). Featuring Rubiks Collective.
1 Aug 2018: at Jerboah + Rubiks (Splendor, Amsterdam). Featuring Rubiks Collective.
28 Jul 2018: at Rubiks Collective in Berlin (The Ballery (Berlin)). Featuring Rubiks Collective.
30 Jul 2018: at Rubiks Collective in Manchester (International Anthony Burgess Foundation). Featuring Rubiks Collective.
24 Jul 2018: at Rubiks Collective in Darmstadt (Lichtenbergschule, Darmstadt). Featuring Rubiks Collective.
9 Mar 17: featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
9 Mar 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Adelaide Town Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
7 Mar 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
4 Mar 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
2 Mar 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
28 Feb 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
27 Feb 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (City Recital Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
25 Feb 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (City Recital Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
23 Feb 2017: at Eighth Blackbird (Llewellyn Hall ANU School of Music). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
20 Feb 2017: at PIAF: Eighth Blackbird (Perth Concert Hall). Featuring Eighth Blackbird (Musical group).
User reviews
Be the first to share your thoughts, opinions and insights about this work.
To post a comment please login.