The Victorian Singalongs

In my Stuff and Nonsense post, I explained that there are 24 poems in the Alice books.  One of these poems was already meant for a specific tune recognized by Alice, so I couldn't actually compose that one, but I'm setting the remaining 23 (including A Wasp in a Wig) to music.  This is the correct way to think about the entire set.

But there just happens to be another way to think about it.

Yesterday, August 16th, the Cheshire and I decided that this year would be a singalong tea party.  That means that Outgrabe 2022 was the debut performance, Outgrabe 2023 was a lecture recital for the Mallards with the introduction of A Boat; and Outgrabe 2024 will be a singalong that introduces The Mouse's Tale.

Because of that, I'm going to begin copying five additional singalong scores.  The chapter on discovering those scores are in the Stuff and Nonsense post under the section, "Origin Poetry Scores," which is settled between "Nursery Rhymes Score Gallery" and "Picture Gallery."  It's a lot of scrolling, I know.

To elaborate, these were tunes written by the Victorian era, not necessarily during the Victorian era.  In other words, they were potentially popular in the Victorian era!  And the poetry was popular.  So popular, in fact, that Carroll parodied them, knowing that the originals would be recognized.

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the Queen of the UK and Ireland from 1837 to 1901.  Lewis Carroll was born in 1832 and died in 1898, so his life spans the Victorian era beautifully.

To reiterate, none of the Victorian Singalongs are composed by me.  The plan is to copy the scores but insert Carroll's lyrics.  The only arranging necessary, for the most part, is for me to make sure the right number of stanzas are present.  I don't claim to do no editing, but I do try to stay out of it.

Here's a relevant quote from Martin Gardeners's Annotated Alice:

In a letter (1886) to Henry Savile Clarke, who adapted the Alice books to the stage operetta, Carroll urged that his songs that parodied old nursery rhymes be sung to the traditional tunes, not set to new music. He singled out this song in particular.  "It would take a very good composer to write anything better than the old sweet air of 'Will you walk into my parlor, said the Spider to the Fly.'"

The song based on The Spider and the Fly, which is The Lobster Quadrille, replaced an earlier parody also recited by the Mock Turtle in the original manuscript.  The tune associated with that poem was a minstrel song called Sally Come Up, which was set to music by Frederick Buckley in 1862 or E. W. Mackney in 1863.  Both scores are in E♭ and sound similar.

I may not be a "very good composer," or I may be, but either way the intro to The Lobster Quadrille is this:

So they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, every now and then treading on her toes when they passed too close, and waving their fore-paws to mark the time, while the Mock Turtle sang this, very slowly and sadly:—

And guess what?  "The Spider and the Fly" really does not work with that.  That means it makes perfect sense for me to compose a solemn, slow, and sad version of The Lobster Quadrille, as well as the Victorian Singalong.  In fact, it's practically necessary.

Because I'm condensing six Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes into one Mother Goose Suite, but adding five more singalong scores, it's nothing but coincidence that we can include all of these new arrangements into some bizarre compilation and still end up with a set of 24!  Look!

6 Victorian Singalongs

    The Duchess' Lullaby

    The Lobster Quadrille

    Turtle Soup

    The White Rabbit's Evidence

    The Aged Aged Man (tune recognized by Alice)

    To The Looking-Glass World

7 Outgrabes

    How Doth the Little Crocodile

    You are Old, Father William

    'Tis the Voice of the Lobster

    Turtle Soup

    Jabberwocky

    The Walrus and the Carpenter

    To the Looking-Glass World
7 Stuffs & Nonsenses

    The Mouse's Tale

    The Duchess' Lullaby

    The Lobster Quadrille

    The White Rabbit's Evidence

    Humpty Dumpty's Poem

    The White Queen's Riddle

    Mother Goose Suite:

        Twinkle

        Queen of Hearts

        Tweedles

        Humpty

        Lion & Unicorn

        Red Queen's Lullaby

        Mulberry Bush
4 Bookends

    All in the Golden Afternoon

    Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow

    A Wasp in a Wig (Unpublished)

    A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky