Raymond Luedeke Wonderland Duets

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:25 pm

I came across this piece in some solo and ensemble music I bought in bulk some years ago. It is for 2 tubas and narrator. The naration is the Lewis Carroll "Beware the Jabberwock" thing. It appears to be a reasonably sane 70's modernistic work. Not quite atonal but trying. Anybody have any experience performing it?

sffz · Post by **sffz** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:29 pm

I've played this twice. You assesment is correct. The right narrator makes or breaks the performance.

Good luck

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:48 pm

bloke wrote:My Mom and I constructed an 8-foot-tall lobster behind which the narrator (English accent) dwelt. The two tubas were on either side of the lobster.

How cool is that! I love that stuff! I also like the poem a lot. It's hard fo me to tell much about the music playing one part at the time, but it appears to be be pretty good. Aside from the theatrics, how did you like the music?

porkchopsisgood · Post by **porkchopsisgood** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:38 pm

Fun piece to play...did it in undergrad...

Jay Krush (Chestnut Brass Company, and our teacher), did the narration, and very effectively I might add.

The narration DEFINITELY makes or breaks the piece.

AVC

ASTuba · Post by **ASTuba** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:41 pm

I heard a great recital many moons ago with Don Harry as the narrator for this. I thought that was truly an awesome performance!

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:03 pm

And, it can work well with either a narrator who does voices, really gets into the theater, or a simple, straightforward narrator who enunciates clearly and doesn't really do much else.

I knew Ray as an undergrad, he was teaching clarinet at the time. His compositions tend to be a little out there, a total contrast to his very quiet demeanor. Wonderful player, though, and very nice guy.

jeopardymaster · Post by **jeopardymaster** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:03 pm

One of my students programmed it on his senior recital, with me on the other tuba part and an operatic tenor as the narrator. Huge hit, put the audience in a real good mood.

Dennis K. · Post by **Dennis K.** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:10 am

I did this one a few years back on a recital with a bass trombonist. It was the last piece on the recital, I knew I would be worn out, so I opted for the narrator part.

Consider it theatre, and it can be a lot of fun. If you consider it "serious concert music," it's not the most thrilling. Get a narrator who is vocally uninhibited, perhaps a local thetre person.