Beware the Jabberwock
General Info
Year of Published: 2020
Publisher: Tapspace
Difficulty: Elementary
Duration: 00:03:10
Cost: $36.00
Instrumentation
Player 1: Glockenspiel
Player 2: Xylophone
Player 3: Vibraphone
Player 4: Marimba
Player 5: Timpani
Player 6: Snare Drum & Large Tom-tom & China Cymbal & Hi-hat
Player 7: Bass Drum & Brake Drum & Triangle
Player 8: Congas & Cowbell & Ride Cymbal
Player 9: Chimes & Suspended Cymbal & Temple Blocks & Tambourine
Player 10: Suspended Cymbal & Mark Tree & Slapstick
Player 11: Narrator (Optional)
Description
Lewis Carroll’s famous nonsense poem, Jabberwocky is considered a classic in English literature. John Willmarth’s musical setting of this same poem titled Beware the Jabberwock, is an exciting and accessible treatment of the original, which brings Carroll’s best known work to the world of percussion.
The poem tells the tale of an epic battle between a boy and the vicious creature know as the Jabberwock, with the boy being triumphant in the end. To tell this tale and to match Carroll’s innovative use of nonsense words like “chortled” and “galumphing,” John Willmarth uses an assortment of quirky percussion accessories as well as dissonant harmonies. These compositional techniques help provide the perfect sonic underpinning for Carroll’s poem. The original poem is provided in the score as well as cues for the beginnings of each stanza so that if desired, the poem can be narrated along with the performance of the piece.
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