Jabberwock (2015)

Version 1 for flute/piccolo, B♭ clarinet, contrabassoon, horn in F, B♭ trumpet, tenor trombone, percussion (drum kit), 3 violins, 2 violas, cello, and double bass

Version 2 (2021) for flute/piccolo, B♭ clarinet, contrabassoon, horn in F, B♭ trumpet, tenor trombone, percussion (drum kit), 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass

Duration: 8’30”

Commissioned and first performed by Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 2015 Fellowship Ensemble, conducted by Roger Benedict

Full archival recording available at request

Program Note

Jabberwock draws inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem, Jabberwocky, from the second Alice novel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871). The Jabberwock is a fictitious and seemingly frightening creature with ‘jaws that bite’ and ‘claws that catch’, who is slayed at the end by a nameless character. The poem is famous for its use of portmanteau words, where two meanings are packed up into one word: for example, ‘frumious’ is a combination of ‘furious and ‘fuming, and ‘frabjous’ of fair, fabulous, and joyous. Jabberwock features text from the original poem, most of which has been rearranged, cut up, and added to. This takes the form of narration, rap, and spell-like rhythmic chanting, suggesting a conjuring up of the creature. The Jabberwock is personified throughout by the lowest instrument of each section: contrabassoon, trombone and double bass.

The structure of Jabberwock can be divided into three main sections. The first, where the Jabberwock is alive and well, up to all kinds of mischief and terrorising whimsical creatures (‘raths’ – green pigs, according to Humpty Dumpty, and ‘borogroves’ – shabby-looking birds with a mop-like appearance) in the ‘tulgey‘ wood. The second section sees the creature hunted and slain with the ‘snicker-snack’ of the ‘vorpal blade’ wielded by our hero, while the third is a rejoicing of the Jabberwock’s death; a ‘frabjous’ day. Jabberwock takes some liberties with the original poem’s story; this final section wonders whether the Jabberwock was all bark and no...bite, and whether there was in fact a more
fearsome predator– the frumious Bandersnatch! This ending could instead be interpreted as the Jabberwock’s last hurrah in a kind of ‘choose your own adventure’ style.

Performances

21 March 2024, Sydney Symphony Fellows, Private Event, Sydney, NSW

20 May 2022, Disrupt New Music Ensemble, conducted by David Vickerman, San Jose State University Concert Hall, CA, USA

3 April 2021 Sydney Symphony Fellows, Four Winds Festival, The Sound Shell, Barragga Bay, NSW, AUS

29 November 2015, Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows 2015, Roger Benedict, Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

4 October 2015, Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows 2015, conducted by Roger Benedict, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, world premiere