Cabbages and Kings

Lewis Carroll (E)

Cabbages and Kings is a setting of that most famous verse of the poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It captures the moment midway in the poem when, surrounded by all the eager little oysters, the Walrus and the Carpenter begin hungrily (and of course nonsensically) to seduce their still unwary prey.

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax- Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings."

When I was asked by Edna Michell to compose a piece for Yehudi Menuhin's eightieth birthday, her request was specific: a work to end the concert, bringing together all of the evening's soloists. The work is scored for solo soprano, four solo violins, solo clarinet, SATB chorus, flute (piccolo), trumpet, horn, trombone, harp, percussion, and string orchestra. For the last few years I have been writing an opera entitled Dum Dee Tweedle, which is based on Lewis Carroll texts. The music for Cabbages and Kings is adapted from that as-yet-unperformed work and begins with the solo soprano singing the verse as a little aria, The chorus immediately repeats the text, first in a grandiose version, and then in a delicate, more scherzando fashion. The coda, based on the non-Carrollian words, "Happy Birthday to You" combines the solo soprano with the chorus. At the very end, as I warmed to the task of a landmark birthday tribute, I have added a melody highly characteristic of and always associated with such occasions.

– DAVID DEL TREDICI