When I told composer David Del Tredici that I had taken one of his courses at Boston University in the 1970s, he asked, "Which one? Was it my course on lesbians and music? The Gamelan course?... Did you write a fugue for me?" (Yes, very badly.)
So began my recent phone conversation with a composer who has been working at the international level in music for over 50 years.
Among Del Tredici's career posts is a lifelong obsession with Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Said fascination has resulted in a number of large-scale works by the 80-year-old composer, including his mammoth Final Alice, An Alice Symphony, Adventures Underground and Child Alice.
"In Memory of a Summer Day," part one of Child Alice, won the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1980.
Here's a bit of my recent conversation with my music theory and composition professor from long ago.
Richard Wagner's operas were thought to be unperformable 150 years ago. The world eventually got over it, but Del Tredici's Child Alice is a similarly huge undertaking. There have been only two productions: at Carnegie Hall in 1986, and 30 years later by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project conducted by Gil Rose, with soprano Courtenay Budd.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project has just released its performance of Child Alice. I can't say enough about this extraordinary ensemble based in my hometown. The production values are heaven-high, and so is the playing and choice of repertoire.
As with Del Tredici's obsession with the world of Alice, so his music for this whimsical little girl is joyfully addictive. The complications and references in the musical texture are more delightful than tiring. I guarantee you won't be able to stop listening.
