The Women Composers Challenge Week One

Eric Phillips Frisky elves frolicking? Sounds rather risqué.

Actually the frolicking elves seem rather sombre. They remind me of the Oompa Loompas in the Willy Wonka movie (w/ Gene Wilder)

Great work on another long piece.

Correction: not sure why but I referred to elves rather than gnomes.

Eric Phillips Beautiful as always Eric. I especially love the A section, it evokes this bittersweet longing and remembrance for someone or something.

Eric Phillips I love how the story start off with frisky Gnomes just minding their business before being interrupted by the fairies. Looking forward to hearing the complete piece. 

Eric Phillips That's a very cool piece, Eric. And the score is interesting. I wonder if it's meant to be narrated like Peter and the Wolf or if it's like Borbala Seres's lesson where she says she makes up stories within a piece. Really an interesting find either way.  

Eric Phillips Great start on this very interesting piece, Eric! About the text, my initial thought was that it is best left silent, but the performance (with narrator) you link is very effective. (And brings to mind a few prog-rock classics from my youth: Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' and Rick Wakeman's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'.) One curious detail here is the dedication of the work: it is not from the composer (as would be normal) but from her sister, 'Madame' Giulia Pelzer, to a certain colonel Temple. Giulia, seventeen years younger than Catharina, was an accomplished guitarist in her own right. (I looked briefly to see if she had composed anything for guitar, but could find only two song arrangements.)

Eric Phillips The use of the term 'Madame' did make me wonder whether there might be a second Giulia - a sister-in-law - but then the dedication to someone not her husband would seem odd. (I also wondered whether Giulia might be the mother, but her name turned out to be Marie.) So I think it must have been the sister, now an adult but unmarried. (The title 'Madame' also appears on the title page of the two song arrangements I mentioned. Moreover, she is identified here as 'Professor of guitar and mandoline at the Guildhall School of Music'.) And who was Colonel Temple? - The only J.A. Temple I find through google is an artist, apparently still active in 1921***, which seems a little late, but certainly possible if he was about the same age as Giulia and lived into his eighties. (Giulia herself lived  into her one hundredth year, dying in 1937 - four years after the birth of Julian Bream!) Was the colonel a suitor? Or someone desired to become one? As you say, so many questions!

*** I do wonder about the accuracy of the date, because the style of the paintings attributed to him suggest a much earlier era.

Eric Phillips All I am is a proficient user of google! Btw, the two prog-rock albums I mentioned feature some narration. In 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth

' the narrator reads brief excerpts of Verne's novel, setting the musical scene - much like in 'Elfins revels'.  In 'Tubular Bells

' the narrator simply recites (in dramatic fashion) the names of a long series of instruments (culminating in the bells of the title) as each takes up the main theme of the music in the finale of part I.

Eric Phillips Undoubtedly, I'm sure! You see, Wakeman's piano teacher had studied at Guildhall, and she had a friend who knew Mrs. Pratten. So it's a direct line of influence, I'm quite certain of it. (Yes, I did make all that up.)

Eric Phillips Btw, I'm not sure I could tolerate listening to either of those two albums in their entirety myself these days ...

Eric Phillips Maybe you could ask Chatgpt to attempt it!