ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL (b.1954): Jabberwocky (versions for Bass-Baritone and Wind Quartet and for 2 Bassoons, Clarinet, Oboe and Horn).

Description: This curious little disc contains two versions of the same eight-minute work; Goldenthal's 1982 revision of his 1975 setting of Lewis Carroll's nonsense verse, and his 2013 arrangement without voice, an additional bassoon taking over the vocal line. In this latter woodwind quintet version, the indebtedness of Goldenthal's clear, clean lines of intricate counterpoint to Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments is especially evident. Any admirer of that work's tart harmony and supple rhythmic agility will find this piece instantly appealing, and Goldenthal's contrapuntal skill and idiomatic instrumental writing are beyond reproach. The deliberately silly, surreal mock-heroics of the poem are given a dramatically narrative vocal line, appropriately bombastic and faux-operatic in the sung version. Text included. Charles Temkey (bass-baritone), Erik Holtje (bassoon), David Gould (clarinet), Alexandra Knoll (oboe), Zohar Schöndorf (horn).