DOUGLAS YOUNG (b.1947): The Hunting of the Snark.

Description: Lewis Carroll's surreal, epic nonsense poem gets a theatrical treatment here that emphasises its grotesquerie and disturbing aspects rather than the mellifluous wordplay and English humour that make it suitable for the young audience that also believe 'Alice in Wonderland' only to be a charming childrens' fable. The work is based on a full recitation of the poem, to which Young contributes incidental music rather than accompanying the text. Young has drawn on a wide variety of idioms throughout his career, from the European avant garde to various ethnic musics and jazz and popular styles. This 1982 piece is largely, though not exclusively, atonal, though, much like the poem, a myriad of blink-and-you'll-miss-them allusions and puns accompany key episodes in the text; a snatch of Greensleeves when the English language is mentioned, a phrase of Rule Britannia, etc. so the result is an entertainment to match the text rather than the thorny piece of abstract avant-gardism it might otherwise be. Peter Easton (narrator), Douglas Young (piano, percusssion), The Leicestershire Chorale, Members of the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra; Peter Fletcher.