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On "Jelly on a Plate" - (2018)
for piano
The number of melodies capturing this children's rhyme which begins, "Jelly on a plate jelly on a plate / With a wibbley wobbley wibbley wobbley / Jelly on a plate ." One group performing for children forsook an oft-found duple rhythm for the lilt of triple rhythm, and used an Irish folk tune -- a skipping song, as recalled from their youth -- which has gone under various names and with other lyrics. For this, the little essay on the melody takes its name from their use of the children's rhyme, all " wibbley wobbley" as it rises from the white keys to the black along its path.
Having surveyed the theme in a variety of triple meter guises, a loose fugue form in duple meter follows for the fun of it, as the white and black keys' suggested domains play against and with one another.
5 pages, circa 5' 30" - an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano score.
