Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
Vocal Music | Piano | Organ | Chamber Music | Orchestral | Articles and Commentary | Poems and Stories | Miscellany | FAQs
Tante Qualle und der Elefant - (2008)
Joachim Ringelnatz
for medium voice and piano
Die Tante Qualle schwamm zum Strand.
Es liebte sie ein Elefant,
Mit Namen Hildebrand gennant.
Der wartete am Meeressstrand
Mit einem Sträuchen in der Hand.
Das übergab er ihr galant
Und bat um Tante Quallens Hand.
Da knüpften sie ein Eheband.
Der Doktotr Storch, der abseits stand,
Der dachte: "Armer Hildebrand!"
Worauf er weiterging und lachte.
------------
Warum der Storch wohl so was dachte?
[ 3 pages, circa 1' 10" ]
Joachim Ringelnatz
Aunty Jellyfish swam to shore.
She was in love with an elephant,
By the name of Hildebrand.
He waited there by the edge of sea
With a posy of flowers in his hand.
These he gave her gallantly
And bud for Aunty Jellyfish's hand.
Then she accepted a wedding ring.
The good Doctor Stork , who stood nearby,
Thought to himself: "Poor Hildebrand!"
Thereupon he went on his way laughing.
----------
But why did Stork think this?
For a middle tessitura, this setting is accessible to many voice types. The character of the music is a waltz in "one," as quasi-Viennese "wedding cake." Exaggerating the dynamics is certainly acceptable, and rubati as the performers might suggest is as well.
After the "wedding cake" waltz, a tempo change accompanies a harmonic rhythmic change when the enthusiasm of Aunty Jellyfish and the elephant are put aside to examine the bemused stork's perspective on this odd pairing.
The ending repeats the sympathy" of the stork for the hapless elephant, and a swift "wedding cake" conclusion is brought to this setting.
The score for Tante Qualle und der Elefant 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-vocal score.
