Vintage Alice

The action begins with the Hatter singing for Alice a song he had sung previously at a great concert for the Queen: 'Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!' This verse, of course, parodies the opening of June Taylor's well-known poem, 'The Star.' To emphasize the parodistic aspect of the Hatter's Song, I use with it, twining in and out of the texture, that very famous tune always associated with the Taylor poem. In my setting, too, I have taken for inspiration the words of the Queen to the Hatter after his eccentric performance at that 'great concert'- 'He's murdering the time! Off with his head!'

'Murdering the time,' in fact, becomes a creative image throughout the entire piece. As the different episodes that follow the Hatter's Song unfold, all are treated to, and affected by, this idea of distortion and scrambling.

– DAVID DEL TREDICI