Colin Howard (2 North 1968) was a music scholar at Cranleigh. In November he conducted the Dorchester Choral Society in a performance of Derek Bourgeois’s (2&3 South 1959) Jabberwocky which was written to commemorate the centenary of the School in 1965. Several OCs attended the recital and whilst Colin describes it as a challenging yet most worthwhile project, (particularly with the soloist having to pull out at the last minute and be replaced by his superb understudy), he notes that it proves that Derek’s Extravaganza is “by no means a piece d’occasion.”
Jabberwocky was first performanced at Guildford’s old Civic Hall in May 1965 as part of a term of celebrations. For this performance Derek wrote the following programme note “Jabberwocky is a setting of four poems from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. When choosing a subject for a choral work to celebrate Cranle School’s Centenary, the local interest of Carroll’s association with the Cranleigh area, coupled with the endless variety of moods in the poems themselves, ranging from the downright ridiculous to the near tragic, seemed the perfect answer to my search.”
Click here if you would like to listen to a recording of Jabberwocky conducted by Derek Bourgeois with baritone solo Robert Spearing.