Bag o’ Tails
John Craton
About this work: Subtitled “A menagerie of (almost) 10 bagatelles for piano and unbreakable Native American medicine rattle.” A set of bagatelles for piano solo, each a caricature of an animal. Clearly written with children in mind (and dedicated to the lovely young daughters of a cousin), they are not all childsplay for the performer.
Movements:
1. “The Duckling” (Allegro moderato)
2. “The Squirrel” (Allegretto)
3. “The Armadillo” (Andante cantabile)
4. “The ’Possum” (Relaxed - Ragtime)
5. “The Manx” (Whatever)
6. “The Mouse” (Allegro-Lento-Allegro)
7. “The Echidna” (Adagio-Vit)
8. “The Lizard” (Tempo giusto)
9. “The Penguin” (Andante spinato)
10. “The Tasmanian Devil” (Allegro furioso)
Published by Wolfhead Music.
Year composed: 2001
Duration: 00:29:00
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: ,1 Piano soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: Level: Moderately advanced to advanced. “The Manx” (the “almost” bagatelle) consists entirely of rests with instructions for the performer to explain to the audience that since the manx has no tail there is no music to be performed. The medicine rattle is utilized in “The Lizard” and requires the performer to play piano with the right hand while keeping time with the rattle in the left. The rattle is dropped noisily at the end of the piece and the performer declares that the lizard has lost its tail. (NOTE: If listening to the Scorch file through the computer, if may be necessary to adjust the tempo bar as Scorch sometimes fails to recognize metronome markings.)