Programme Note: "Carousel Trees is a reworking of a standard I’m fond of, I’ll be seeing you. It’s a great piece, and very enjoyable to improvise on. The music and lyrics were written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, and after its creation it was used in a rather unsuccessful Broadway show called Right This Way. This didn’t stop the song becoming so popular in its own right that director Dore Schary named a film after it, and included it in the soundtrack.
To write Carousel Trees, I first took the original lyrics, and reorganised the words – this process is actually called a ‘found poem’, a term which has a nice ring to it I think. I also kept the pitches associated with the words from the original standard, and so I had a group of new melodies. Then around these, I added fragments of phrases from the original melody, reworked into basslines/riffs. Knowing that I was writing to feature Lauren Kinsella fairly early on also allowed me to write for her unique voice and endlessly creative approach to improvisation." Trish Clowes
Trish Clowes' Carousel Trees was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta. It was performed and recorded in November 2022 at our concert "Changing Standards", a concert of new original compositions inspired by traditional standards.
Lauren Kinsella vocals
Trish Clowes saxophone
Will Sach bass
Saleem Raman kit
Gerry Cornelius conductor
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Published: 11 Aug 2023
