Adventures in a Perambulator (John Alden Carpenter) (jan 1, 1914 – jan 1, 1914)

Description:

Adventures in a Perambulator by John Alden Carpenter is an impressionist orchestral suite composed in 1914. The orchestra uses strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, celesta, piano, and harp. The piece is about his daughter’s daily outings in her baby carriage, written from a child’s point of view. The movements are as followed: “En Voiture (All Aboard!), The Policeman, The Hurdy-Gurdy, The Lake, Dogs, and Dreams.” The piece has been so significant during the time (Carpenter had promoted his pieces in Chicago and had a circle of friends ranging from Picasso to Stravinsky) that “Adventures in the Perambulator was one of the works that Walt Disney chose to be part of the 1941 edition of Fantasia” (Buja). What makes this specific piece by Carpenter unique is its humor and playfulness, along with a comforting sense of child and vivid imagery provoked by the instruments. One musically significant moment is in its final movement, “Dreams,” in which the playful liveliness of the previous movements dies down to reflect the soothing and serene scene of the baby’s day ending with sleep.

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