Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain
Listen to the beginning of "I. Dainty Dottie Dee" from Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain.
Listen to the first 1:50 of "III. Euphonica Jarre" from Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain.
Listen to the last 1:15 of "IV. I'm the Single Most Wonderful Person I Know" from Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain.
These recordings are from the live premiere performance by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, with Timothy Jones, baritone.
Instrumentation:
- Baritone Voice and Ensemble (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello) or
- Baritone Voice and Ensemble (Flute, Clarinet, Vibraphone, Violin, Cello) or
- Baritone Voice and Ensemble (Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, Violin, Cello) or
- Baritone Voice and Piano
Duration: 13 minutes (4 songs)
Text by: Jack Prelutsky
Pages: 44 (voice and ensemble version); 26 (voice and piano version)
How to get it: Contact David Heuser directly
Song Titles:
I. Dainty Dottie Dee
II. Today is Very Boring
III. Euphonica Jarre
IV. I'm the Single Most Wonderful Person I Know
Reviews:
Performance by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (June 26, 2004), Timothy Jones, baritone, and Brett Mitchell, conductor. From a review by Andrew Druckenbrod in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"Saturday night he [Timothy Jones] wasted not a single drop of wit in premiering David Heuser's hilarious Immaculate, Bored, Off-key and Vain, written for Jones.
"This work is just the sort of music classical music needs more of. Yes, music must take us to spiritual heights, but occasionally it can make us laugh, too. I am always amazed by how many living composers forget that music can be entertainment (even revered figures such as Mozart and Haydn thought so).
"Heuser certainly doesn't need to be reminded. The texts to the four songs in this set by Jack Prelutsky are hilarious in a Shel Silverstein sort of way. You can tell that even by the titles, such as "Today Is Very Boring" and "I'm the Single Most Wonderful Person I Know." But it was Jones' comedic expressions and timing that adroitly brought out the humor. His voice, rich and burnished, provided technique when asked. The ensemble, led here by conductor Brett Mitchell, matched his energy."
From a review of the same performance by Mark Kanny in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
"The highpoint was composer David Heuser's Immaculate, Bored, Off-key and Vain, a cycle of four songs delivered with charismatic brilliance by baritone Timothy Jones. His resonant vocalism was wedded with a vivid dramatic sensibility to convey a woman's compulsion to wash everything (including sponging a pie), utter boredom and conceited musicianship before concluding with "I'm the Single Most Wonderful Person I Know." Jones even played violin for a moment. The spirited performance was led with superb assurance by Brett Mitchell."
Program Notes:
The texts for Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain come from children's poet Jack Prelutsky's 1984 collection New Kid on the Block. There is a great deal of whimsical humor in them. There is also a great deal of whimsical humor in Timothy Jones, for whom I wrote these songs. And there is a termendous amount of whimsical humor in my daughter, Gwyneth, to whom I dedicate this work.
(Greenwillow Books, a division of William Morrow & Company, Inc. has given me kind permission to use the these texts. Words for Immaculate, Bored, Off-Key and Vain are from NEW KID ON THE BLOCK by Jack Prelutsky. Text copyright © 1984 by Jack Prelutsky.)
