Alice études

Gergely Vajda (born 1973) is one of the most talented Hungarian composers of the mid-generation. He is an exceptionally versatile musician, being at the same time a clarinetist, a conductor, and a composer.

He composed Alice Études, a 30-minute long composition in 7 movements, for the Farallon Quintet (California). Each movement is inspired by a quotation from the books by Lewis Carroll entitled Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. Vajda was particularly preoccupied with the time-related aspects of the stories: for instance, experiencing time in slow motion while falling downwards really quickly, or living in time backwards and remembering it forwards. Inaddition, he was also inspired by playful elements like the possible combinations of changing seats around a circular table.

All of the movements deal with one, two or at most three musical ideas which makes the composition a collection of étude-like pieces. Three movements are dedicated to classical-contemporary composers whose music is also heavily influenced by Lewis Carroll's books: György Ligeti, David del Tredici, and Unsuk Chin.