Alice in Orchestralia
Encyclopedia
Alice in Orchestralia is a 1925 children's novel by American composer
and radio producer Ernest La Prade (1889–1969). A girl named Alice visits a symphony concert and, through the portal
of a tuba
's bell, enters Orchestralia, where a bass viol escorts her and introduces her to a variety of animated musical instruments. It was later re-issued as Alice in Music-land and Alice in Orchestra Land.
Alice in Orchestralia was also the title of an NBC radio program broadcast on Friday afternoons in the 1930s.
Alice in Orchestralia was also issued as a dramatization in an album of three 78 rpm records issued on the Records of Knowledge label (ROK-20) by the Rexford Corp. of New York. Music composed by Don Gillis. Performed by the Rexford Symphony, Ernest La Prada (author of the book), conducting. The cast: Gene Hamilton (narrator), Celia Rotelle (Alice), Leonard Fabian (bass viol), Robert Weil (saxophone), mother (Ann Gerry). Album cover states "Produced and directed under the personal supervision of Nanette Guilford, Metropolitan Opera Star." Issue date of album is unknown, probably in the 1930s or early 1940s.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and radio producer Ernest La Prade (1889–1969). A girl named Alice visits a symphony concert and, through the portal
Portals in fiction
A portal in science fiction and fantasy is a magical or technological doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously....
of a tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
's bell, enters Orchestralia, where a bass viol escorts her and introduces her to a variety of animated musical instruments. It was later re-issued as Alice in Music-land and Alice in Orchestra Land.
Alice in Orchestralia was also the title of an NBC radio program broadcast on Friday afternoons in the 1930s.
Alice in Orchestralia was also issued as a dramatization in an album of three 78 rpm records issued on the Records of Knowledge label (ROK-20) by the Rexford Corp. of New York. Music composed by Don Gillis. Performed by the Rexford Symphony, Ernest La Prada (author of the book), conducting. The cast: Gene Hamilton (narrator), Celia Rotelle (Alice), Leonard Fabian (bass viol), Robert Weil (saxophone), mother (Ann Gerry). Album cover states "Produced and directed under the personal supervision of Nanette Guilford, Metropolitan Opera Star." Issue date of album is unknown, probably in the 1930s or early 1940s.