DESCRIPTION:
Thalia is the flourishing Muse of humour and comedy. This is a ragtime for wind quintet, composed by David W Solomons, in her honour.
The audio sample is an electronic preview.
It has a central section in which each instrument takes its turn to "tell" a humorous limerick, sometimes ending with a sly reference to the Gershwin song "It ain't necessarily so".
Any performers who can find a speaker who is prepared to recite a limerick in time with these rhythmical excerpts is most welcome to invite him or her to do so :-)
Each instrument has its own approach to its overall feel for humour, the clarinet being perhaps the most embarassing since it occasionally continues to "chuckle" with its bottom notes after everyone else has gone on to the next subject.



The score and parts can be obtained at the following links:
Thalia's Rag for wind quintet (without limericks)
http://dwsolo.load.cd/sheetmusic/sm-85718_thalia_s_rag__wind_quintet.html

Thalia's Rag for wind quintet (with limericks)
http://dwsolo.load.cd/sheetmusic/sm-85719_thalia_s_rag_with_limericks__wind_quintet_and_spoken_voice.html




Statue of the Muse Thalia as part of the Musenrondell in Sanssouci, Potsdam) photographed by Steffen Heilfort - Creative Commons 3.0
Portraits of Thalia (public domain) by Eustache Le Sueur and Jean-Marc Nattier
Statue of Thalia by Josef Klieber in the Musensaal at the Archduke's Palace (Erzherzog Albrecht), in Vienna, photograhed by "Xenophon" (Wolfgang Sauber)
Thalia und Erato (in the form of little boys!) at the Haus zum Roten Ochsen, Fischmarkt, Erfurt, photographed by Andreas Praefke - Creative Commons 3.0
Portrait of Thalia by Frank Weston Benson (public Domain) - at the Library of Congress, Washington