UNCSA Presents: Drew Banzhoffs, Nursery Songs

Phyllis Pancella, mezzo-soprano
Paul Sharpe, double bass
This was the public premiere of a student composition written to fulfill a requirement the previous spring in which students were asked to write for the voice. After the workshop performance, Pancella and Sharpe decided it was ready for prime time.
For the text, Drew Banzhoff went back to the earliest printed versions of these nursery rhymes (c. 1609), so that there are references we don't usually hear: to Julian of Norwich, metaphors of Catholics vs. Protestants, and to the miller and his wife instead of the farmer's wife. No tails are cut off in this performance.
The individual songs are named, and described below.
Three Blind Mice
A bizarre tale from the 16th century, possibly concerning the execution of three Protestant bishops at the hands of a Catholic queen, Mary I of England.
Hickory Dickory Dock
A depiction of the astronomical clock of Exeter Cathedral in Southwest England, where perhaps a mouse is running loose.
Hey Diddle Diddle
An introspective illustration of a figure that ponders the nonsense of its own words.
The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
An adventure in the sink.
Bah, Bah, a Black Sheep
Scenes from the darker side of human history. Perhaps the text is a reference to medieval taxes on wool in 13th century England, or even worse, the slave trade in the United States.
London Bridge
This piece was performed as part of the recital "Low and Lower: Off the Deep End" in January of 2022.