THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows features a selection of unforgettable animal characters and, in common with Alice in Wonderland, is a children’s classic that retains a remarkable appeal for readers of all ages. Over the course of twelve movements, the music of The Wind in the Willows follows the adventures of Mole, Ratty and Badger, and of course the irrepressible Mr Toad in his madcap motoring escapades.

1. Prologue: The River-Bank (cellos only)

In this short introductory piece we visit the world of the river-bank in spring, with its various sparkles, sploshes, tweets and rustles, and brief glimpses of the themes of some of the characters that live there. Underneath this activity the constant motion of the water, illustrated by passages of string-crossing, drifts in and out of earshot.

2. Mr Mole—On the Water

The story opens with the emergence of Mr Mole into the sunshine, and the introduction of his own music, followed by that of the Water Rat, before the two establish a friendship and row happily of to a River Waltz, derived melodically from Mole’s theme.

3. Mr Toad

Toad appears, presenting his own boisterous theme for the first time, and shows of a new purchase to his visitors. Ratty and Mole resist joining him on an outing, and there is a reprise of the River Waltz as they return home.

4. The Wild Wood: Waltz of the Weasels (cellos only)

Curious to make the acquaintance of Mr Badger, Mole waits for Ratty to fall asleep one winter’s evening before slipping out to the Wild Wood on his own. In this movement the cellos portray the dark world of the wood, with its eerie sounds and faces appearing in the gloom. A single weasel emerges and begins a grotesque dance; more of them join in as Mole becomes quite lost, and quite terrified!

5. Mr Badger

By good fortune, Ratty has managed to find his friend in the thick wood" Together they stumble across the home of Mr Badger, whose theme now appears in full for the first time, and they gratefully come in from the cold.

6. Toad in Trouble

Ratty, Mole, and Badger pay a visit to Toad Hall in the hope of dissuading Toad from any further motoring mishaps—with mixed results.

7. Road-Hog (cellos only)

The cellos provide a musical account of Toad’s fateful ride in a stolen sports-car. Replete with horn-tooting, merry whistling, dodgy gear changes, and only intermittent control of the wheel, this lively movement careers towards an inevitable conclusion.

8. Jailed

Mr Toad appears in court, charged with various motoring offences.

9. Dulce Domum

Mole makes an unexpected visit to his old home. The equivalent chapter in the original story bears this same Latin title, which roughly equates to ‘Home, sweet home’; this interlude, involving just five cellos, is a harmonisation of a seventeenth-century English melody of the same name, with snippets of Mole’s theme as an intermittent descant in cello 8.

10. Escape

Toad’s lucky escape leads him to a railway station; initially sparse pizzicato accompaniment from the cellos develops into a full ‘Train Theme’, characterised by an ostinato rhythm played col legno. Following a tense pursuit, Toad’s own theme returns briefly as he makes a final dash to safety.

11. The Plan

Toad returns to bad news, but Mr Badger may have a solution.

12. The Battle of Toad Hall

An energetic finale, in which all the character themes flash around, engaged in a spirited battle to regain control of Toad Hall. Towards the end of the movement Mole’s and Rat’s themes come together in a triumphant, swaggering march, before the music is whipped up to a celebratory conclusion.