Concert Band - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1440114 By Tom Lehrer. By Tom Lehrer. Arranged by John Ivor Holland. 20th Century,Broadway,Musical/Show,Singer/Songwriter. 37 pages. John Ivor Holland #1020064. Published by John Ivor Holland (A0.1440114). Tom Lehrer is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician. He recorded pithy and humorous songs that became popular in the 1950s and 60s, often parodying popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies (an exception is The Elements, in which he set the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the Major-General's Song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 'The Pirates of Penzance'). Lehrer's early performances dealt with non-topical subjects and black humour in songs such as the 'vernal' waltz, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, which was recorded for the album 'An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer' in March 1959. The lyrics refer to killing pigeons with cyanide-coated peanuts and strychnine-treated corn. The latter method was used by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to control pigeon populations in Boston public areas during the 1950s. Available for concert band for the first time, this lovely melody deserves to be heard out in the open air to be enjoyed by those passing by, maybe unaware of the sinister nature of the song!
