John Alden Carpenter (Feb. 28, 1876 - April 26, 1951) was born in Park Ridge, Illinois, in to a musical family.  He attended Harvard University, and studied under John Knowles Paine, and later on traveled to England to study with Edward Elgar. After his time in England, he returned to Chicago to study with Bernhard Ziehn in 1912. Sadly, Carpenter has been overlooked as a composer, in favor of other big names from his generation, like Ives and Copland.

Just two years after coming back to the states, Carpenter composed Adventures in a Perambulator, for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and their conductor at the time, Frederick Stock. The piece is about a day in the life of a baby, (inspired by his only child, Ginny) and is divided in to six sections: En Voiture (All Aboard), The Policeman, The Hurdy Gurdy, The Lake, Dogs, and Dreams. Carpenter wrote many detailed program notes about the piece; in the first section, the Baby heads out with their Nurse, with a syncopated celesta line, apparently inspired by a squeaky wheel in Ginny's perambulator. The second section, The Policeman is meant to depict an Irish policeman who flirts with the Nurse, only to be interrupted by Baby. In The Hurdy Gurdy, the Baby hears, and is mesmerized, by music from the opera Il trovatore, and Irving Berlin, but later in the movement, the policeman comes back to shoo away the Hurdy Gurdy player. The Lake was composed while Carpenter was on vacation in Wisconsin, and is supposed to be about the Baby's impressions of the Lake. Many pieces are quoted in Dogs, such as "Oh Where Has my Little Dog Gone" and the popular Viennese song, "Ach du lieber Augustin". In the final movement, Dreams, Baby is being put to bed as the Mother sings lullabies, and the adventures of the day are recalled. This work doesn't exactly explore the deepest of themes, but it's a colorful and whimsical work with tuneful melodies, and a interesting story behind it!

Here are some recordings for you to enjoy!

National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Eastman-Rochester Orchestra