Alice, Where Art Thou?

"Alice, Where Art Thou?"
Song
Released	1861
Songwriter(s)	Wellington Guernsey
Composer(s)	Joseph Ascher

Alice, Where Art Thou? is a popular British parlour song of the Victorian era. It was composed by Joseph Ascher. ^[1] The text was by Wellington Guernsey, although it is sometimes attributed to Alfred Bunn, who is best known for "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls". ^[2] It become a popular song, selling many copies of sheet music and featuring regularly as a standard in the music halls.

Usage

Recording by the Victor String Quartet, 1908

The phrase passed into popular usage for many decades. ^[3] In the 1954 British film Svengali , it is heard several times as the song Trilby O'Ferrall sings badly before she is mesmerised by the title character into performing as a brilliant opera singer. The 1980s British television series Open All Hours features a brass band version of the tune as its title music.

References

1. Newsome, p. 16.
2. Partridge, p. 6.
3. Partridge, p. 6.

Bibliography

• Roy Newsome: Brass Roots: A Hundred Years of Brass Bands and Their Music, 1836-1936 (London: Routledge, 2019).
• Eric Partridge: A Dictionary of Catch Phrases (London: Routledge, 2003).