Art Garfunkel in Mike Batt’s “The Hunting of the Snark”
On the occasion of Maggie Reilly’s 70th birthday on September 15, 2026, this retrospective looks back at an extraordinary musical project in which Art Garfunkel also took part alongside Reilly: Mike Batt’s “The Hunting of the Snark.”
In 1986, Mike Batt released his extraordinary concept album, in which he transformed Lewis Carroll’s famous nonsense poem “The Hunting of the Snark” into a musical work. The recordings had already begun in 1984. Batt combined rock, pop and symphonic elements and brought together an international cast of renowned artists.
Art Garfunkel took on the central role of “The Baker” in the work. The Baker is one of the characters in the story and part of the expedition in search of the mysterious Snark. Art Garfunkel is featured on the album with several notable vocal parts.
Art Garfunkel can be heard as the lead singer on “As Long As the Moon Can Shine.” “A Delicate Combination” is also among his vocal contributions, while he sings “The Beaver’s Lesson” with Deniece Williams. His distinctive voice can therefore be heard at several important points throughout this extraordinary concept album.
For this ambitious project, Mike Batt brought together, alongside Art Garfunkel, artists including Roger Daltrey, Cliff Richard, Julian Lennon, Deniece Williams and Captain Sensible. The London Symphony Orchestra also participated. The spoken passages were performed by Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt.
Maggie Reilly also took part in “The Hunting of the Snark.” She can be heard in the finale “The Vanishing” together with Julian Lennon and Mike Batt. Art Garfunkel and Maggie Reilly were not direct duet partners, but both are featured on this special work by Mike Batt.
The album was released in 1986 in the United Kingdom and Europe on LP, MC and CD, including through Batt’s own label Adventure Records in cooperation with Epic. The recordings featuring Art Garfunkel had already been completed in the preceding years.
On May 12, 1987, “The Hunting of the Snark” was performed as a concert production at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Art Garfunkel was not part of this performance. His contributions belong to the studio recording of the concept album.
“The Hunting of the Snark” thus became a distinctive chapter in Art Garfunkel’s musical career. As “The Baker,” he was part of an extraordinary international cast and contributed his distinctive voice to several passages of the work, including “As Long As the Moon Can Shine,” one of the titles on which Art Garfunkel can be heard as the lead singer.
