What Instrument Family Is Heard in This Excerpt?
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra , Op. 34, is a 1945 musical composition by Benjamin Britten with a subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell . It was based on the second movement, "Rondeau", of the Abdelazer suite. It was originally deputed for the British educational documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946, directed past Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted past Malcolm Sargent;[1] Sargent besides conducted the concert première on 15 Oct 1946 with the Pool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England.
The work is one of the all-time-known pieces by the composer, and is frequently associated with two other works in music history: Saint-Saëns' The Funfair of the Animals and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
Instrumentation [edit]
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is scored for symphony orchestra:
- Woodwinds: piccolo, two flutes, ii oboes, two clarinets in B flat and A and two bassoons
- Brass: four horns in F, two trumpets in C, three trombones (ii tenors and one bass) and bass tuba
- Percussion: timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, woodblock, xylophone, castanets, tamtam, and whip
- Strings: harp, first and second violin, viola, cello, and double bass.
Construction [edit]
The work is based on the Rondeau from Henry Purcell'southward incidental music to Aphra Behn's Abdelazer,[2] and is structured, in accord with the plan of the original documentary moving picture, every bit a manner of showing off the tone colours and capacities of the various sections of the orchestra.
In the introduction, the theme is initially played past the unabridged orchestra, then past each major family of instruments of the orchestra: showtime the woodwinds, and then the strings, so the brass, and finally by the percussion. Each variation and so features a particular instrument in-depth, generally moving through each family from high to depression (the club of the families is slightly unlike from the introduction). And so, for example, the kickoff variation features the piccolo and flutes; each member of the woodwind family unit then gets a variation, ending with the bassoon; and and then on, through the strings, brass, and finally the percussion.
After the whole orchestra has been finer taken to pieces in this fashion, information technology is reassembled using an original fugue which starts with the piccolo, followed past all the woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion in plow. Once everyone has entered, the brass are re-introduced (with a strike on the tamtam) with Purcell's original melody.[iii]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| Performed by Benjamin Britten and the London Symphony Orchestra | |
 Theme | |
| Variation A | |
| Variation B | |
| Variation C | |
| Variation D | |
| Variation Eastward | |
| Variation F | |
| Variation G | |
| Variation H | |
| Variation I | |
| Variation J | |
| Variation K | |
| Variation Fifty | |
| Variation M | |
| Fugue |
The sections of the piece and instruments introduced by the variations are equally follows.
- Theme
- Allegro maestoso e largamente
- Tutti (D pocket-size), woodwinds (F major), brass (E♭ major), strings (G minor), then percussion (written in A major)
- Variation A
- Presto
- Flutes and piccolo
- Variation B
- Lento
- Oboes
- Variation C
- Moderato
- Clarinets
- Variation D
- Allegro alla marcia
- Bassoons
- Variation E
- Brillante: alla polacca
- Violins
- Variation F
- Meno mosso
- Violas
- Variation Yard
- Lusingando
- Cellos
- Variation H
- Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accel. al Allegro
- Double basses
- Variation I
- Maestoso
- Harp
- Variation J
- Fifty'istesso tempo
- Horns
- Variation K
- Vivace
- Trumpets
- Variation 50
- Allegro pomposo
- Trombones and tuba
- Variation M
- Moderato
- Percussion (timpani; bass drum and cymbals; tambourine and triangle; snare drum and woodblock; xylophone; castanets and tam-tam; Whip; percussion tutti)
- Fugue
- Allegro molto
Narration [edit]
The narration for the documentary film was written by Eric Crozier, the producer of the first production of Britten's opera Peter Grimes, and is sometimes spoken past the conductor or a split speaker during performance of the piece. The composer also bundled a version without narration. The one without narration is more frequently recorded. The commentary oft differs among recordings.
A new narration was written by Simon Butteriss for the Aldeburgh Festival and broadcast live past CBBC presenter Johny Pitts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the Britten 100 celebrations in 2013.
Comedian and author John Hodgman wrote a new narration of The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra in 2015 for a serial of performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra.[4] [5] [6]
References [edit]
- ^ "Instruments of the Orchestra", British Motion-picture show Institute, accessed 24 May 2013
- ^ "Plan Notes". London Chamber Orchestra. 18 Apr 2013. Archived from the original on four August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ^ "Plan Notes". London Chamber Orchestra. twenty March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 3 Baronial 2013.
- ^ "John Hodgman in the Immature Person's Guide: Boston Pops: WCRB: WGBH".
- ^ Boston Pops (14 May 2015). "Excerpts from John Hodgman'due south Debut Narration with Boston Pops". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Excerpts from John Hodgman'south debut narration with Boston Pops".
Further reading [edit]
- Boosey & Hawkes No. 606. Benjamin Britten – The Young Person'due south Guide to the Orchestra, Opus 34
- History of the London Symphony Orchestra on Motion-picture show
External links [edit]
- Animated guide presented by Carnegie Hall
- BBC Radio 4 program well-nigh the piece and the score manuscript
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Person%27s_Guide_to_the_Orchestra
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