10/12/2023 0 Comments Types of classical music compositionsIn the familiar Hoe-Down, the music strikes up and ends with a dance and a kiss. Unlike in the Sea Interludes, love triumphs here. It gradually segues into a faster-moving piece, inspired by the melody I Ride the Old Paint, which finally gets her noticed. Saturday Night Waltz builds on this theme, as in the way of waltzes, everyone couples up, except the lovestruck young woman. Unhelpfully, her chosen paramour’s attention is elsewhere, and the second movement, Corral Nocturne, uses minor intervals and keys in addition to slower music to indicate the young woman’s sadness. The young, female protagonist meets and falls in love with one of the ranchers, and the story begins. The first movement, Buckaroo Holiday, introduces listeners and ballet attendees to the characters. Its best-known movement, Hoe-Down, features characteristic American fiddle music typical of barn dances and hoe-downs.īut it also showcases traditional American folk songs as Copeland continues the fashion for creating nationally-driven classical music. Sometimes called a ‘cowboy ballet,’ Rodeo continues Copeland’s move away from atonality towards a more recognizable and accessible kind of classical music. Rodeo by Aaron CoplandĪaron Copeland is one of the most recognizable American composers of program music, and Rodeo is one of his most immediately identifiable pieces. The music here is appropriately ponderous and slow but occasionally punctuates this slower line with dissonant chords. With Grimes now exiled to sea, the villagers first stand by to watch him drown in the oncoming storm and then retire to the pub. As he meditates on the murder of his apprentice, Britten sketches his unease through an inverted second, a chord built on the dominant or fifth of the scale. In Moonlight, the bells give way to Grimes’ impulsive, misanthropic nature. Smaller bells and handbells get represented by the lighter strings and woodwinds, except for the flute, which warbles to create orchestral birdsong. As the movement progresses, these become replaced by actual bells. To create the clashing of brass bells, Britten uses unlikely and atypical brass combinations. Sunday Morning is the second movement, and in it, Britten paints the sound of church bells through the use of major thirds. They play a disquieting, ominous theme that threatens to overwhelm the others. These are our first hints at the unease that threatens Grimes.īoth sections are sporadically interrupted by the final harmonic section, which features deeper-voiced instruments like cellos and brasses. It contrasts with the rippling line of arpeggios played by the clarinets, harp, and violas. The violins and flutes play a tranquil, legato theme that remains essentially unchanged. He uses three distinct instrumental themes in this section. In Dawn, Britten combines the opera’s prologue with the opening of Act I of Peter Grimes. But because the opera comprised more scenes, Britten omitted some of the emotional moments to help this symphonic poem stand alone. The interludes condense the opera plot and use only instrumentation to tell the devastating story of how a village turns on one of its occupants. Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Brittenīritten’s Four Sea Interludes are the result of Britten’s opera Peter Grimes. Here are some of the most famous pieces of program music. Since program music can take all shapes and forms, it’s helpful to look at examples of how it changed over time. It’s different from opera or lieder in that it relies on the orchestration, not words, to tell a story. Program music is also predominantly instrumental. This source text inspires the story the composer sets out to illustrate with music. Since all program music needs to make it program music by definition is tell a story, it doesn’t have as many recognizable features as, for instance, romantic music.īut two things are consistent, whatever the piece. Often, but not always, it comprises several movements that capture the shifts in mood, from, for instance, a tranquil opening to a raucous middle, as the narrative tension builds.Īnother famous example of program music that illustrates this point is Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring. Much of early classical music is what musicians call ‘abstract.’ All it has to do is create an atmosphere.Ĭonversely, program music elicits specific feelings and responses from its audience. You may well ask, doesn’t all music do that? But the answer is no. The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughn Williamsįor most musicians, the working program music definition is any music designed to tell a story.Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens.An American in Paris by George Gershwin.L'Après Midi D’un Faune by Claude Debussy.Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Britten.
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