Dance of the Hours (Italian: Danza delle ore) is a short ballet and is the act 3 finale of the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880. Later performed on its own, the Dance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets.[1][2] It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940 Walt Disneyanimated film Fantasia where it is depicted as a comic ballet featuring ostriches, hippopotamuses, elephants and alligators.
The ballet, accompanied by an orchestra, appears at the end of the third act of the opera, in which the character Alvise, who heads the Inquisition, receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber. The music and choreography represent the hours of dawn, day (morning), twilight and night. Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression. The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness. It is about 10 minutes long.
Structure
The piece begins with an introduction in G major, with vocal assistance in the form of a recitative which is omitted in the symphonic version. Then follows in sequence: the dance of the hours of dawn, the hours of day, the hours of the night and the morning.
The episode devoted to dawn (in E major) merges with the extensive introduction to the episode dedicated to daytime hours, anticipating the rhythmic structure of four notes, which characterizes the episode. The transition point between the two episodes, where it marks the birth of the day, coincides with the intervention in fortissimo of the chorus ("Prodigio! Incanto!"), which follows a slow chromatic passage, typical of Ponchielli's style.
After a brief episode in C♯ minor devoted to the night, based on figuration in staccato, a connected and expressive melody in E minor, played by cellos, introduces the morning. A new pathetic melody in A minor extends to a broad phrase with initial tone in E minor.
A brief diminuendo precedes the attacca of the final coda in A major, a vigorous can-can in the manner of Romualdo Marenco's Ballo Excelsior [it] (1881), introduced by an abrupt change of tempo to allegro vivacissimo.
It was the source of the tune for the song "Like I Do",[6] which was a hit in 1962 for Nancy Sinatra in Italy and Japan, Maureen Evans in the UK and Ireland, and Teresa Brewer in 1963 (as "She'll Never Love You (Like I Do)") in the USA.
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon created a new rendition of Dance of the Hours for his ballet company, Morphoses. The work was featured in the company's New York debut, in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.[7]
References
^Dance of the Hours Flutetunes.com, 2010-08-04. Accessed October 2010]
^New Jersey Symphony Orchestra 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Program notes. January 2010.
^'Ulysses' Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's 'Ulysses' by Don Gifford, Robert J. Seidman, University of California Press, 2008, ISBN0-520-25397-3. p. 81
^More Silly Symphonies: Volume Two Ultimate Disney. Accessed October 2010
^Allan, Robin (1999). Walt Disney and Europe. Indiana University Press. p. 149. ISBN978-0-253-21353-2.
^McAleer, Dave (1990). The Omnibus Book of British and American Hit Singles, 1960–1990. Omnibus Press. p. 59.
^Dance of the Hours Morphoses dance company. World Premiere: September 26, 2006, The Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York. Accessed October 2010.
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For the Pirates of the Caribbean prequel novel see Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow Dance of the Hours Dance of the Hours source source Violinist Joao Pedro Cunha pt 2005 Problems playing this file See media help Dance of the Hours Italian Danza delle ore is a short ballet and is the act 3 finale of the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880 Later performed on its own the Dance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets 1 2 It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia where it is depicted as a comic ballet featuring ostriches hippopotamuses elephants and alligators Amilcare Ponchielli the composer c 1870s Contents 1 Description 2 Structure 3 Derivative works 4 References 5 External linksDescription EditThe ballet accompanied by an orchestra appears at the end of the third act of the opera in which the character Alvise who heads the Inquisition receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber The music and choreography represent the hours of dawn day morning twilight and night Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness It is about 10 minutes long Structure EditThe piece begins with an introduction in G major with vocal assistance in the form of a recitative which is omitted in the symphonic version Then follows in sequence the dance of the hours of dawn the hours of day the hours of the night and the morning The episode devoted to dawn in E major merges with the extensive introduction to the episode dedicated to daytime hours anticipating the rhythmic structure of four notes which characterizes the episode The transition point between the two episodes where it marks the birth of the day coincides with the intervention in fortissimo of the chorus Prodigio Incanto which follows a slow chromatic passage typical of Ponchielli s style After a brief episode in C minor devoted to the night based on figuration in staccato a connected and expressive melody in E minor played by cellos introduces the morning A new pathetic melody in A minor extends to a broad phrase with initial tone in E minor A brief diminuendo precedes the attacca of the final coda in A major a vigorous can can in the manner of Romualdo Marenco s Ballo Excelsior it 1881 introduced by an abrupt change of tempo to allegro vivacissimo Derivative works EditThis article appears to contain trivial minor or unrelated references to popular culture Please reorganize this content to explain the subject s impact on popular culture providing citations to reliable secondary sources rather than simply listing appearances Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2023 The tune is remembered by the character Leopold Bloom in James Joyce s novel Ulysses 1922 3 Dance of the Hours is one of the most frequently parodied pieces of classical music An extract was first used by the Walt Disney Animation Studios in one of their earliest cartoon series Silly Symphonies 4 The ballet was used in full in the Walt Disney animated film Fantasia 1940 albeit with ballet dancing hippos complete with tutus ostriches alligators and elephants including Madame Upanova Hyacinth Hippo Elephanchine and Ben Ali Gator 5 It was the source of the tune for the song Like I Do 6 which was a hit in 1962 for Nancy Sinatra in Italy and Japan Maureen Evans in the UK and Ireland and Teresa Brewer in 1963 as She ll Never Love You Like I Do in the USA Segments of the piece formed the basis for the Andrews Sisters song Idle Chatter 1952 written by Al Sherman citation needed The melody of Dance of the Hours was used by Allan Sherman in his biggest hit Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp 1963 and its sequel Return to Camp Granada 1965 citation needed This ballad also mentions James Joyce s novel Ulysses which references the same melody Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon created a new rendition of Dance of the Hours for his ballet company Morphoses The work was featured in the company s New York debut in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera House New York 7 References Edit Dance of the Hours Flutetunes com 2010 08 04 Accessed October 2010 New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Archived 2011 07 16 at the Wayback Machine Program notes January 2010 Ulysses Annotated Notes for James Joyce s Ulysses by Don Gifford Robert J Seidman University of California Press 2008 ISBN 0 520 25397 3 p 81 More Silly Symphonies Volume Two Ultimate Disney Accessed October 2010 Allan Robin 1999 Walt Disney and Europe Indiana University Press p 149 ISBN 978 0 253 21353 2 McAleer Dave 1990 The Omnibus Book of British and American Hit Singles 1960 1990 Omnibus Press p 59 Dance of the Hours Morphoses dance company World Premiere September 26 2006 The Metropolitan Opera Metropolitan Opera House New York Accessed October 2010 External links EditLa Gioconda Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Full libretto of La Gioconda at Impressrio by Kernkonzepte 2005 Girls ballet performance 2008 on YouTube choreography by Victoria Lyras Portal Classical music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dance of the Hours amp oldid 1145039426, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
