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 commissioned for the British educational documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent;[1] Sargent also conducted the concert première on 15 October 1946 with the Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England.
The work is based on the Rondeau from Henry Purcell's incidental music to Aphra Behn's Abdelazer,[2] and is structured, in accordance with the plan of the original documentary film, as a way of showing off the tone colours and capacities of the various sections of the orchestra.
In the introduction, the theme is initially played by the entire orchestra, then by each major family of instruments of the orchestra: first the woodwinds, then the strings, then the brass, and finally by the percussion. Each variation then features a particular instrument in-depth, generally moving through each family from the higher-pitched instruments to the lower-pitched (the order of the families is slightly different from the introduction). For example, the first variation features the piccolo and flutes; each member of the woodwind family then gets a variation, ending with the bassoon. The woodwinds are followed by the strings, brass, and finally the percussion.
After the whole orchestra has been taken apart in this way, it is reassembled using an original fugue which starts with the piccolo, followed by all the woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion in turn. Once everyone has entered, the brass are re-introduced (with a strike on the tamtam) with Purcell's original melody.[3]
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 by the conductor or a separate speaker during performance of the piece. The composer also arranged a version without narration. The one without narration is more often recorded. The commentary often differs among recordings.
A new narration was written by Simon Butteriss for the Aldeburgh Festival and broadcast live by 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 series of performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra.[4][5][6]
Jazz orchestra versions
Duncan Lamont wrote an equivalent suite of variations (using the same Purcell theme) for jazz orchestra and narrator, The Young Person’s Guide to the Jazz Orchestra.[7]Mike Westbrook's After Smith's Hotel, subtitled The Young Person’s Guide To The Jazz Orchestra, was commissioned by the Snape Maltings Foundation and performed there in October 1983.[8]
^"Programme Notes". London Chamber Orchestra. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
^"Programme Notes". London Chamber Orchestra. 20 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
^"John Hodgman in the Young Person's Guide: Boston Pops: WCRB: WGBH".
^Boston Pops (14 May 2015). "Excerpts from John Hodgman's Debut Narration with Boston Pops". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
^"Excerpts from John Hodgman's debut narration with Boston Pops".
Boosey & Hawkes No. 606. Benjamin Britten – The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Opus 34
History of the London Symphony Orchestra on Film
External links
Animated guide presented by Carnegie Hall
BBC Radio 4 programme about the piece and the score manuscript
March 06, 2023
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This article is about the composition by Benjamin Britten For the television series see Young Person s Guide to the Orchestra This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Young Person s Guide to the Orchestra news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 commissioned for the British educational documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946 directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent 1 Sargent also conducted the concert premiere on 15 October 1946 with the Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall Liverpool England The work is one of the best known pieces by the composer and is often associated with two other works in music history Saint Saens The Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev s Peter and the Wolf citation needed This piece is also commonly played as the intro for british band Yes live tours starting in the 2000s Contents 1 Instrumentation 2 Structure 3 Narration 4 Jazz orchestra versions 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksInstrumentation EditThe Young Person s Guide to the Orchestra is scored for symphony orchestra Woodwinds piccolo two flutes two oboes two clarinets in B flat and A and two bassoons Brass four horns in F two trumpets in C three trombones two tenors and one bass and bass tuba Percussion timpani bass drum cymbals tambourine triangle snare drum temple blocks xylophone castanets tamtam and whip Strings harp first and second violin viola cello and double bass Structure EditThe work is based on the Rondeau from Henry Purcell s incidental music to Aphra Behn s Abdelazer 2 and is structured in accordance with the plan of the original documentary film as a way of showing off the tone colours and capacities of the various sections of the orchestra In the introduction the theme is initially played by the entire orchestra then by each major family of instruments of the orchestra first the woodwinds then the strings then the brass and finally by the percussion Each variation then features a particular instrument in depth generally moving through each family from the higher pitched instruments to the lower pitched the order of the families is slightly different from the introduction For example the first variation features the piccolo and flutes each member of the woodwind family then gets a variation ending with the bassoon The woodwinds are followed by the strings brass and finally the percussion After the whole orchestra has been taken apart in this way it is reassembled using an original fugue which starts with the piccolo followed by all the woodwinds strings brass and percussion in turn Once everyone has entered the brass are re introduced with a strike on the tamtam with Purcell s original melody 3 External audioPerformed by Benjamin Britten and the London Symphony Orchestra Theme Variation A Variation B Variation C Variation D Variation E Variation F Variation G Variation H Variation I Variation J Variation K Variation L Variation M FugueThe sections of the piece and instruments introduced by the variations are as follows Theme Allegro maestoso e largamente Tutti D minor 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 G Lusingando Cellos Variation H Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accel al Allegro Double basses Variation I Maestoso Harp Variation J L istesso tempo Horns Variation K Vivace Trumpets Variation L 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 moltoNarration EditThe 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 by the conductor or a separate speaker during performance of the piece The composer also arranged a version without narration The one without narration is more often recorded The commentary often differs among recordings A new narration was written by Simon Butteriss for the Aldeburgh Festival and broadcast live by 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 series of performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra 4 5 6 Jazz orchestra versions EditDuncan Lamont wrote an equivalent suite of variations using the same Purcell theme for jazz orchestra and narrator The Young Person s Guide to the Jazz Orchestra 7 Mike Westbrook s After Smith s Hotel subtitled The Young Person s Guide To The Jazz Orchestra was commissioned by the Snape Maltings Foundation and performed there in October 1983 8 See also EditList of variations on a theme by another composerReferences Edit Instruments of the Orchestra British Film Institute accessed 24 May 2013 Programme Notes London Chamber Orchestra 18 April 2013 Archived from the original on 4 August 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2013 Programme Notes London Chamber Orchestra 20 March 2013 Archived from the original on 4 August 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2013 John Hodgman in the Young Person s Guide Boston Pops WCRB WGBH Boston Pops 14 May 2015 Excerpts from John Hodgman s Debut Narration with Boston Pops Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 via YouTube Excerpts from John Hodgman s debut narration with Boston Pops Radio Times Issue 2887 10th March 1979 Radio Times Issue 3183 10th November 1984Further reading EditBoosey amp Hawkes No 606 Benjamin Britten The Young Person s Guide to the Orchestra Opus 34 History of the London Symphony Orchestra on FilmExternal links EditAnimated guide presented by Carnegie Hall BBC Radio 4 programme about the piece and the score manuscript Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Young Person 27s Guide to the Orchestra amp oldid 1141539467, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
