Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra
In 1946, the British government commissioned composer Benjamin Britten to write music for an educational film introducing young people to the orchestra. He decided to use a musical theme composed in the 17th century by another English composer, Henry Purcell (1659-1695). In Britten's piece, the theme is played, first by the full orchestra, then followed by each section of the orchestra. Following this introduction are several variations featuring individual instruments or families of instruments. There is a narration describing the various instruments that can be read during the musical transitions in between variations, or the piece can be performed without narration.
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To listen to the entire performance, click here.
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Read each section below to learn more about the theme and variations.
Introduction
Watch the video of the introduction or theme. The video is a listening map that shows how the notes move up and down and also shows which family of the orchestra is playing. The theme is played first by the full orchestra followed by the woodwind, brass, string and percussion families. It is then played one more time by the full orchestra. The order is also shown in the listening map pictured above.
Meet The Woodwinds
Listen to the variations played by the woodwind family. This link will take you to a video of the entire performance, but you can skip ahead to 2:10 to hear the woodwind section. You can follow the listening map above and answer the questions as you listen.
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Variation A: Britten begins with the highest sounding woodwinds, the flute and its smaller relative, the piccolo. Two flutes begin at 2:10 and are joined at 2:25 by the piccolo.
Variation B: At 2:44 the flutes and piccolo take a rest, and two oboes play.
Variation C: At 3:39, we hear from two clarinets.
Variation D: At 4:16, we hear from the woodwind family's largest and lowest sounding member, the bassoon.
Meet The Strings
In this next set of variations, Britten features the four regular members of the orchestra from highest to lowest followed by the harp. Again, you can follow this link to the full performance, but skip ahead to 5:07 to hear the string variations. Follow along with the listening map above, answering questions as you listen.
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Variation E: At 5:07 we hear the 1st and 2nd violins. While the violins use their bows for most of this section, notice that towards the end of the variation they play pizzicato, meaning they pluck the strings with their fingers.
Variation F: At 5:40, the violins' slightly larger relative, the violas, take over.
Variation G: At 6:40 we hear the cellos.
Variation H: At 7:44 we hear from the low sounding string basses.
Variation I: Finally, at 8:45 we hear from the harp. This instrument has 47 strings and 7 pedals which are used to change the pitch of the stings.
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Meet The Brass
Now we will focus on the brass section. The members of the brass family have many similarities - they are all made of brass and with the exception of the trombone, they have valves. They do have some differences as well, including varied shapes and sizes which produce a wide range of pitches and a variety of sound characteristics.
Click on the link and skip ahead to 9:34 to hear the brass variations. Follow along with the listening map above, answering questions as you listen.
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Variation J: At 9:34 we hear the French Horns. For most of this section, they play long sustained notes.
Variation K: At 10:22, the trumpets enter.
Variation L: This variation, beginning at 10:52, features the trombones. This instrument uses a slide instead of valves to change the pitch. At 11:08, the low-sounding tuba joins the trombones.
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Meet The Percussion
The final family to be featured is the percussion family. This family has the largest number of different instruments. Some instruments, like the timpani, play specific pitches. Some, like the xylophone, can play melodies. Many other percussion instruments produce non-pitched sound effects. In this section, Britten uses many non-pitched percussion instruments (some of which you have likely played in music class) such as the bass drum, cymbals,tambourine, triangle, wood block, snare drum, castanets and the whip.
Click on the link and skip ahead to 12:07 to hear the percussion variations. You can follow the listening map above and answer questions as you listen.
Variation M: Introducing the percussion family, at 12:07 we have the timpani. Other percussion instruments join in as follows:
12:23 bass drum and cymbals
12:32 tambourine and triangle
12:43 snare drum and woodblock
12:53 xylophone
13:04 castanets and gong
13:08 whip
The variation ends with all percussion instruments playing together before fading out.
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Finale
Britten began Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by introducing us to each family of the orchestra as they took turns playing the theme in the introduction. Then, he featured the instruments within each family through a series of variations. Now, in the finale, he puts the orchestra back together, using a fugue.
A fugue is a type of composition in which voices or instruments are layered in a special way. A short melody, called the subject, is introduced by one instrument. One by one, new instruments enter, either playing the subject or developing it. These parts overlap, creating layers of sound.
At the end of the fugue, the brass plays Purcell's theme one more time, and the composition ends with an exciting coda (ending)!
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Click on the link and skip ahead to 13:52 to hear the finale. The instruments appear in the following order:
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13:52 piccolo
13:59 flute
14:07 oboe
14:13 clarinet
14:23 bassoon
14:34 violin
14:44 viola
14:48 cello
14:53 string bass
15:05 harp
15:18 French horn
15:23 trumpet
15:31 trombone and tuba
15:37 percussion
15:47 Purcell's theme
16:17 coda
Activities
Click on the following families to download printable worksheets:
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