a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 #

the young person's guide to the orchestra - benjamin britten lyrics

the young person’s guide to the orchestra was written specially to introduce you and other young people to the instruments of the orchestra, and it takes the form of variations and fugue on a theme of purcell. now, with the orchestra, there are four sections or teams of players: the strings, the woodwind, the br-ss, and the percussion. each of these sections uses instruments which have a family likeness. they make more or less the same kind of sound in the same way. first, then, the whole orchestra, and then afterwards each section in turn will play the theme written 250 years ago by the great english composer henry purcell

(instrumental break)

the first section is woodwind, where the players blow and the instruments are made mostly of wood

(instrumental break)

in the br-ss section, the players also blow, but the instruments are made of metal

(instrumental break)

the stringed instruments, large and small, are played with a bow or plucked with the fingers, though the harp is always plucked

(instrumental break)

the percussion group includes anything which is struck. when they have played the theme, you will hear it again on the full orchestra

(instrumental break)

now each instrument will play a variation of its own. the highest of the woodwind section is the flute and its little brother, the piccolo

(instrumental break)

oboes have a gentle, plaintive quality, but they can be penetrating enough when the composer asks them to be

(instrumental break)

clarinets are very agile. their sound is smooth and mellow

(instrumental break)

b-ssoons are the largest of the woodwind team. they have the deepest voices

(instrumental break)

the highest voices in the string section are the violins. they play in two groups, firsts and seconds

(instrumental break)

violas are somewhat larger than violins, and so have a deeper tone

(instrumental break)

still larger and deeper are the cellos. their voices are warm

(instrumental break)

the double b-sses are the grandfathers of the string family, heavy, grumbling voices

(instrumental break)

the harp has 47 strings and several foot pedals to alter the pitch of the strings

(instrumental break)

the br-ss family begins with the horns. these are made from br-ss tubing, coiled into a circle

(instrumental break)

perhaps the most familiar of all the instruments are the trumpets

(instrumental break)

the trombones have heavy, br-ssy voices, and the b-ss tuba is heavier still

(instrumental break)

there’s a large number of percussion instruments. we can’t play them all, but here are the most familiar ones. first, the kettle drums, often called timpani

(instrumental break)

the b-ss drum and cymbals

(instrumental break)

tambourine and triangle

(instrumental break)

the side drum and chinese block

(instrumental break)

the xylophone

(instrumental break)

the castanets and gong

(instrumental break)

and before they all play together, the whip

(instrumental break)

in these variations, we have taken the whole orchestra to pieces. now we are going to put it together again with a fugue. the instruments come in one after another in the same order as before, beginning with the piccolo, and at the end, while the others go on playing the fugue, the br-ss will play for the last time, henry purcell’s great theme

- benjamin britten lyrics

Random Song Lyrics :

Popular