DOCSLIB.ORG

OOTG Listening Guide

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
OOTG Listening Guide Opera on the GO! The Pirates of Penzance L I S T E N I N G G U I D E I N T R O D U C T I O N This 35-minute abridged version of T h e P i r a t e s o f P e n z a n c e is a reduction suitable for young audiences. The following listening guide is based solely on this reduction version which sometimes involved assigning music and libretto lines to characters different from the original Gilbert and Sullivan version. The story of P i r a t e s is filled with satire making fun of the “upper class.” British society during the Victorian period of empire building and colonialism was based on a strict class system which put rich families of “nobility” (the lords) at the top of that system. Gilbert and Sullivan observed these practices by powerful people to control all the other people around them and decided to use satire as a means of commenting on British society. This is similar to what our present-day late- night comedians do to comment on American politics. This listening guide will focus on both words and music to show how Gilbert and Sullivan used their art form to bring attention to the public about the foibles of those who were literally “lording” over them. Some of the tools they use to express their satirical view are: • Forced rhyming - creates an overall silly atmosphere to the setting and to the characters • Made up words - Gilbert makes up words, changing nouns to adverbs for example – parson to "parsonified" and matrimony to "matrimonified." • Melodrama – exaggerated way of saying things • To express melodrama the instrumental accompaniment uses: o Staccato – short notes o Strong accents on longer notes that follow the short notes o Short musical phrases o Repetition echoing an octave higher or lower o Dynamics o Grand pauses This guide will use the following format: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE STORY | HOW THE WORDS EXPRESS IT | HOW THE MUSIC EXPRESSES IT 1 WHAT IS HAPPENING HOW THE MUSIC HOW THE WORDS EXPRESS IT IN THE STORY EXPRESSES IT Overture Short staccato notes and strong accents Octave transpositions that echo short musical phrases Repetition #1. Pour, Oh Pour the Pirate Forced rhyming: Music is in 6/8 meter common Sherry Pirate glass/bumper pass in sea chanties and British folk Seashore in Cornwall, the Pirate prentice/keen his scent is songs about seamen. southern coast of England. The From indenture freed/pirate now Accompaniment is grand with Pirate King makes a toast to the indeed full chords. pirate life and announces that it Frederic’s ventures/his indentures is Frederic’s 21st birthday that And alone he’s free to fly/with marks his freedom from his unusual revelry (pronounce revelry indenture. to rhyme with free to fly) #2. When Frederic Was A Little And as it fell to my lot/apprentice Meter changes to 2/4 Lad to a pilot In piano short notes are Ruth, Frederic’s nurse and Within my brain did followed by accented longer guardian, tells the story of how girate/apprentice to a pirate notes. they ended up with the pirates. (again change pronunciation to create the rhyme) #3. O, Better Far to Live and Pirate King’s philosophy is that it is The meter returns to 6/8. Die better to live honestly as a pirate Accompaniment uses a “bouncy” The Pirate King tells us how than to live in a cheating world style in contrast to the more proud he is to be a pirate. Ruth where the well-to-do are the real serious accusation by the Pirate and Frederic join in. pirates. King against the well-to-do. #7. Oh, Is There Not One The words here could be In contrast to the harsh words, Maiden Here controversial for today’s listeners Frederic’s music is a waltz in ¾ Frederic dreams of falling in love. because “bad complexion” is used meter while the piano is playing He is so desperate that he claims as the example for being “homely." eighth notes like a fast heartbeat. not to care what she looks like. Mabel enters with a huge Mabel enters and claims that she musical flourish called a cadenza is the ugly one who will accept that shows she is very self- him but she is actually very assured even if she pretends to beautiful. think she is ugly. 2 WHAT IS HAPPENING HOW THE MUSIC HOW THE WORDS EXPRESS IT IN THE STORY EXPRESSES IT #8. Poor Wandering One Use of “thou” and “thy” to show Music is lyrical and seductive with Mabel offers her “poor love." her submission to Frederic even tempo changes and markings though she is actually in complete such as “rallentando” – meaning control since he has fallen madly in to gradually slow a phrase for love upon first sight. expressive purposes. She gets carried away at the end with an even longer cadenza that builds higher and higher with each musical phrase. #11a. Here’s a First-Rate Rhyming of every two short Fast tempo – 2 beats per Opportunity phrases. measure Frederic and Mabel agree they Use made up words: Block chords are good for each other. Parsonified – parson is a pastor Music on the Go makes this a Matrimonified – matrimony is short duet for Frederic and synonym for marriage. Mabel. Originally it was a male chorus commenting on the action. #12. Hold, Monsters! Exaggerated language Another Opera on the Go edit, They are interrupted by Mabel’s this music was originally sung by father, the Major General. Mabel and the whole cast. The Melodrama is expressed in the piano with tremolos. Singers use fermatas (holds) and are free to be as dramatic as they wish. #13. I Am the Very Model of a Patter Song: Words are Very fast tempo, block chords Modern Major-General pronounced with every syllable with all eighth notes in vocal getting its own note. lines, 8 measure phrases in 1st Example: ve-ge-ta-ble. verse, sung in one breath with an exaggerated pause before the next verse. Pauses occur throughout while the Major-General searches for the next rhyme. 3 WHAT IS HAPPENING HOW THE MUSIC HOW THE WORDS EXPRESS IT IN THE STORY EXPRESSES IT #18. Now for the Pirate’s Lair! Frederic feels guilty about his Extended recitative (sung This is preceded by spoken Pirate life and vows to do his speech). Exaggerated dialogue as Frederic begs the “duty” and eliminate the Pirates, enthusiasm at the beginning. Major-General to let him marry including Ruth. Frederic vows to Listen to the piano in rising Mabel and swears that he is no terminate them. But when he punctuation at the end of each longer a pirate. The Major- confronts the Pirate King and of Frederic’s declarations. Then General only grants permission if Ruth, they beg his forgiveness. a sudden plunge into a minor Frederic will defeat and destroy Frederic repeats that they are key as he feels his guilt. Listen the “dread” Pirates of Penzance! “doomed to extermination." They for trills punctuating their beg to tell their side of the story phrases. The music, in B flat and Frederic says “say on!” minor, is grandiose again using lots of octaves, fast “heartbeat” eighth notes, and block chords punctuating the phrases. #19. When You Had Left Our Paradox – when two conflicting Piano accompaniment uses all Pirate Fold ideas about something are both previous “tools”: staccato, The Pirate King explains the leap true at the same time. This word accents, octaves, patter, pauses, year paradox that although is repeated over and over again. repetition. Frederic, Ruth, and Frederic is in his 21st year, he has Also, instead of text, the the Pirate King all participate in only had 5 birthdays and it’s the characters sing “ha, ha, ha” and the laughing chorus. birthdays that must add up to 21. “ho, ho, ho." Recitative again with long Frederic reveals that the Major- Pirate King interrupts to explain passages on one note ending General lied to the pirates about using terms like “Astronomer with the last word rising to the being an orphan. Royal” and “ill-natured fairy." next note of the scale. This Original word, paradox, and technique is often used to laughing chorus return. create comic anticipation in a melodramatic way. Music returns to opening paradox and laughing chorus. #20. Away, Away! My Heart’s on Ruth and the Pirate King are off Rhythm is a 9/8 jig – a dance Fire! to avenge the Major-General’s form from Scotland and This is preceded by spoken deception. Frederic is off to beg Ireland and very popular in dialogue where Frederic realizes his Mabel to wait for him. the Victorian Era. duty now is to his pirate comrades and the Major-General had lied about being an orphan. 4 WHAT IS HAPPENING HOW THE MUSIC HOW THE WORDS EXPRESS IT IN THE STORY EXPRESSES IT #21. All Is Prepared Frederic won’t be eligible until Listen for the melodramatic 1940. Mabel calls that “Horrible! tremolo in the piano as Mabel Catastrophe appalling!” reacts to the news. #22. Stay, Frederic, Stay! Mabel begs: “stay, Frederic, The music is full of chromatic This scene ends with Frederic stay!” and Frederic responds changes in the piano and vocal and Mabel swearing to be with: “nay, Mabel, nay”. The lines giving an exaggerated faithful for all the 65 years they comedy is found in his ridiculous sense of melodrama.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Doing the Time Warp: Queer Temporalities and Musical Theater Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1k1860wx Author Ellis, Sarah Taylor Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Doing the Time Warp: Queer Temporalities and Musical Theater A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Theater and Performance Studies by Sarah Taylor Ellis 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Doing the Time Warp: Queer Temporalities and Musical Theater by Sarah Taylor Ellis Doctor of Philosophy in Theater and Performance Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Sue-Ellen Case, Co-chair Professor Raymond Knapp, Co-chair This dissertation explores queer processes of identification with the genre of musical theater. I examine how song and dance – sites of aesthetic difference within the musical – can warp time and enable marginalized and semi-marginalized fans to imagine different ways of being in the world. Musical numbers can complicate a linear, developmental plot by accelerating and decelerating time, foregrounding repetition and circularity, bringing the past to life and projecting into the future, and physicalizing dreams in a narratively open present. These excesses have the potential to contest naturalized constructions of historical, progressive time, as well as concordant constructions of gender, sexual, and racial identities. While the musical has historically been a rich source of identification for the stereotypical white gay male show queen, this project validates a broad and flexible range of non-normative readings.
    [Show full text]
  • American Music Research Center Journal
    AMERICAN MUSIC RESEARCH CENTER JOURNAL Volume 19 2010 Paul Laird, Guest Co-editor Graham Wood, Guest Co-editor Thomas L. Riis, Editor-in-Chief American Music Research Center College of Music University of Colorado Boulder THE AMERICAN MUSIC RESEARCH CENTER Thomas L. Riis, Director Laurie J. Sampsel, Curator Eric J. Harbeson, Archivist Sister Mary Dominic Ray, O.P. (1913–1994), Founder Karl Kroeger, Archivist Emeritus William Kearns, Senior Fellow Daniel Sher, Dean, College of Music William S. Farley, Research Assistant, 2009–2010 K. Dawn Grapes, Research Assistant, 2009–2011 EDITORIAL BOARD C. F. Alan Cass Kip Lornell Susan Cook Portia Maultsby Robert R. Fink Tom C. Owens William Kearns Katherine Preston Karl Kroeger Jessica Sternfeld Paul Laird Joanne Swenson-Eldridge Victoria Lindsay Levine Graham Wood The American Music Research Center Journal is published annually. Subscription rate is $25.00 per issue ($28.00 outside the U.S. and Canada). Please address all inquiries to Lisa Bailey, American Music Research Center, 288 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0288. E-mail: [email protected] The American Music Research Center website address is www.amrccolorado.org ISSN 1058-3572 © 2010 by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS The American Music Research Center Journal is dedicated to publishing articles of general interest about American music, particularly in subject areas relevant to its collections. We welcome submission of articles and pro- posals from the scholarly community, ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 words (excluding notes). All articles should be addressed to Thomas L. Riis, College of Music, University of Colorado Boulder, 301 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0301.
    [Show full text]
  • Enter Your Title Here in All Capital Letters
    AN EVOLUTION OF SONG: OPERA, ORATORIO, AND ART SONG by MEGHAN A. WAKELEY B.M., Ohio Northern University, 2006 A REPORT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MUSIC Department of Music College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2011 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Reginald Pittman Copyright MEGHAN A. WAKELEY 2011 Abstract This master’s report is a discussion of the selections and composers presented on my graduate recital performed in All Faiths Chapel on Thursday, April 28, 2010. This report is also an in-depth look at the history and evolution of opera arias, oratorio, and art songs beginning in the Renaissance period. The first chapter discusses song in the Renaissance period and the origin of opera. Chapter two discusses oratorio and the Baroque period. Chapter three discusses art song and opera arias in the Classical period, with particular emphasis on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Chapter four discusses art song and opera aria in the Bel Canto style and Romantic period. Chapter four will also include information about the operetta. Chapter five discusses art song and opera aria in the Modern period. Table of Contents Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................vi Chapter 1 - The Renaissance: A Birth ................................................................................. 1 Christianity and Liturgical Drama .................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Social Discourse in the Savoy Theatre's
    SOCIAL DISCOURSE IN THE SAVOY THEATRE’S PRODUCTIONS OF THE NAUTCH GIRL (1891) AND UTOPIA LIMITED (1893): EXOTICISM AND VICTORIAN SELF-REFLECTION William L. Hicks, B.M. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2003 APPROVED: John Michael Cooper, Major Professor Margaret Notley, Committee Member Mark McKnight, Committee Member James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Hicks, William L, Social Discourse in the Savoy Theatre’s Productions of The Nautch Girl (1891) and Utopia Limited (1893): Exoticism and Victorian Self-Reflection. Master of Music (Musicology), August 2003, 107 pp., 4 illustrations, 12 musical examples, references, 91 titles. As a consequence to Gilbert and Sullivan’s famed Carpet Quarrel, two operettas with decidedly “exotic” themes, The Nautch Girl; or, The Rajah of Chutneypore, and Utopia Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress were presented to London audiences. Neither has been accepted as part of the larger Savoy canon. This thesis considers the conspicuous business atmosphere of their originally performed contexts to understand why this situation arose. Critical social theory makes it possible to read the two documents as overt reflections on British imperialism. Examined more closely, however, the operettas reveal a great deal more about the highly introverted nature of exotic representation and the ambiguous dialogue between race and class hierarchies in late nineteenth-century British society. Copyright, 2003 by William L. Hicks ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Because of the obscurity of The Nautch Girl and Utopia Limited, I am greatly indebted to the booksellers Christopher Browne and Wilfred M.
    [Show full text]
  • Historians' Analysis of Gilbert and Sullivan's Impact on the Development of the American Musical Theatre
    Winthrop University From the SelectedWorks of Andrew Vorder Bruegge, Ph.D. June, 2011 A Dull Engima: Historians’ Analysis of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Impact on the Development of the American Musical Theatre Andrew Vorder Bruegge, Winthrop University Available at: https://works.bepress.com/andrew_vorder_bruegge/20/ A Dull Engima: Historians’ Analysis of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Impact on the Development of the American Musical Theatre Theatre scholars generally give short shrift to Gilbert, Sullivan, and D’Oyly Carte in narrating the historical development of the American musical theatre, and it’s worth investigating this phenomenon and its causes. By glossing over D’Oyly Carte, Gilbert, and Sullivan scholars have overlooked the historical significance of the Savoy triumvirate for American musical theatre—they developed a formula for producing successful musical theatre productions that Broadway showmakers ultimately embraced in later decades. That formula included the following components: a long-term, symbiotic collaboration between librettist and composer who crafted the book first and wrote music to complement it; a theatrical product that integrated story, music, character, and lyrics into a cohesive whole; the crafting of a product for middlebrow appeal; marketing practices now identified as “retail theatre;” and delegating specialized artistic tasks to an extensive, professionalized, artistic staff under firm directorial leadership. Unquestionably, Gilbert and Sullivan proved that operetta could generate big profits, and American theatricians copied them (Kislan 98). Gilbert and Sullivan’s rollicking trans-Atlantic success in 1879 motivated the American composer, Julius Eichberg, to revise his 1862 operetta, The Doctor of Alcantara, and publish a new version in 1879 with two new songs that closely imitated the Gilbert patter song and some distinctive Sullivanesque musical elements (Kaufman xviii).
    [Show full text]
  • Broadway 1 a (1893-1927) BROADWAY and the AMERICAN DREAM
    EPISODE ONE Give My Regards to Broadway 1 A (1893-1927) BROADWAY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM In the 1890s, immigrants from all over the world came to the great ports of America like New York City to seek their fortune and freedom. As they developed their own neighborhoods and ethnic enclaves, some of the new arrivals took advantage of the stage to offer ethnic comedy, dance and song to their fellow group members as a much-needed escape from the hardships of daily life. Gradually, the immigrants adopted the characteristics and values of their new country instead, and their performances reflected this assimilation. “Irving Berlin has no place in American music — he is American music.” —composer Jerome Kern My New York (excerpt) Every nation, it seems, Sailed across with their dreams To my New York. Every color and race Found a comfortable place In my New York. The Dutchmen bought Manhattan R Island for a flask of booze, E V L U C Then sold controlling interest to Irving Berlin was born Israel Baline in a small Russian village in the Irish and the Jews – 1888; in 1893 he emigrated to this country and settled in the Lower East Side of And what chance has a Jones New York City. He began his career as a street singer and later turned to With the Cohens and Malones songwriting. In 1912, he wrote the words and music to “Alexander’s Ragtime In my New York? Band,” the biggest hit of its day. Among other hits, he wrote “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning,” “What’ll I Do?,” “There’s No Business Like —Irving Berlin, 1927 Show Business,” “Easter Parade,” and the patriotic “God Bless America,” in addition to shows like Annie Get Your Gun.
    [Show full text]
  • Sinfonicron Light Opera's Upcoming Production
    Sinfonicron Light Opera’s Upcoming Production • Osher Lifelong Learning Institute • November 9, 2020 • Ken Krantz, W&M J.D. 1977 • [email protected] Artwork: TNCC Performing Arts Dept. Sinfonicron Light Opera presents SinfoniFest January 29, 30, 31 7:00 P.M. via Zoom Links will be on Sinfonicron social media accounts and at Sinfonicron.org Lecture outline • 1. General background • 2. Patter songs • 3. The Lozenge Plot • 4. Thespis, the Lost Opera • 5. Break, Musical Interlude • 6. Unexpected Gilbert and Sullivan • 7. The Ruddigore Patter Trio through the ages Sir Arthur Sullivan •Born 1842 •Knighted 1883 •Died 1900 •He wrote the music Sir William S. Gilbert •Born 1836 •Knighted 1907 •Died 1911 •He wrote the words Richard D’Oyly Carte •Born 1844 •Died 1901 •He ran the business G&S Works, with date and length of original London run • Thespis 1871 (63) • Trial by Jury 1875 (131) • The Sorcerer 1877 (178) • HMS Pinafore 1878 (571) • The Pirates of Penzance 1879 (363) • Patience 1881 (578) • Iolanthe 1882 (398) G&S Works, Continued • Princess Ida 1884 (246) • The Mikado 1885 (672) • Ruddigore 1887 (288) • The Yeomen of the Guard 1888 (423) • The Gondoliers 1889 (554) • Utopia, Limited 1893 (245) • The Grand Duke 1896 (123) The Patter Song • Fast, tongue twisting song, usually a solo • Origin: From Latin Pater Noster • A mainstay of musical theater, From Mozart and Rossini to Meredith Wilson and Steven Sondheim • Most strongly associated with Gilbert and Sullivan • In G&S, often used to introduce a character • Most often sung by the Leading Comedian, a/k/a Patter Baritone George Grossmith •Born 1847 •Died 1912 •He created most of the patter baritone roles Martyn Green (1899-1975) advice on patter singing: Sing the last part faster than the rest, so the audience will remember the whole song as having been that fast.
    [Show full text]
  • Music Appreciation Study Guide for Final
    MUSIC APPRECIATION STUDY GUIDE FOR FINAL TIME PERIODS Troubadours Middle Ages (1000-1400) L’homme arme Renaissance (1400-1600) Baroque (1600-1750) UNIT 5 (Chapters 11-12): Classical Period (1750-1830) Renaissance (1400-1600) Romantic Era (1830-1910) Josquin des Prez (Mass) 20th Century Music (1910 – Present) 5 Mass Parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) UNIT 1 (Chapters 1-4): Martin Luther Dymanics Ayres Decibals (db) Madrigal Pitch a cappella Timbre John Wilbye (Madrigal) Family of Instruments: Lute/Courses Strings Thomas Morley (Ayres) Woodwind The First Booke of Consort Lessons Brass Consort Percussion Orchestration UNIT 6 (Chapters 13): Tempo Opera Rhythms (whole, half, quarter notes) Recitative/Aria Syncopation Librettos Melody Jacopo Peri’s Eurydice Interval Opera and Musical Revolution Octave Claudio Monteverdi (Orfeo) Tonic Scales (major, minor, & pentatonic) UNIT 7 (Chapters 14): The Essentials of Music Jig Tonal Music UNIT 8-9 (Chapters 15-17): UNIT 2 (Chapters 5-7): Baroque (1600-1750) Harmony Growth of Music Business Chord Harpsichord Arpeggio Plectrum Monophonic/Polyphonic Baroque Instruments Round Dances of the Suite (Allemande, Courante, Binary Form (AB Form) Sarabande, Gigue) Strophic Form Johann Sebastian Bach ABA Form (Rounded Binary) Toccata & Fugue in D Minor Antonio Vivaldi (The Four Seasons) UNIT 3 (Chapters 8): Program Music Middle Ages (1000-1400) Secular Music UNIT 10 (Chapters 18-19) Scared Music Opera Seria Vernacular John Gay (The Beggar’s Opera) Cantata UNIT 4 (Chapters 9-10): Chorale Chant/Gregorian Chant Oratorio Syllabic/Neumatic/Melismatic George Frideric Handel (Messiah) Hildegard of Bingon (Chant) Drone 1 MUSIC APPRECIATION STUDY GUIDE FOR FINAL Unit 12 (Chapters 20-23) Classical Period (1750-1830) Patter Song Pianoforte Ballet Bartolomeo Cristofori Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky String Quartet The Nut Cracker Franz Joseph Haydn The Sleeping Beauty String Quartet in C Major (The Bird) Symphony No.
    [Show full text]
  • A Graduate Recital in Conducting
    Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University Digital Commons Electronic Thesis Collection Spring 5-12-2018 A Graduate Recital in Conducting Daniel W. McDill Pittsburg State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd Part of the Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Performance Commons, and the Other Music Commons Recommended Citation McDill, Daniel W., "A Graduate Recital in Conducting" (2018). Electronic Thesis Collection. 249. https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd/249 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Pittsburg State University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Pittsburg State University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A GRADUATE RECITAL IN CONDUCTING A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Orchestral Conducting Daniel Wilson McDill Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, Kansas May 2018 A GRADUATE RECITAL IN CONDUCTING Daniel Wilson McDill APPROVED: Thesis Advisor _____________________________________________ Dr. Raúl Munguía, Music Committee Member _____________________________________________ Dr. Matthew Montague, Music Committee Member _____________________________________________ Dr. Donald Viney, History, Philosophy, and Social Studies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This degree would not have been possible without the support of my wife, Randalin McDill. There were many times that the stress and pressure of my coursework overcame me, but she was always there by my side to encourage me to accomplish my goals. Because of her, I have become a better musician and person. The amount of love that we share is what makes it possible for us to follow our dreams side by side.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pirates of Penzance
    THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE INFORMATION FOR PRESS RELEASE AND PROMOTION (For further information and interviews please email Joseph Rubin, Manager at [email protected] or call 212-769-1000) This New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players production is your chance to get carried away by Pirates. Join the band of swashbuckling buccaneers, bumbling British bobbies, frolicsome Victorian maidens, and the delightfully dotty “model of a modern Major-General” for a rollicking romp over the rocky coast of Cornwall. This exuberant musical theater masterpiece, directed and conducted by Albert Bergeret with choreography by Bill Fabris, is performed in its original format. The rich sounds of full orchestra, chorus, and legitimate vocal soloists resonate with classic elegance and power while the company’s vibrancy, energy and contemporary sense of humor keep the show alive and exciting to a modern audience. The Pirates of Penzance - they’ll steal your heart away! The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty was first performed at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on December 31, 1879. It was the only Gilbert & Sullivan operetta to have its world premiere in the United States and it has remained popular both here and throughout the English speaking world ever since. Gilbert’s wit (always incisive but never vicious or dated) and Sullivan’s memorable score (including the original tune from which “Hail, hail the gang’s all here” is drawn) are among the most valuable treasures of musical theater history. Patter songs are a Gilbert & Sullivan trademark and Pirates features the most famous of them all, “I am the very model of a modern Major-General”.
    [Show full text]
  • Cowboy Songs"
    The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2018 Cowboy Art Song: A Contextual and Musical Analysis of Libby Larsen's "Cowboy Songs" Ann Gabrielle Richardson University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Ethnomusicology Commons, Musicology Commons, Music Performance Commons, Music Practice Commons, Oral History Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Music Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Richardson, Ann Gabrielle, "Cowboy Art Song: A Contextual and Musical Analysis of Libby Larsen's "Cowboy Songs"" (2018). Dissertations. 1512. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1512 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cowboy Art Song: A Contextual and Musical Analysis of Libby Larsen’s “Cowboy Songs” by Ann Gabrielle Richardson A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Letters and the School of Music at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Approved by: Dr. Maryann Kyle, Committee Chair Dr. Christopher Goertzen Dr. Susan Ruggiero Dr. Douglas Rust Dr. Jonathan Yarrington ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Maryann Kyle Dr. Richard Kravchak Dr. Karen S. Coats Committee Chair Director, School of Dean of the Graduate School Music May 2018 COPYRIGHT BY Ann Gabrielle Richardson 2018 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT This dissertation sprang from a combination of two personal interests: cowboy culture and classical art song.
    [Show full text]
  • Visual and Performing Arts
    San Francisco Opera’s Donizetti’s THE ELIXIR OF LOVE FOR SCHOOLS Curriculum Connections California Content Standards Kindergarten through Grade 12 VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS Music Visual Arts Theatre Dance Media Arts MUSIC STORYTELLING & MUSIC: WHAT IS AN OPERA? Character and plot development through musical themes. Explore how the composer creates different kinds of music for different moments in the story. Patter song vs. Nemorino’s ballad. Musical moods. Legato vs. staccato, adagio vs. allegro. Instruments representing characters and emotions (bassoon at beginning of Nemorino’s aria); repetition and variation of themes. Key plot points: The composer and librettist determine the placement of arias within the libretto to heighten emotion in the story. Call and response between singers and instruments. Definition of overture. How is orchestra set up in pit? What are instruments in an orchestra? Tuning of different instruments. What is a fanfare? How is it used in this opera? Source material for Opera: Novels (Puccini’s La Bohème, Tan & Wallace’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter); Films (The Fly), Real-life events (Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Adams’ Nixon in China; Related genres – Musical Theater (Sweeney Todd, Rent), Rock Opera (Tommy), popular song versions of opera. VOCABULARY Music and Composition Vocabulary Musical Structure: Solos, duets, trios, choral numbers. Composition: Arias, recitative, overture, incidental music. Musical Instructions: Tempo, legato; pianissimo; crescendo, etc. Voice ranges: Soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, countertenor, bass. Identify voice parts of different characters. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Research the history of San Francisco Opera, the Adler Fellows program. Research famous sopranos, tenors, and baritones who have played the roles of Adina, Nemorino and Dulcamara.
    [Show full text]