The Ants and the Grasshopper
One bright day in late autumn, a family of ants was busy in the warm sunshine drying out the
grain they had stored up during the summer. Along came a starving grasshopper, his fiddle
under his arm. He begged for a bite to eat.
“What!” cried the ants in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter? What in the
world were you doing all last summer?” “I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the
grasshopper; “I was busy making music.”
The ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. “Making music, were you? Very well, now dance!”
And they turned their backs on the grasshopper and went on with their work.
Moral: There’s a time for work and a time for play.
LISTENING ANALYSIS 4: The Ants and the Grasshopper - CD track 11
The Ants’ theme
Grasshopper’s theme
Fiddle tune
CD track 8
CD track 9
CD track 10
MELODY
The Ants’ melody has short notes on the xylophone and pizzicato strings. Like the Ants, it
constantly races along.
The high lilting melody of Grasshopper’s theme has a more relaxed motion. Its shape begs as it
turns upward. It’s played on the bassoon.
Grasshopper plays a fiddle tune. Some of its phrases end with upward slides.
Later, Grasshopper’s fiddle tune is heard on the bassoon, faster and much more frantic.
Grasshopper’s magical dancing legs slide across the ground like the glissandos on the fiddle
and the xylophone.
HARMONY
Two times, the Ants shout with dissonance. The first is their reaction to Grasshopper’s whining
for food. The second is when they shrug their shoulders in disgust.
TEXTURE
When Grasshopper whines, the only instrument playing is the bassoon. The texture is
monophonic.
The texture is homophonic when Grasshopper is playing the fiddle tune. It is accompanied by
the bass. A chorus of dancing, fiddling grasshoppers joins the music making.
The texture is also homophonic when the bass tries to keep up with Grasshopper’s frantic
dance.
RHYTHM
Determined Ants flit to the flurry of pizzicato strings and wooden specks of xylophone. Umpteen
short notes, one right after the other, march with the army of ants.
Grasshopper’s theme on the bassoon is made up of different note lengths. Some are longer
and some are shorter than others.
The fiddle tune is accompanied by the regular pulsing bass. The higher fiddle notes are
shorter than those of the bass.
When Grasshopper is doing his crazy dance, the bassoon notes are the shortest of all. They
create a lot of commotion!
METER
The Ants march to a duple meter. The two-beat pattern continues until Grasshopper arrives.
Then the meter seems to disappear.
Grasshopper plays his fiddle tune in a quadruple meter. You can tell it’s a four-beat pattern
when you listen to the plucking of the bass strings.
TEMPO
When Grasshopper begs, the tempo isn’t steady. The fiddle tune is moderato. But when the
Ants shout, “Dance,” the music gets much, much faster. Presto!
DYNAMICS
The Ants move at a piano dynamic level. Ants are small and don’t make much noise… except
when they are boiling mad! They scream “What?” at Grasshopper, fortissimo (very loud)!
Grasshopper’s fiddle tune is mezzo forte. Later, during the crazy dance, it’s forte.
TIMBRE
The light pizzicato strings make the ants sound like they’re tiptoeing off and on tiny hot coals.
The xylophone sounds like brittle wooden bells.
Grasshopper’s theme is sung with the high, thin, nasally voice of the bassoon.
When the Ants’ blood boils the timpani rumble. And the bass and cello tremble.
Grasshopper’s fiddle tune has glissandos. They sound like sliding on a banana peel!
FORM
Intro
A few phrases of the Ants’ theme introduce The Ants and the Grasshopper.
A
The Ants’ theme is played by pizzicato strings and xylophone.
B
Grasshopper begs for food.
C
The Ants cry in surprise.
D
Grasshopper plays a fiddle tune.
C
The Ants cry again.
D’
The fiddle tune returns. This time it’s faster. And it’s played on bassoon, not on a violin.
A’
The Ants’ theme returns. It is shorter than at the beginning.
Coda
The fable ends with a short phrase of the Ants’ theme.