Orchestra Warm-Up
Check-List
t 1:30PM, the Orchestra musicians will come onto the
stage, one by one, to warm-up and get ready for their
concert. You can identify which “family,” or group of
instruments, they are in by the color of their shirt.
A
As they come on stage to warm-up,
which musicians do you see and hear?
STRINGS = red or pink
WOODWINDS = green
BRASS = blue
PERCUSSION = orange
HARP AND KEYBOARDS = light blue
I see it!
In Bernstein’s Mambo, the PERCUSSION section plays instruments with Latin
American and African origins: they shake maracas, scrape a guiro (a hollow gourd
with notches), and bang on bongos.
I see it!
In Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, the HARPS play lots of glissandos —
they sweep their fingers across all the strings to make a swooping sound.
I see it!
In R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Suite, the VIOLINS play flowing melodies using their
full bow, from the “frog” of the bow (the part closest to their hand) to the very tip.
I see it!
Circles of Dance
T
he waltz comes from Europe and the batuque
from Africa. The waltz is in a clear triple meter,
the batuque has several simultaneous rhythms. The waltz is
danced with a partner, the batuque with a group. But what
they have in common is the circle. In the waltz, partners
spin clockwise and rotate in a larger circle counterclockwise.
In the batuque, a group forms a communal circle and everyone plays drums and sings while solo dancers take turns in
the middle.
□
The New York Philharmonic is dressed by UNIQLO.
At the beginning of On the Beautiful Blue Danube, the HORNS play a distant-sounding
call that signals the start of a waltz.
□
□
□
I hear it!
I hear it!
I hear it!
I hear it!
Draw your own pattern in the circle below, then name and describe
your dance. Use the following ideas to help you:
The tempo of my dance:
□ Very fast □ Slow
□ Fast
□ Very slow
□ Medium
□
□
□
□
If you drew a diagram of a If you drew a diagram of a
WALTZ it might look like: BATUQUE it might look like:
Try imagining your own circle dance!
My dance is for:
□ A partner/partners
□ A soloist
□ A group
Some characteristics of my dance:
□ Smooth
□ Mechanical
□ Jazzy
□ Energetic
□ Hoppy
□ Gliding
□ Graceful
□ Rhythmic
□ Bumpy
□ Romantic
YOUR DANCE NAME:
YOUR DANCE DESCRIPTION:
MetLife Foundation is the Lead Corporate Underwriter for the New York Philharmonic's Education Programs.
Additional support by The Theodore H. Barth Foundation.
u
e
Tn Up!
S AT U R DAY,
M AY 9 , 2 0 1 5
Welcome to the Young People’s Concerts®!
Music is motion — it grows out of the rhythms of our bodies, from the beat of our hearts to
the pace of our walks. And music inspires motion — when music is composed for dancing, it
can be impossible to sit still! The musical capital of the 19th century, Vienna, went wild for a
dance called the waltz. Everyone waltzed, and the sound of waltz music became the sound of
Vienna. Composers transformed waltz music for dancers into concert-listening music and operas. Why have
composers been so obsessed with this dance? Prepare to be swept along in the swirling rhythms and
phrasings of the waltz and other dance crazes. It’s DanceTransformed!
T
H
E
P
R
O
G
R
A
M
J. STRAUSS, JR. On the Beautiful Blue Danube
ALAN GILBERT conductor
RAVEL
Selections from Valses nobles et sentimentales
THEODORE WIPRUD host
FERNÁNDEZ
Batuque, from Reisado do pastoreio
DANCING CLASSROOMS YOUTH DANCE COMPANY
ALEE REED artistic director
MARVIN HERNANDEZ, ELIZABETH WEINSTEIN dancers
BERNSTEIN
Mambo, from Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
R. STRAUSS
Selections from Der Rosenkavalier Suite
HEATHER LIPSON BELL choreographer and dancer
TOM DULACK scriptwriter and director
WaltzingThrough The Ages
People have been dancing the waltz for hundreds of years.
See how it changed over time!
1750s
1770s
1800s
German peasants begin
dancing the “Walzer” —
a gliding dance for couples.
The waltz is introduced
into the ballroom; the
closeness and twirling
shocks audiences!
Huge dance halls open in Vienna.
Everyone wants to waltz!
1860-70s
1910s
1950s
The waltz gains
international favor.
J. Strauss, Jr. and his
orchestra tour the U.S.
and give a concert for
over 1,000 performers!
Almost 50 years after the
peak of the waltz’s popularity,
Ravel and R. Strauss write
concert music and operas
that evoke the waltz with
tenderness and longing.
Cinderella waltzes
with Prince Charming
in Disney’s animated
movie and lives
happily ever after!
About The Artists
Ravel
Richard Strauss
WALTZ
Not to be confused with the great waltz composer Johann Strauss, Jr.,
A ballroom dance with
Richard
Strauss (1864–1949) is considered the last great Romantic
German origins in triple
composer. He revolutionized melody and harmony, creating a musical
meter with smooth, gliding
steps that move forward and language that included expressive leaps in melody and light textures
contrasting with heavy dissonances and chromaticism. While some critics
backward. Dancers — paired
believe Strauss’s music was overly sentimental in style, his range of
up in a closed position —
orchestral effects and his dramatic instincts were exceptional.
rotate as they step, circling
Richard Strauss’s most popular opera, Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of
across the dance
the
Rose), was also the composer’s favorite. In this comic opera, Strauss
floor.
Ravel liked to study scores by composers he admired. He was so charmed
demonstrates his total mastery of the Viennese waltz. Strauss indulges the
by a collection of waltzes for the piano by the German composer
listener with glorious, lush melody — the score for Der Rosenkavalier
Franz Schubert, he decided to write his own set: Valses nobles et
features well over 100 instruments! Strauss’s
sentimentales (Noble and Sentimental Waltzes). While Schubert
ingenious use of so many instruments
and Ravel do not have a lot in common, and Ravel did not quote any
produced a stunning range of color and
of Schubert’s music directly, both works express the same intimate
a luxuriousness of sound that was,
and enchanting qualities of the waltz and are meant for listening
The son of a violinist, composer, and orchestra leader, Johann Strauss, Jr.
and still is, cherished by many.
pleasure, not for dancing. Originally written for
(1825–99) grew up in Vienna and eventually became that city’s leading compiano, Ravel arranged Valses nobles et
poser of light music. His artistry in crafting the most delightful polkas and
BATUQUE
MAMBO
sentimentales for orchestra and
waltzes not only earned him international fame and the nickname “The
A percussion-driven
eventually turned it into a ballet.
A dance created in Havana
Waltz King,” but some of the best musical minds of the day — like
Brazilian dance of African
in 1943 and introduced to
Wagner and Brahms — were fans of his music. To think, if he had
origin
performed in a group,
New York City a few years later. followed his father’s wishes to be a banker instead of a composer!
usually by women. Participants
The combination of syncopation
form a circle and beat a
Perhaps
the
most
famous
waltz
of
all
time
—
and
certainly
the
most
(unexpected accents that are
continuous rhythmic pattern
famous of the hundreds of waltzes J. Strauss, Jr. wrote — On the
off-beat) and Cuban and
while
singing a melody with a
Beautiful Blue Danube is rich with musical themes that flow graceAmerican jazz rhythms has
different rhythm. Soloists take
fully from one to the next. Beginning with shimmering strings and a
challenged and thrilled
turns dancing in the middle
romantic
horn
call
in
the
distance
that
beckons
you
in,
the
music
dancers.
of the circle.
picks up momentum and takes dancers and listeners
on a whirling, seamless journey through
five waltzes.
Conductor, pianist, composer, author, and educator, Leonard Bernstein
(1918–90) was only 25 years old when he rocketed to world fame in 1943 as a
last-minute substitute conductor of a New York Philharmonic concert that was
Brazilian composer Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (1897–1948) grew
broadcast across the nation. Bernstein was greatly admired for his diverse musical
up in Rio de Janeiro. He studied at Brazil’s National Institute of Music, later
talents: he composed hit Broadway shows, symphonies, and concertos; conducted
becoming a professor of harmony there, and founded both the Society for
the world’s best orchestras and recorded more music than any conductor before
Musical Culture and the Brazilian Conservatory of Music. Though he began his
or since; and opened up the world of music for adults and kids in a variety of
career writing Romantic operatic and vocal music based on European models,
programs, including the Young People’s Concerts. He was the first American-born
he later composed music distinctly more Brazilian in character, often quoting or
and -trained conductor to achieve international stardom.
evoking Brazilian popular songs and melodies from Afro-Brazilian traditions.
French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) developed an elegant
personal style of composition that included clear, bright, and colorful sounds.
A master orchestrator, he carefully studied the ability of each instrument and
determined all the possible effects. In this way, he created a range of unique
and exotic sounds. The rhythms and meters in his music were often inspired by
dance. The graceful minuet, dynamic Spanish bolero, ragtime dances, and stately
Baroque dances can all be found in his works. He had a special fondness for the
waltz which, for him, symbolized joie de vivre — the carefree enjoyment of life!
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Bernstein
Fernández
West Side Story stemmed from an idea to create a musical retelling of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set on Manhattan’s Upper West Side —
where Avery Fisher Hall stands today. The musical portrays young love set
against the cultural and ethnic differences of two rival gangs: the American
Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks. Bernstein reflects the cultural diversity in the
story through a fusion of symphonic and jazz music and Latin-beat dances,
including the Cuban-originated Mambo. West Side Story remains
an important milestone in American musical theater today.
Batuque, the finale of Fernández’s suite called Reisado do pastoreio, pulsates
and mimics the rhythms, singing, and communal nature of batuque performances.
Batuque features syncopation, when an accent falls where you don’t expect it,
as well as polyrhythms, when conflicting rhythms are featured at the same
time. Both syncopation and polyrhythms are characteristic of African music.
By referring to the African origins of the batuque in his composition,
Fernández is commenting on the importance of diversity in Brazil’s
culture.
New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert
began his tenure in September 2009. The first native New
Yorker to hold the post, he has sought to make the Orchestra a
point of pride for the city and country. Last week, Mr. Gilbert presided over the
Philharmonic’s EUROPE / SPRING 2015 tour with stops in London, where he conducted
a Young People’s Concert; Cologne, where he led a World Premiere; and Dublin,
Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Paris, and Frankfurt. Mr. Gilbert is Juilliard’s Director of
Conducting and Orchestral Studies, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conductor
Laureate, and Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor.
He regularly conducts leading orchestras nationally and internationally and has
collaborated on two Grammy Award–winning recordings.
Theodore Wiprud leads educational activities at the
New York Philharmonic as Vice President, Education, The Sue
B. Mercy Chair. The Philharmonic’s education programs include
the historic Young People’s Concerts, Very Young People’s
Concerts, Very Young Composers, and many other programs for
school children, aspiring orchestral performers, and adults. Ted has also created
innovative education programs for other ensembles, such as the Brooklyn Philharmonic,
American Composers Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has worked as a
teaching artist and resident composer in a number of New York City schools. Ted’s
Violin Concerto (Katrina) was recently released on Champs Hill Records.
Every child in the Dancing Classrooms Youth Dance
Company began the ballroom journey through in-school residencies in New York City elementary schools. They then continued their training through the Dancing Classrooms Academy,
from which company members were selected. Under the artistic direction of Alee Reed, the company has performed in
such venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, New York City Center, Madison
Square Garden, the U.S. Open, and the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda; and
has collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Orchestra, Little Orchestra Society, Interschool Orchestras, Cross Border Orchestra
of Ireland, and with cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Performer, choreographer, and educator Heather Lipson
Bell works nationally and abroad on stage and screen, in
both the classroom and the community. She holds a bachelor of fine arts from the Boston Conservatory. She has
appeared with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic
orchestras; Los Angeles, Dallas, Palm Beach, and Boston Lyric opera
companies; and many more. Her film credits include the Academy Award–winning films
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and West Bank Story. Currently she is co-artistic
director
of Teatro Filarmonico; founder and creative director of Performing Arts For All;
assistant director and co-choreographer with Los Angeles Opera
Education Department.
Tom Dulack is an award-winning playwright, novelist,
and director who has written and directed the scripts for the
Young People’s Concerts since 2005. His most recent play, The
Road to Damascus, appeared Off-Broadway in January 2015. Winner of a
Kennedy Center Prize for New American Drama for his play Incommunicado, his other
plays include Friends Like These, Breaking Legs, Francis, York Beach, Just Deserts,
1348, and The Elephant. Tom is also the author of the theater memoir In Love With
Shakespeare. He is professor of English Literature at the University of Connecticut.
What’s Coming Up…
Stories, poems, legends, tales of heroes and
villains all come to life in music by great
composers. Join the New York Philharmonic
for a season of drama and whimsy that will
inspire a lifelong love of symphonic music.
The season begins December 12, 2015. Visit nyphil.org for more information.
Once Upon
a Time
Orchestra Warm-Up
Check-List
t 1:30PM, the Orchestra musicians will come onto the
stage, one by one, to warm-up and get ready for their
concert. You can identify which “family,” or group of
instruments, they are in by the color of their shirt.
A
As they come on stage to warm-up,
which musicians do you see and hear?
STRINGS = red or pink
WOODWINDS = green
BRASS = blue
PERCUSSION = orange
HARP AND KEYBOARDS = light blue
I see it!
In Bernstein’s Mambo, the PERCUSSION section plays instruments with Latin
American and African origins: they shake maracas, scrape a guiro (a hollow gourd
with notches), and bang on bongos.
I see it!
In Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, the HARPS play lots of glissandos —
they sweep their fingers across all the strings to make a swooping sound.
I see it!
In R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Suite, the VIOLINS play flowing melodies using their
full bow, from the “frog” of the bow (the part closest to their hand) to the very tip.
I see it!
Circles of Dance
T
he waltz comes from Europe and the batuque
from Africa. The waltz is in a clear triple meter,
the batuque has several simultaneous rhythms. The waltz is
danced with a partner, the batuque with a group. But what
they have in common is the circle. In the waltz, partners
spin clockwise and rotate in a larger circle counterclockwise.
In the batuque, a group forms a communal circle and everyone plays drums and sings while solo dancers take turns in
the middle.
□
The New York Philharmonic is dressed by UNIQLO.
At the beginning of On the Beautiful Blue Danube, the HORNS play a distant-sounding
call that signals the start of a waltz.
□
□
□
I hear it!
I hear it!
I hear it!
I hear it!
Draw your own pattern in the circle below, then name and describe
your dance. Use the following ideas to help you:
The tempo of my dance:
□ Very fast □ Slow
□ Fast
□ Very slow
□ Medium
□
□
□
□
If you drew a diagram of a If you drew a diagram of a
WALTZ it might look like: BATUQUE it might look like:
Try imagining your own circle dance!
My dance is for:
□ A partner/partners
□ A soloist
□ A group
Some characteristics of my dance:
□ Smooth
□ Mechanical
□ Jazzy
□ Energetic
□ Hoppy
□ Gliding
□ Graceful
□ Rhythmic
□ Bumpy
□ Romantic
YOUR DANCE NAME:
YOUR DANCE DESCRIPTION:
MetLife Foundation is the Lead Corporate Underwriter for the New York Philharmonic's Education Programs.
Additional support by The Theodore H. Barth Foundation.
u
e
Tn Up!
S AT U R DAY,
M AY 9 , 2 0 1 5
Welcome to the Young People’s Concerts®!
Music is motion — it grows out of the rhythms of our bodies, from the beat of our hearts to
the pace of our walks. And music inspires motion — when music is composed for dancing, it
can be impossible to sit still! The musical capital of the 19th century, Vienna, went wild for a
dance called the waltz. Everyone waltzed, and the sound of waltz music became the sound of
Vienna. Composers transformed waltz music for dancers into concert-listening music and operas. Why have
composers been so obsessed with this dance? Prepare to be swept along in the swirling rhythms and
phrasings of the waltz and other dance crazes. It’s DanceTransformed!
T
H
E
P
R
O
G
R
A
M
J. STRAUSS, JR. On the Beautiful Blue Danube
ALAN GILBERT conductor
RAVEL
Selections from Valses nobles et sentimentales
THEODORE WIPRUD host
FERNÁNDEZ
Batuque, from Reisado do pastoreio
BERNSTEIN
Mambo, from Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
R. STRAUSS
Selections from Der Rosenkavalier Suite
DANCING CLASSROOMS YOUTH DANCE COMPANY
ALEE REED artistic director
MARVIN HERNANDEZ, ELIZABETH WEINSTEIN dancers
HEATHER LIPSON BELL choreographer and dancer
TOM DULACK scriptwriter and director
WaltzingThrough The Ages
People have been dancing the waltz for hundreds of years.
See how it changed over time!
1750s
1770s
1800s
German peasants begin
dancing the “Walzer” —
a gliding dance for couples.
The waltz is introduced
into the ballroom; the
closeness and twirling
shocks audiences!
Huge dance halls open in Vienna.
Everyone wants to waltz!
1860-70s
1910s
1950s
The waltz gains
international favor.
J. Strauss, Jr. and his
orchestra tour the U.S.
and give a concert for
over 1,000 performers!
Almost 50 years after the
peak of the waltz’s popularity,
Ravel and R. Strauss write
concert music and operas
that evoke the waltz with
tenderness and longing.
Cinderella waltzes
with Prince Charming
in Disney’s animated
movie and lives
happily ever after!