VIDEO
HIGHLIGHT
Log InSign up
Benjamin Britten: (Illustrated 1080p) The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra - narr. Peter Pears
SummaryTranscriptChat

Benjamin Britten: (Illustrated 1080p) The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra - narr. Peter Pears

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Introduction to the Orchestra

  • The piece "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" is designed to introduce young audiences to orchestral instruments. It features variations and fugues based on a theme by Henry Purcell, composed 250 years ago.
  • The orchestra consists of four main sections: strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion. Each section has instruments that share similar sound qualities and playing techniques.

Woodwind Instruments

  • The woodwind section includes instruments primarily made of wood where players blow air into them. The flute is noted as the highest instrument in this section, accompanied by the piccolo.
  • Oboes are characterized by their gentle yet penetrating sound quality, described as smooth and mellow. They add emotional depth to orchestral music.
  • The bassoons represent the largest voices in the woodwind family, providing deeper tones that complement higher-pitched instruments like flutes and oboes.

String Instruments

  • Strings are played with bows or plucked; they include violins (the highest voices), violas (larger with deeper tones), cellos (warm and rich), and double basses (the lowest with grumbling voices). Each contributes uniquely to the overall sound of the orchestra.
  • The harp stands out with its 47 strings and seven foot pedals used for pitch alteration, showcasing its versatility within stringed instruments.

Brass Instruments

  • Brass instruments begin with horns made from coiled brass tubing, followed by trumpets which are among the most recognizable orchestral instruments due to their bright sound. Trombones have heavier voices while tubas provide even deeper sounds within this family of instruments.

Percussion Instruments

  • A variety of percussion instruments contribute rhythm and texture; notable examples include kettle drums (or timpani), bass drums, cymbals, tambourines, triangles, side drums, xylophones, castanets, and gongs—each adding distinct elements to orchestral performances.

Conclusion: Bringing it All Together

  • After introducing each instrument individually through variations, they will come together in a fugue format where each instrument enters sequentially starting again with the piccolo—demonstrating how an orchestra functions cohesively as a unit despite its diverse components.
Video description

1080p HD version (by request). "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" was composed by Benjamin Britten in 1945 (completed on New Year's Eve 1945 in fact) with a subtitle "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell". It was originally commissioned for an educational documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. It was first performed in public in late 1946. In this 1955 recording, Benjamin Britten's lifelong partner, tenor Peter Pears, narrates. Mono recording, clearly transcribed from an LP record, it still shines - both in performance and historical importance. Courtesy of Wikipedia: "The work is based on the Rondeau from Henry Purcell's incidental music (1695) to Aphra Behn's Abdelazer, and is structured, in accordance with the plan of the original documentary film, as a way of showing off the tone colours and capacities of the various sections of the orchestra. In the introduction, the theme is initially played by the entire orchestra, then by each major family of instruments of the orchestra: first the woodwinds, then the brass, then the strings, and finally by the percussion. Each variation then features a particular instrument in depth, in the same family order, and generally moving through each family from high to low. So, for example, the first variation features the piccolo and flutes; each member of the woodwind family then gets a variation, ending with the bassoon; and so on, through the strings, brass, and finally the percussion. After the whole orchestra has been effectively taken to pieces in this way, it is reassembled using an original fugue which starts with the piccolo, followed by all the woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion in turn. Once everyone has entered, the brass are re-introduced (with a strike on the gong) with Purcell's original melody. The sections of the piece and instruments introduced by the variations are as follows. INDEX 02:40 - Theme: Allegro maestoso e largamente Tutti, Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, then Percussion 03:18 - Variation A: Presto: Piccolo and Flute 03:49 - Variation B: Lento: Oboes 05:07 - Variation C: Moderato: Clarinets 05:50 - Variation D: Allegro alla marcia: Bassoons 06:46 - Variation E: Brillante: alla polacca: Violins 07:33 - Variation F: Meno mosso: Violas 08:43 - Variation G: Cellos 09:54 - Variation H: Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accel. al Allegro: Double Basses 10:55 - Variation I: Maestoso: Harp 11:50 - Variation J: L'istesso tempo: Horns 12:53 - Variation K: Vivace: Trumpets 13:26 - Variation L: Allegro pomposo: Trombones and Bass-Tuba 14:33 - Variation M: Moderato: Percussion (Timpani; Bass Drum & Cymbals; Tambourine & Triangle; Snare Drum & Wood Block; Xylophone; Castanets & Gong; Whip; Percussion Tutti) 16:10 - Fugue: Tutti, Allegro molto Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor: Igor Markevitch Narrated by Sir Peter Pears (P) HMV 1955