Aaron Green, Music 1010

“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never- satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony.”-Benjamin Britten

Prolific adolescent composer Influenced by Frank Bridge Born in England Traveled and work in America from Developed Aldeburgh Festival  Life & musical journey with Peter Pears  Knighthood before death Composed operas, wrote music scores & chamber music, and an accomplished pianist.

 Some of the more famous work includes: Peter Grimes (1945), Young Apollo, Rape of Lucretia, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1946), A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Death in Venice (1973).

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The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34  0:00—the music score begins with a swelling harmony of the full orchestra playing in unison. At the  zenith of the swell, the rhythm quickens and decrescendos several times with highlights on the  xylophone.  0:28—the swell repeats with a subdued timbre of flutes. After which the French horns and Trumpets  along with other brass instruments combine creating a regal texture.  1:10—the dynamics of the instruments change from the brass to the string instruments repeating the  melody and rhythm of the piece.  1:27—kettle drums, symbols, tambourines, and a triangle interject a variation in the melody  1:43—the repeat of the melody, from the introduction, by the full orchestra continues the swell and  decrescendo.  2:02—a variation of flutes and piccolos, similar to the interjection by the percussion, highlight the  sounds of theses wind instruments by playing notes up and down the scale.  2:35—the oboe supported by an undertone of Chellos continues as a subdued rhythm to introduce a  change to the dynamics of the piece.  3:23—the violin begins only to be followed by clarinets which are used to focus on this reed instrument  by quickening the pace.  4:20—the bassoon playing a staccato rhythm is now introduced and being supported by percussion  drums in the background which thump along.  5:03—at this point the overall form of the piece is dramatically altered by introducing new dynamics in  harmony, rhythm, and texture.

 5:11—the melody resembles the swinging dance rhythms of a waltz highlighted by string instruments.  The sound decrescendos to near silence, almost pausing momentarily, to introduce a new dynamic in  the texture of the piece.  5:49—a soft subdued sound carries the listener along a melodic malaise.  7:30—conintuation of soft subdued sound dominated by the violins and bassoons.  7:54—multiple changes in tempo offset the rhythm set by the Chellos and percussion.  8:10—again the pace of the music slows almost to a stop preparing to introduce a new sound of the  orchestra  8:55—the harp is the main focus for this portion of the score accented by the symbols nearing the end  of the solo.  9:42—drifting, melodic pace continues with the French horn being the instrument of focus.  10:33—the pace rapidly picks up lead by the trumpets and carried throughout the full orchestra as the  music crescendos.  10:59—the quickened alternating pace highlighted by the trombone, flutes, clarinets, and tuba swings  the listener’s attention between the melodic differences of the brass, wind, and string instruments.  12:12—percussion section highlighted the winding down portion of the score featuring the kettle  drums, snare drums, triangle, xylophone, tambourine, wood block, castanets, timpani, tamtam, and  whip.  14:10—the buildup towards the conclusion of the piece involves introducing each orchestra section  layer by layer. First layer is features the wind instruments followed by the reed instruments. Next, the  strings add an additional layer which includes the harp. Then the brass and percussion join in to the full  orchestra’s frenetic swelling conclusion.  16:49—the conclusion.