Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” Essay

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The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is an extremely powerful piece orchestrated by Benjamin Britten and is set up on a theme by Henry Purcell. The theme begins with a full orchestra, then restarted in different sections before leading back to the whole orchestra. The piece was originally educational, meant to teach children about all the different musical instruments. There are about thirteen variations, and each variation is interesting and characteristic in itself to contribute to the whole (Haladiy & Pet’ko, 2021). From my perspective, the music takes listeners on a journey from beginning to end, through many changes to the melody. Moreover, they are able to interact with the music on a personal level, depending on their knowledge and experience.

The first part of the melody features the different families of the orchestra by playing the woodwinds, strings, percussion, and brass altogether. From there, the thirteen themes are displayed by each instrument being played individually (Haladiy & Pet’ko, 2021). Any accompaniment serves to introduce further chords that propel the piece forward. In my view, the different styles at specific volumes and at changing lengths of time create a complex series of lines and display the perfect harmony. In the end, each instrument is played on its own variation of melody at a carefully selected period until they all play in chorus. The French horns join to merge with the initial tune.

The instruments used also represent different histories. For instance, the trumpet was used during battles for communication, and the French horns were used during hunting expeditions. This gives more significance to the music. Today, this musical work continues to greatly inspire and instruct people with any level of musical ability globally. It seems to me that this is a compelling piece of music due to the unique creativity applied to it.

Reference

Haladiy, B. & Pet’ko, L. (2021). The Benjamin Britten Rose: Music in Beauty. BookwireTM. pp. 33-39.

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IvyPanda. 2023. "Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”." April 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/benjamin-brittens-the-young-persons-guide-to-the-orchestra/.

1. IvyPanda. "Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”." April 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/benjamin-brittens-the-young-persons-guide-to-the-orchestra/.


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IvyPanda. "Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”." April 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/benjamin-brittens-the-young-persons-guide-to-the-orchestra/.

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