A Little Dance Suite (2007)
12 minutes
Full Orch: (*2-*2-2-2) (4-2-3-1) (timp+3+harp) Stgs.
Reduced: (*2-*2-2-2) (2-2-0-0) (timp+1perc) Stgs.
Premiere performance, Nov. 9 and 10, 2006,
Canton Symphony Orchestra, Kelley Corcoran, conductor
This piece was commissioned by the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Gerhardt
Zimmermann, music director, under very specific guidelines. Although this
piece was composed as an education concert work, it is not pedantic and
stands as a work unto itself. In fact, after hearing it during its premiere,
Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann programmed it on a Canton Symphony Orchestra
subscription series concert, for October, 2007.
The work was designed to align with Ohio Academic Content Standards in Music
(grades 4-5) The piece was designed to be both taught in the classroom by
music teachers and performed onstage by the orchestra. Before setting a
single note to paper, I decided that the best way to demonstrate as many of
these criteria as possible, was to compose a set of short pieces of
different forms, styles and rhythmic variety. I chose a dance suite because
a child’s initial reaction to any music is neither to sing it nor play it,
but rather to move one’s body (dance). I set this suite to one day in a
child’s life, from waking up in the morning to a lullaby at night with a
reprise of the first dance so the cycle begins again.
I. Wake Up Dance
This is a very energetic movement in Ternary form (Dance (A),
Trio (B), Dance (A), that features mixed meter. The lively nature of the
rhythm and the catchy melody make it easy for the young students to grasp
mixed meter. The Dance (A) has alternate sections of 7/8 + 2/4, and 6/8 +
2/4. The Trio (B) is mainly 6/8 + 2/4. The rhythmic vitality of this
movement immediately catches the students’ attention.
II. Mariachi Dance
This is a Spanish dance with a Mexican flavor added in the orchestration. It
is a binary form, specifically, verse refrain. The verse is in the Phrygian
mode on E, while the refrain is in the subdominant major.
This is reminiscent of the many Flamenco guitar pieces in Spanish music.
Rhythmically it is all in ¾, except the verse which has alternate measures
of 6/8 + ¾. This is one form of hemiola, a very common rhythmic device,
dating back to the Troubadours of the 14th century, and often heard in
Spanish folk music.
III. Highland Promenade
In this movement, I try to evoke a picture and feel of the mountains of
North Carolina. This area was settled by people of Scots-Irish ancestry, and
their music reflects the highlands of their old country. The music is in
Ternary form: A B A‘. Section A depicts a hike up a mountain trail, section
B is the mountain vista, and section A’ is the trip
back down the trail.
IV. Dance of the Hobgoblin
This movement features “musical imagery” and “call-response” or imitation.
I’ve painted a musical picture of the spooky stories kids sometimes like to
tell each other at bedtime.
I’ve used the Scherzo without the customary trio and D.C. The dance is in
6/8, and one will find several uses of hemiola. The form is again ternary: A
B A’. I use dynamic contrast to depict the different hobgoblins; I also
quote the Dies Irae from the Latin Mass for the Dead (my apologies to
Berlioz!), and use the xylophone to depict skeletons (likewise
Saint-Saens!).
The main teaching point in this movement is the use of imitation
(call-response).
V. Lullaby Waltz and Finale
The lullaby is a waltz (¾, simple triple meter), constructed in American
popular song form. Introduction, chorus (32 bars), Bridge (32 bars), and
Chorus (32 bars). I orchestrated it more heavily than I normally would,
because the students are going to sing and play it, and they need orchestral
support. Otherwise, it would be softer, lighter and more transparent. It is
a very relaxing and soothing piece; there are no fast notes, no big melodic
skips and no rhythmic twists. The rhythm and tempo of this waltz, and the
simple diatonic melody are in sync with the body’s natural rhythm at rest.
The finale is a partial reprise of the Wake Up Dance as the alarm clock goes
off for another day.
There are several versions of “A Little Dance Suite”. For public performance
there is a version for full orchestra: (2*-2*-2-2---4-3-3-1---tmp. +
2---hp---strings), or reduced orchestra (2*-2*-2-2----2-2-0-0----tmp. + 1
hp.---strings).
For classroom demonstration and instruction, there is a version for solo
instrument and piano. (solo includes either violin, flute, oboe, clarinet,
bassoon or cello).
There is also a trio version for the classroom: either violin/ flute/oboe
and viola/clarinet and cello/bassoon.
This piece is but a small part in a larger overall project funded by the US
Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement to design and
implement a school based orchestra education program, with the establishment
of specific academic criteria. The idea is that by establishing these
criteria and holding teacher and students accountable to certain benchmarks,
arts educators can more readily validate the importance and necessity of
funding the fine arts in the public school curriculum.
I would like to acknowledge several people who were of great assistance in
this project.
Gerhardt Zimmermann, music director of Canton Symphony,
Marie-Helene Bernard, CEO, Canton Symphony, for the commission.
Lisa Boyer, Director of Education, CSO for her guidance regarding specific
requirements of musical and educational details.
Kelley Corcoran, assistant conductor, CSO for her musical insights into the
sketches as the piece progressed.
Stark County music teachers and Canton Symphony Orchestra teaching artists
working with the U.S. Department of Education grant for their advice as to
their specific needs within the classroom presentation of this piece.
“A Little Dance Suite” will become available in September, 2008.
