Thursday, July 17, 2014

"THE LITTLE FIDDLE" Danny Kaye

"THE LITTLE FIDDLE"

"The Little Fiddle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP1J4pObRIE
Danny Kaye performed this sketch live in the movie 
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

"The Little Fiddle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F_3mcMKzV4

"The Little Fiddle"
Lyrics
My dear children, hello. Oh, no no no children, everyone must answer please hello before we can start. Hello? Well, that is better. Now, if you would all draw up your chairs and listen very closely I will tell you a most unusual story. The story of the little fiddle. As it is told in Symphony number 45, which was written by the great Czechoslovakian composer Andre (gibberish name) Junior.

Now, this story children is very unusual, because it is told not only with words, but also with music. But first I want you to meet the symphony orchestra.

How do you do?
Shake hands with the trombone
And the tuba
And the oboe
And the saxophone, sousaphone, zither and xylophone
Clarinet, buglehorn, fiddle and flugelhorn
Tinny kazoo and the timpani, too
And the piccolo, piccolo


Now some of you children may be very surprised to hear that the symphony is not only music, but that it always tells a story. Which has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Except for the unfinished symphony, which has a beginning.... As I was saying

If you listen you will hear
From the corner of your ear
How the oboe she makes love to the bassoon
And the fife goes diddle, diddle
And the fiddle's in the middle
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Heh, heh, heh, that's what she did. Well, so. Now we tell the story. Which starts with the first movement. Presto vivace argomento molto, cantabile molto, chocolo molto. And we have the first theme which is naturally the theme of the little fiddle.

Now this little fiddle is a young girl who lives with her wicked guardian, which is a french horn. Now this young girl, who is a beautiful girl, and her wicked guardian live all alone on a farm. And all she has for company are a hen, and a dog, and a nanny goat.

Now, one day when her wicked guardian, the french horn, is upstairs busy washing his coils along came a handsome young trumpet. When he clasps his eyes on the little fiddle his heart went zing (musical noise). And he gets so excited he has a big cadenza, which is a solo passage in triple time.

This brings us to the second movement, when the little fiddle is happy, and the trumpet is happy. When suddenly, out stalks the french horn. Ehhhhhh, what's going on here says the french horn. The little fiddle is so "putrified" her bridge falls out. But the trumpet says, we love each other. But the french horn is very objectionable to this marriage. And the trumpet blows his top, ah shut up!

Now I know who you are, you are not the french horn at all. That (nice music) had me fooled for awhile but the (bad music) gave you away. You are a glockenspiel in disguise beyond a doubt wanted by the police for drowning twelve little fiddles out. The glockenspiel tries to escape to his flat but the animals are too sharp for him.

Ow, in the leg!
Ow, in the neck!
Ow, in the face!

Ow, in the other place!

The glockenspiel is trapped, his escape they are foiling, so he jumps into a kettle drum, which is boiling.

INSTRUMENTS MENTIONED
IN THE SONG
bassoon
bugle
clarinet
fiddle
fife
flugelhorn
french horn
glockenspiel
kazoo
kettle drum
(timpani)
oboe
piccolo
saxophone
sousaphone
timpani
trombone
trumpet
tuba
xylophone
zither

CELLO MAJOR SCALE VIDEOS; 2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A


CELLO MAJOR SCALES
2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A
"C" MAJOR

"G" MAJOR

"D" MAJOR

"A" MAJOR

BASS MAJOR SCALE VIDEOS; 2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A

VIOLA MAJOR SCALE VIDEOS; 2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A

VIOLA MAJOR SCALES
2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A
"C" MAJOR

"G" MAJOR

"D" MAJOR

"A" MAJOR

VIOLIN MAJOR SCALE VIDEOS; 2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A

VIOLIN MAJOR SCALES
2 OCTAVES: C, G, D, A
"C" MAJOR

"G" MAJOR

"D" MAJOR

"A" MAJOR

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

PERCUSSION: TAMBOURINE

TAMBOURINE


"Gypsy Girl with a Basque Drum" 
by William Bouguereau
(This instrument is a tambourine)
How To Play Tambourine
Roland Muzquiz, percussionist with The Dallas Wind Symphony,
explains various techniques of playing the tambourine.

.
WHAT IS A TAMBOURINE?
The tambourine is a shallow, handheld drum made of a circular wooden frame with a calfskin or plastic drumhead stretched across the top. The tambourine has small discs called jingles set into its circular frame which produce sound when the tambourine is shaken, rubbed, or struck on the drum head with the knuckles. Early tambourines used in ensemble music were played by Turkish army musicians (a military band) in the mid 18th century known as "Janissaries" ( meaning "new soldier").
An Ottoman Mehter Band

This music style became highly popular at the courts of European princes and brought the tambourine (and also the cymbals, bass drum and triangle) to the attention of a wider audience. It was around this time that the instrument began to be known as the tambourine.

Emile Vernon: The Tambourine Girl
"A Neapolitan Dancer"
by John Bagnold Burgess 

"A Little Spanish Gypsy" 1868
by John Bagnold Burgess 
Among the first orchestral works to feature the tambourine were:

Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Echo et Narcisse (1779) 

and

 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Deutsche Tänze (1787).
Antoine Pesne
François-Alfred Delobbe
François-Alfred Delobbe
The tambourine actually dates back to antiquity and was known at different times under the various names of timbrel or tabret, tympanon or tympanum. Originating in the Near East, they came into being when bells and other rattles of various kinds were attached to the shell of a frame drum. Initially though, frame drums without bells were also commonly referred to as tambourines [tambourine:(small drum), a derivation from the French word for drum, tambour].  The instrument was already known to the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians: in Egypt it was used in religious ceremonies by female temple dancers. Women were the principal players of tambourines in other early civilizations, too.
Apart from being used to accompany dances, tambourines were also 
played in processions, at festivities and at funerals.
In the Middle Ages the tambourine was already common all over Europe. In medieval
Britain it was known first as the tymbre, and until the 18th century as the tabret 
ortimbrel. In France, Spain (where it is called the pendereta) and 
in southern Italy its importance as a folk instrument has never diminished. 
But the tambourine as a part of folk entertainment is not confined to Europe; it is also found in 
many other cultures, for instance in China, India, Peru, Greenland, 
the Caucasus and central Asia.
"Muse with Tambourine" 1561
by Paolo Veronese
Рейксмузеум: часть 2 - Kruseman, Cornelis -- Een van zin, 1830
Cornelis Kruseman
Song of Praise
LINKS
http://www.kydrum.com/dop/dop09/Tambourine%20FUNdamentals.pdf
http://pcasacas.org/SiPC/33.2/hamelman.pdf
http://www.dsokids.com/listen/instrumentdetail.aspx?instrumentid=11
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-music/tambourine.htm
http://blog.thedrumworks.com/2012/11/rockin-it-tambourine-style.html
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3196/3211/3215/5813.vsl
http://www.bluzkat.com/tambhist.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambourine
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/2230341/page3.shtml
http://www.ehow.com/about_5141969_history-tambourine.html
http://www2.si.umich.edu/chico/instrument/pages/tmbrn_gnrl.html
http://www.maryellendonald.com/MEPercussionInstruments.htm
http://dshi110melenki.ucoz.ru/blog/muzykalnye_instrumenty_buben/2012-10-04-15
https://rceliamendonca.wordpress.com/2011/10/page/2/
http://www.wikihow.com/Phttp://www.dsokids.com/listen/instrumentdetail.aspx?instrumentid=11lay-a-Tambourine
http://www.kiwicrate.com/blog/tag/instruments/
"Dancer with Tambourine" by Edgar Degas

Charles-Émile-Hippolyte Lecomte-Vernet (French, 1821–1900)      The Tambourine Player      oil on Canvas
Charles-Émile-Hippolyte Lecomte-Vernet: "The Tambourine Player"
"Mr.Tambourine Man"
by Bob Dylan
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you

Though I know that evenin’s empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, 
I’m branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street’s too dead for dreaming

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship
My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip
My toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin’
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you

Though you might hear laughin’, spinnin’, swingin’ madly across the sun
It’s not aimed at anyone, it’s just escapin’ on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin’
And if you hear vague traces of skippin’ reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it’s just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn’t pay it any mind
It’s just a shadow you’re seein’ that he’s chasing

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you

Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you

Copyright © 1964, 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992, 1993 by Special Rider Music
 http://web.cs.dal.ca/~johnston/poetry/tambourine.html
Cornelis Kruseman - A Sense Of 1830
Painter: Cornelis Kruseman, 1830
HISTORY 
INFORMATION FROM: VIENNA SYMPHONIC LIBRARY 
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3196/3211/3215/5813.vsl

Antiquity 
Tambourines originated in the Near East. They came into being when bells and other rattles of various kinds were attached to the shell of a frame drum. Initially though, frame drums without bells were also commonly referred to as tambourines. The instrument was already known to the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians: in Egypt it was used in religious ceremonies by female temple dancers. Women were the principal players of tambourines in other early civilizations, too. Apart from being used to accompany dances, tambourines were also played in processions, at festivities and at funerals.

Although the size of the instrument and the shape of the jingles have undergone numerous changes over the centuries the structure has always remained the same; the tambourines used by the Greeks and Romans looked very much the same as the modern instrument.

The instrument of angels and traveling entertainers




Frame drum according to Praetorius 
(Syntagma musicum, 1620)

In the Middle Ages the tambourine was already common all over Europe. In medieval Britain it was known first as the tymbre, and until the 18th century as the tabret ortimbrel. In France, Spain (where it is called the pendereta) and in southern Italy its importance as a folk instrument has never diminished. But the tambourine as a part of folk entertainment is not confined to Europe; it is also found in many other cultures, for instance in China, India, Peru, Greenland, the Caucasus and central Asia. 

The medieval tambourine consisted of a rectangular or round flat wood frame with a single head; the underside was open. Four or more pairs of jingles were let into the shell at regular intervals. These jingles were somewhat larger and thicker than today’s. In addition to or instead of the jingles small bells or other objects that produced a rattling noise were fixed to the frame. The tambourine was struck either with the flat of the hand or with the fingers in the same way as its ancient predecessor. 

Medieval paintings and carvings, as well as religious manuscripts, often portray the instrument being played by angels. On the other hand, the tambourine was also a favorite instrument of itinerant entertainers and minstrels. But not only early forms of the tambourine were known as timbrels; the name was applied to other kinds of frame drum as well, for instance the frame drum with one or two heads and a model with a closed wood bottom. These drums were struck either with the hand or with wooden sticks. Some illustrations show still other drums with a single snare across the head; it may be that this string was plucked to produce a tone

The tambourine in the orchestra

Tambourine 
("Mohrenpäucklin" from: Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, 1620)

The timbrel was already being played in concert with other instruments on special occasions in the late Middle Ages. The tambourine’s admittance into the orchestra was initiated in the mid 18th century by Janissary music, which enjoyed huge popularity at the courts of European princes and brought the tambourine – and the cymbals, bass drum and triangle – to the attention of a wider audience. It was around this time that the instrument began to be known as the tambourine (small drum), a derivation from the French word for drum, tambour. Among the first orchestral works to feature the tambourine were Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Echo und Narziss (1779) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Deutsche Tänze (1787).

The inconsistent spellings tamb(o)urin and tambourin(e) in scores repeatedly leads to confusion, the tambourine being mistaken for the tambourin, the Provençal tubular drum. The latter is a drum played with one hand and is made of particularly light wood, is about 70 cm deep and has a single head. It is used for example in George Bizet’s Arlésienne-Suite No. 2 (and therefore also in the ballet sequence in Carmen). It is still used today in folk music in the south of France. Carl Maria von Weber used the tambourine in his incidental music for Preziosa (1821) to represent the gypsy life. Apart from this, the tambourine stands for folk entertainment, dance and, since George Bizet’s Carmen (1875), epitomizes Spanish flair. It is for this specific function, and also to accentuate the rhythm and create a bright musical background, that the tambourine has been used in orchestral works since the mid 19th century.


Femme au Tambourin.  Lionel-Noël Royer (French, 1852–1926).
Royer volunteered before his 18th birthday for the Franco-Prussian War and took part in the Battle of Loigny-Poupry under the command of General Contrie. Contrie, having noticed Royer’s artistic talent, offered to finance his studies at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Royer became a pupil Cabanel and Bouguereau. He obtained the Prix de Rome in 1882. He became a portraitist and, especially, a painter of historical scenes.
Femme au Tambourin: Lionel-Noël Royer (French, 1852–1926)

Pierre Auguste Cot
David Teniers
Beautiful Gypsy by  Kirill Gorbunov
 (285x698, 27Kb)Pierre Auguste Renoir - Italian Girl with Tambourine, 1881 at Sammlung Rosengart Art Museum Lucerne Switzerland
Charles-Auguste Corbineau: La Fille Avec Tambourin
Elihu Vedder
Fabio Fabbi Dancer with a Tambourine
Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun: Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante
Richard Geiger
Anthems for the Nation of Luobaniya • 罗巴尼亚国歌
ntiv_wadd_3617_624x544 (401x544, 37Kb)
Jean Frédéric Schall
Amalie Bensinger: Portrait of a Italian Girl with Tambourine
Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
Makovskiy Konstantin Egorovich
John William Godward
William Bouguereau
Ernst Meyer
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=leon bazile perrault
Léon Bazile Perrault

Louis Leopold RobertGirl from Sorrento Sun
Fabbio Fabbi: The Tambourine Dancer
Jean-Etienne Liotard
Hermann Winterhalter: Fille De L'Ariccia
Alois Hans Schram: Gypsy Girl with a Tambourine

Jean Alexis Grimou

John William Godward

Jan Baptist Lodewych Maes: The Musicians
Leon Francois Comerre
Girl with a Tambourine

 (309x699, 51Kb)
William Merritt
Daniel Hernandez Morillo: Young Girl With Tambourine
Anton Romako

Hans Zatzka: The Tambourine Player

 (473x698, 292Kb)
Fabio Fabbi
Julius LeBlanc Stewart: Spanish Girl