Difference between revisions of "ChucKed Elephant Letters Overture"
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| + | The piece that this project is based on will serve as the overture to the children's opera. The point of the opera is it's playability- it is supposed to be easy enough for beginner children's orchestras to play, while fun enough for more advanced orchestras to play. To make it easy enough to perform, I minimized the orchestration as much as possible, to get the bare bones of each family instrument- one flute, one clarinet, one horn, one violin, one cello, marimba, vibraphone, djembe and a host of percussion toys (shaker, claves, maracas, triangle, castanets). I heavily used percussion since a) I play percussion and know it well, and b) percussion plays an extremely vital role in African music. The toys and djembe serve as the accompaniment, while the woodwinds, brass, strings, and mallet instruments make the melody. | ||
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| + | == Overture == | ||
Revision as of 09:46, 7 April 2016
Background
Elephant Letters (2015-16) is an in-progress children's opera that I was commissioned to write by author and librettist G.A. Bradshaw. The opera is based on a children's book, The Elephant Letters, by Bradshaw. The story tells of two elephant cousins living in Africa, Billy and Kani, who are separated through poaching when they are young. Billy is transported to a zoo, and the story focuses on the exchange of letters between the two elephants. Already translated from English into Swahili, Korean, and Chinese, the story teaches its audiences about the elephant poaching crisis, conservation, and the animals of Africa.
Music
The piece that this project is based on will serve as the overture to the children's opera. The point of the opera is it's playability- it is supposed to be easy enough for beginner children's orchestras to play, while fun enough for more advanced orchestras to play. To make it easy enough to perform, I minimized the orchestration as much as possible, to get the bare bones of each family instrument- one flute, one clarinet, one horn, one violin, one cello, marimba, vibraphone, djembe and a host of percussion toys (shaker, claves, maracas, triangle, castanets). I heavily used percussion since a) I play percussion and know it well, and b) percussion plays an extremely vital role in African music. The toys and djembe serve as the accompaniment, while the woodwinds, brass, strings, and mallet instruments make the melody.
