BCC Brittens The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra Essay

1. Listen to Benjamin Britten’s work, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This work is meant to introduce new listeners to the different instruments of the orchestra though a theme and variations form. The orchestra will play the main theme together in the beginning of the piece and each variation that follows focuses on a different instrument family and instrument within that family.

It is very important that you listen to this work with a listening guide. In the textbook, pages 51-52 contain a listening guide to aid you in discerning the different instruments in each variation. If you are not able to read the listening guide in the textbook, I recommend finding one online, as it greatly helps you understand which instruments are which. Some versions of the work also include a narrator to assist you with this.

After listening, you will choose two different instruments you hear featured in the piece (for example violins and clarinets) and discuss their tone color and the texture, melody and harmony of the section they are featured in. Try and be as specific as possible in your description. Try and include the variation numbers (or timestamps) of the instruments you are discussing. You can find these variation numbers in your listening guide.

Make Sure to Address:

• Listen to Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
• Choose two instruments you hear featured in the work.
  • • Discuss each of those instruments’ tone color/timbre, and the texture, melodyand harmony of the section you heard them featured in.
    • How does that instrument make sound? (Chordophone, Aerophone, etc)
• What did you think of the work as a whole? Any likes or dislikes?
• What is your favorite instrument from the piece? Why?