Music in dance-drama Music written by composers for various types of dance-drama. In Western Europe, the main type of music in dance-drama is ballet music. It also includes music for folk and modern dance theater.
1. Mozart Minuet in D Major
2. Bizet "The Girl from the City of Ales" "Dance of the Falanges Duo "
3. Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" "Dance of the Four Little Swans"
4. Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker" "Russian Trepak"
5. Ravel Bolero
7. Johann Strauss Sr. Lovely Anna Polka
8. Johann Strauss Jr. The Lightning Polka
9. Strong> The Emperor's Ballad
10. Emil Waldfeld The Skating Ballad
Ballet Music The origins of the ballet can be traced back to the Italian Renaissance. At that time, during various festivals, there were often feasts at court that lasted for five or six hours and were interspersed with a series of performances, including music, poetry, mime and dance. It is generally believed that the musical dance "The Story of the Golden Fleece," performed at a banquet celebrating the wedding of the Duke of Milan in Tortona, Italy, in 1489, can be regarded as the prototype of ballet. The dances of the time were mainly court dances and the music used is unknown.
In the 16th century, this style of entertainment was introduced from Italy to France, where the Queen's Comedy Ballet was performed in 1581 as a combination of ballet and theater. Its script and music still exist today. The music also included songs, which was the beginning of "court ballet". Before the mid-17th century, the court ballet is quite popular, there have been special composers, but few scores have survived.
In the mid-17th century, France in Louis XIV advocated the prevalence of ballet, the Royal Academy of Dance was established in 1661, the director of the J.-B. Lully is a composer and choreographer, he wrote more than 20 new ballet music. 1664, Lully and Molière *** with the creation of the "comedy ballet" style. In 1669, France also established the Royal Academy of Music, which promoted the specialization of ballet music. Later, it merged with the Royal Academy of Dance to form the Paris Opera, and ballet became an official theater art. 1673 Lully turned to opera writing and introduced ballet into opera, thus forming the convention that ballet must be inserted into operas (especially grand operas.) J.-P. Rameau created a kind of "singing ballet," which simplified the drama to emphasize the dance. J.-P. Rameau created a "singing ballet" which simplified the drama to emphasize the dance.
After the 18th century, ballet was gradually separated from singing and became an independent art (but ballet in opera still exists), and spread to European countries, the music used at that time has not been handed down much. Classical composers such as C.W. Gluck, W.A. Mozart, L.van Beethoven have written ballet music, especially Beethoven's "Prometheus' Creation" is more famous.
This period is commonly known as the classical ballet period. Ballet music style has been roughly stereotyped, can be divided into three types, namely: ① classical dance music, used to set the mood of the group dance; also used to express the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the play, such as solo, duo, and so on. ② character dance music developed from folk dance music, such as Spanish dance music, mazurka dance music, etc.. (iii) Various kinds of music and scene music used for accompanying mime performances. In addition, add the overture or prelude, interlude, finale and so on.
The early 19th century into the period of romantic ballet. The subject matter of ballet gradually turned to romanticism, and was rapidly developed in European countries. The status of women's dance in ballet has improved (in classical ballet is dominated by male performers), and the emergence of a number of famous performers. Pointe dance has also become a major ballet technique. The more important romantic ballet music included "Giselle" by A. Adam of France, "Gabrielle" and "Sylvia" by L. Delibes, and so on. In addition, there were also ballets adapted from instrumental music, such as "The Nymphs" based on seven piano pieces by F.F. Chopin, "Invitation to a Dance" by C.M. von Weber, which was inserted into his opera "The Magic Bullet Shooter" in 1841 as ballet music, and then adapted into the dance drama "The Ghost of the Rose" in 1911. P.I. Tchaikovsky made an important contribution to improving the artistry of ballet music. The music of three of his ballets, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, introduced the characteristics of symphonic music, especially the method of theme development, into ballet music, making music the "soul" of the ballet. Since then, music has played a leading role in ballet.