Benjamin Britten Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is both a study guide and a musical masterpiece. It combines the harmonious sound of many instruments and their unique tonalities. The significant components are woodwind, brass, percussion, and strings. The first category is based on flutes, oboes, bassoons, and clarinets. The second includes French horns, trumpets, trombones, and tubas. The third point comprises various types of drums, cymbals, triangles, xylophones, castanets, and crackers. The fourth includes the harp, cello, contrabass, viola, and the first and second violins.
The composition of the piece is coherent, integral and compact, but divided into certain semantic parts. At the beginning of the work, the whole orchestra plays to provide a listener the impression of integrity. Lately, each of the instrumental groups is separate, which allows one to enjoy the sound of the music of each individual association. Woodwinds are the first to perform, followed by brass, then strings, and the last percussion. After completing the initial acquaintance with the instrumental composition of the orchestra, the author shows the depth of each component. For example, woodwind instruments begin their performance by showing variations of the piccolo flute and flute, after which each device shows its plausible interpretations, and the end of this block is the bassoon. The playing of the rest of the instrumental groups is expressed similarly. The order of performance within the group starts with the highest instruments and ends with the lowest tools. Special attention is paid to the timpani and xylophone in drums since they can reach a particular pitch. Towards the end, the entire orchestra reunites and creates an original fugue (sequential repetition of one theme in different voices). It allows listeners to see how a single melody can be in contrast when played by various instruments. This technique was trendy during the Baroque years of Benjamin Britten.
The pace of performance is ambiguous, which is characteristic of the works of that time. Throughout the act, the author resorts to the method of changing the timbre of registers, dynamics, tonality, and motivational decisions. It is reflected in the reduction in the number of chords in some transitions. For example, the second part of the woodwind is “transparent” because it has been reduced to seven measures by removing one section of the sequence. In the third movement, brass instruments are diminished to six by repeating the singing twice. The fourth episode comprises eight bars, which are organized differently from the beginning. In the fifth movement, percussion comes in, which repeats the motives of the strings. The sixth piece characterizes the picture as a whole since all the instruments are again combined. The general melody consists of a vortex theme, while it unites various repetitive versions of instrumental groups into a single whole.
Personal Impressions
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a world-renowned masterpiece. I liked the product since it suits everyone interested in Baroque music and, in particular, composer Benjamin Britten. I think it should remain a learning tool for beginners because it allows them to understand the sound of multiple disparate instruments. A visual component may be required to amplify the effect since teens these days are more focused on the visual than the auditory experience. People who are professionally engaged in music can get an esthetic pleasure from the fabulous work.