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Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic and early
modern era. Strauss was born into a musical family and composed his first piece of music
aged six. He was very famous for his operas and symphonic poems.
Richard Strauss composed Also Sprach Zarathustra .
The introduction, entitled Sunrise, was used in the
movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Romantic era was a time of interest in nature, history,
legends, literature and even the super-natural. There was a
revolt against the structures and rules of the Classical era.
Composers explored tonality and styles to tell their stories.
Romantic Era: 1780 – 1910
Modern Era: 1910 to present
Till Eulenspiegel, the story
Till Eulenspiegel is the name of a young boy in a fairy story written in 1511.
No-one knows if Till really existed, but in the legend he was born in Germany in a small
village and was a trickster, or someone who played practical jokes on the people in his
village. The adults in the village did not like his practical jokes and when things had gone
too far, Till was arrested, tried and sentenced to death.
Very famous writers and collectors of fairy tales were the Brothers Grimm.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected and published hundreds of such stories including
Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Tom Thumb and The Frog King.
A fairy tale or fairy story is a short story which began in Europe hundreds of years ago.
The stories were often about dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, mermaids or witches.
The stories were often violent even though they were meant for children. This was
because the stories were told to children to teach them the difference between right and
wrong and the importance of consequences for bad behaviour or bad people.
Till Eulenspiegel - The opening
The music opens with a motif that has become known as the once upon a time phrase.
The theme is first played by the violins.
Means comfortably or in no rush in German.
This phrase announces to the audience that the story has begun and it also appears later in
the music between stories to represent the calm before Till starts playing practical jokes
again.
Theme: A theme is a tune or melody which has an important place in a piece of music
Phrase: A phrase is like a musical sentence
Till Eulenspiegel’s theme
Till Eulenspeigel has his own theme or motif. The theme is played by the french horn, and
when the horn completes the phrase the whole orchestra plays two notes which
represents the boy laughing.
Arpeggio uses only the 1st, 3rd and
5th notes of the scale.
This is an descending arpeggio in
the key of C major.
Bass clef:
The melody
changes from
the treble clef to
the bass clef for
the last three
notes of the
theme.
The three notes
are lower in
sound than the
previous notes.
French Horn.
Till’s merry pranks
The clarinet plays the theme representing Till’s laughter to introduce the story of his
practical jokes on his community.
Till rides his horse through the
town market upsetting all the
market stalls, spilling food and
goods everywhere.
He pokes fun at
people he meets
including his
teachers and the
church minister.
He chases the girls!
He rides away on his horse but everyone in the village is angry with him.
Clarinet: The clarinet is a member of the woodwind family
Till is caught!
The first theme reappears as Till is riding away. He is thinking that what he has done is
funny.
Suddenly the music changes. Till has been caught and brought to the judge!
To teach Till a lesson, they send him to trial and then sentence Till to death (remember the
story was created in 1511 to teach children a lesson).
The orchestra plays a funeral march as Till is marched to the gallows in the town square.
All the time Till is trying to joke is way out of the situation.
Do the people of the village teach Till a lesson and let him off with a warning?
There is a drum roll, the clarinet screams to represent Till’s scream and the strings pluck
their strings representing sharp sounds of the gallows…
Listen and Watch:
Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
The Ending – Does Till survive?
But then…the once upon a time theme reappears and Till’s laughter is heard as the
woodwind and brass instruments trill while the violins play a running phrase.
Then the orchestra plays the two note motif, very loudly, to complete the story.
Trill – rapid alternating between 2 notes.
Clarinet.
Running phrase in the strings.
Clarinet: A clarinet is a member of the woodwind family.
Two note motif representing laughter.
Rondo Form
Rondo form has a theme (Section A) that begins the work then reappears between
different new themes (Sections B, C, D etc.).
Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks has been composed in Rondo form. Each story of his
practical jokes has a different melody (B,C,D) and they are joined together by a repeating
theme (A).
Rondo form:
or
A B A C A D A
A B A C A B A
A song which has a chorus (A) that is placed between different verses (B,C) could be
considered as being in rondo form.
A song usually starts with a verse (B) and then introduces the chorus (A), whereas music
composed for orchestras usually begins with the A section.
Listen and Watch:
Mozart Horn Concerto No.4 4th movement is in rondo form
Australian Curriculum – Music
Elements of
Music
Foundation
to Year 2
Years
3 and 4
Years
5 and 6
Years
7 and 8
Years
9 and 10
Rhythm
Beat and rhythm
Fast/slow
Long/short
Tempo changes
ostinato
Compound metre
Time signature
Rhythmic devices anacrusis,
syncopation, ties and
pause
Regular and irregular
time subdivision
triplet, duplet
motif, augmentation/
diminution
Pitch
High/low
Pitch direction
Pitch matching
Unison
Pentatonic patterns
Melodic shape
Intervals
Treble clef and staff
Major scales
Pitch sequences,
arpeggio, riff,
Bass clef
Minor scales
Key and key signatures
Major/minor chords
Ledger lines
Tonal centres,
Modulation
Dynamics &
Expression
Forte, piano
Dynamic gradations
pp to ff
Legato & staccato
Staccato, legato
accent
Dynamic gradations
Articulations relevant
to style
Rubato, vibrato,
ornamentation
Form and
Structure
Introduction
Same/different, echo
patterns, repetition
Verse, chorus, round
Question & answer
Repeat signs
Binary (AB) form
Ternary (ABA) form
Theme, motif
Phrase
Repetition and
contrast
Theme and Variation
Verse chorus, bridge
Motivic development
Sonata form
Interlude, cadenza
Improvisation
Timbre
How sound is produced
Every voice and
instrument has its own
sound
Recognise orchestral
instruments by sound
in isolations and in
combination
Acoustic and
electronic sounds
Voice and
instrument types
Texture
Melody
Accompaniment
Drone
Patterns occurring
simultaneously
Contrast within
layers of sound
Creating
Creating sounds using
voice and instruments
Performing
Playing instruments in
groups
Rhythms
Playing and reading
melodic and
rhythmic excerpts
Sing and play in two or
more parts
Responding
Moving to beat and
rhythms
Respond to the stories
Historical context
Awareness of
ensemble
Rondo (ABACA) form
Ostinato
Recognise
instrumental groups
Layers of sound and
their role. Unison,
homo/polyphonic
Consonance/ dissonance
Chromaticism
Identify instruments
by name and sound
production
Horizontal/vertical
layers
countermelody