Dance of the Hours
Encyclopedia
Dance of the Hours is a short ballet from Act 3, Scene 2 of the opera La Gioconda
composed by Amilcare Ponchielli
. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880. Later performed on its own, the Dance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets. It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia
where it is depicted as a comic ballet featuring anthropomorphized ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators.
, receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber. The music and choreography
represent the hours of dawn, day, twilight, night and morning. Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression. The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness. Altogether it is about 10 minutes long.
which is omitted in the symphonic version. Then follows in sequence: the dance of the hours of dawn, the hours of day, the hours of the night and the morning.
The episode devoted to dawn (in E major) merges with the extensive introduction to the episode dedicated to daytime hours, anticipating the rhythmic structure of four notes, which characterizes the episode. The transition point between the two episodes, where it marks the birth of the day, coincides with the intervention in fortissimo of the chorus ("Prodigio! Incanto!"), which follows a slow chromatic passage, typical of the author's style.
After a brief episode in C sharp minor devoted to the night, based on figuration in staccato, a connected and expressive melody in E minor, played by cellos, introduces the morning. A new pathetic melody in A minor extends to a broad phrase with initial tone in E minor.
's novel Ulysses
(1922) while he is idly imagining poisoning his wife.
The Dance of the Hours is one of the most frequently parodied pieces of classical music.
An extract was first used by the Disney studio in one of its earliest cartoon series, Silly Symphonies
. In a short 6 minute film called Springtime (1929), bugs and birds dance to melodies until a rainstorm breaks out. When the rain stops, the dancing recommences, but now the tune is "Dance of the Hours".
The ballet was used in full in the Walt Disney
animated film Fantasia
(1940), albeit with ballet
-dancing hippos
(complete with tutu
s), ostrich
es, alligator
s and elephant
s. Some of the orchestration was revised by conductor Leopold Stokowski
. Disney picks up on the structure of the ballet and divides it into five segments: 1) ostriches, early morning; 2) hippopotami, mid-day, 3) elephants, dusk, 4) alligators, night, and 5) finale, night.
It was the source of the tune for the song "Like I Do", a hit for Maureen Evans
in 1962 in the UK and Teresa Brewer
in 1963 (as "She'll Never Love You (Like I Do)") in the USA. This song was probably first released by Nancy Sinatra in early 1962 (as "Like I Do").
The piece may best be recognized from one segment of it that formed the basis for the hit song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
" (1963) and its sequel "Return to Camp Granada" (1965) by Allan Sherman
.
The rendition by Spike Jones and His City Slickers
in Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics. (1971) included several segments of the melody, although presented out of order to suit the presentation of the record, a parody of the Indianapolis 500
that was effectively a sequel to their William Tell Overture. The tune is executed by banging pipes and honking bicycle horns, with each individual "clang" or "honk" producing the proper pitch of the note.
In History of the World Part I, a 1981 film written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks
, Madeline Kahn
selects slaves for her entertainment by singing a song based on the final melody of Dance of the Hours.
In the UK, the tune was used in a 1985 television advertisement for Mini Cheddars.
The music also appeared in an episode of Garfield and Friends entitled "The Garfield Opera" (1992), in which Garfield and the others sing to the music's tune.
In the animated cartoon series Animaniacs
(1993 - 1998), the character Wakko belches the tune to Dance of the Hours.
The tune is heard in the beginning of an episode of Camp Lazlo
(2005 - 2008) an animated comedy about a summer camp.
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon
created a new rendition of Dance of the Hours for his ballet company, Morphoses. The work was featured in the company's New York debut, in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
pottery. "The Dancing Hours" depicts the classical Horae
, personifications of the hours of the day, and the design is attributed to the eighteenth-century sculptor John Flaxman
.http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/learning/discovery_packs/2179/pack/2436/chapter/2820
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
composed by Amilcare Ponchielli
Amilcare Ponchielli
Amilcare Ponchielli was an Italian composer, largely of operas.-Biography:Born in Paderno Fasolaro, now Paderno Ponchielli, near Cremona, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old.Two years...
. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880. Later performed on its own, the Dance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets. It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
where it is depicted as a comic ballet featuring anthropomorphized ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators.
Description
The ballet, accompanied by an orchestra, appears at the end of the third act of the opera, in which the character Alvise, who heads the InquisitionInquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
, receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber. The music and choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
represent the hours of dawn, day, twilight, night and morning. Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression. The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness. Altogether it is about 10 minutes long.
Structure
The piece begins with an introduction in G major, with vocal assistance in the form of a recitativeRecitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
which is omitted in the symphonic version. Then follows in sequence: the dance of the hours of dawn, the hours of day, the hours of the night and the morning.
The episode devoted to dawn (in E major) merges with the extensive introduction to the episode dedicated to daytime hours, anticipating the rhythmic structure of four notes, which characterizes the episode. The transition point between the two episodes, where it marks the birth of the day, coincides with the intervention in fortissimo of the chorus ("Prodigio! Incanto!"), which follows a slow chromatic passage, typical of the author's style.
After a brief episode in C sharp minor devoted to the night, based on figuration in staccato, a connected and expressive melody in E minor, played by cellos, introduces the morning. A new pathetic melody in A minor extends to a broad phrase with initial tone in E minor.
Derivative works
The tune is remembered by the character Leopold Bloom in James JoyceJames Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's novel Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
(1922) while he is idly imagining poisoning his wife.
The Dance of the Hours is one of the most frequently parodied pieces of classical music.
An extract was first used by the Disney studio in one of its earliest cartoon series, Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies is a series of animated short subjects, 75 in total, produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939, while the studio was still located at Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles...
. In a short 6 minute film called Springtime (1929), bugs and birds dance to melodies until a rainstorm breaks out. When the rain stops, the dancing recommences, but now the tune is "Dance of the Hours".
The ballet was used in full in the Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
animated film Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
(1940), albeit with ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
-dancing hippos
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
(complete with tutu
Tutu
Tutu may refer to:* Ballet tutu, a type of costume for ballet performances* Tutu , poisonous New Zealand plants of the genus Coriaria* Tutu , a 1986 album by Miles Davis* Tūtū, a composition by Liliuokalani of Hawaii...
s), ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
es, alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s and elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s. Some of the orchestration was revised by conductor Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. Disney picks up on the structure of the ballet and divides it into five segments: 1) ostriches, early morning; 2) hippopotami, mid-day, 3) elephants, dusk, 4) alligators, night, and 5) finale, night.
It was the source of the tune for the song "Like I Do", a hit for Maureen Evans
Maureen Evans
Maureen Evans is a Welsh pop singer who achieved fame briefly in the 1960s.-Career:Evans career began as a singer with Waldini's Gypsy Band in the mid 1950s, mainly doing summer seasons at UK holiday resorts such as Llandudno.She released her first singles in 1958 on the Embassy Records label....
in 1962 in the UK and Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
in 1963 (as "She'll Never Love You (Like I Do)") in the USA. This song was probably first released by Nancy Sinatra in early 1962 (as "Like I Do").
The piece may best be recognized from one segment of it that formed the basis for the hit song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh " is a Grammy Award-winning novelty song by Allan Sherman, based on letters of complaint he received from his son Robert while Robert attended Camp Champlain in Westport, New York. The song is a parody that complains about the fictional "Camp Granada" and is set to the...
" (1963) and its sequel "Return to Camp Granada" (1965) by Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
.
The rendition by Spike Jones and His City Slickers
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
in Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics. (1971) included several segments of the melody, although presented out of order to suit the presentation of the record, a parody of the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
that was effectively a sequel to their William Tell Overture. The tune is executed by banging pipes and honking bicycle horns, with each individual "clang" or "honk" producing the proper pitch of the note.
In History of the World Part I, a 1981 film written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.-Early life:...
selects slaves for her entertainment by singing a song based on the final melody of Dance of the Hours.
In the UK, the tune was used in a 1985 television advertisement for Mini Cheddars.
The music also appeared in an episode of Garfield and Friends entitled "The Garfield Opera" (1992), in which Garfield and the others sing to the music's tune.
In the animated cartoon series Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
(1993 - 1998), the character Wakko belches the tune to Dance of the Hours.
The tune is heard in the beginning of an episode of Camp Lazlo
Camp Lazlo
Camp Lazlo is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray, produced by Rough Draft Studios, Joe Murray Productions and Cartoon Network Studios. It aired on Cartoon Network...
(2005 - 2008) an animated comedy about a summer camp.
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Wheeldon is an international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Born in Somerset, England, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18...
created a new rendition of Dance of the Hours for his ballet company, Morphoses. The work was featured in the company's New York debut, in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
See also
The opera is pre-dated by "The Dancing Hours", a famous design on WedgwoodWedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
pottery. "The Dancing Hours" depicts the classical Horae
Horae
In Greek mythology the Horae or Hours were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects, but in later times they were regarded as goddessess of order in general and natural justice...
, personifications of the hours of the day, and the design is attributed to the eighteenth-century sculptor John Flaxman
John Flaxman
John Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman.-Early life:He was born in York. His father was also named John, after an ancestor who, according to family tradition, had fought for Parliament at the Battle of Naseby, and afterwards settled as a carrier or farmer in Buckinghamshire...
.http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/learning/discovery_packs/2179/pack/2436/chapter/2820
External links
- Full libretto of La Gioconda at Impressrio by Kernkonzepte, 2005
- Dance of the Hours ballet performance Choreography by Victoria Lyras at YouTube. Accessed 24 October 2010