Short ballet from Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda
Dance of the Hours
(Italian:
Danza delle ore
) is a short ballet and is the act 3 finale 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.
[1]
[2]
It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940
Walt Disney
animated
film
Fantasia
where it is depicted as a
comic ballet
featuring
ostriches
,
hippopotamuses
,
elephants
and
alligators
.
Description
[
edit
]
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
Inquisition
, receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber. The music and
choreography
represent the hours of dawn, day (morning), twilight and night. Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression. The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness. It is about 10 minutes long.
Structure
[
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]
The piece begins with an introduction in
G major
, with vocal assistance in the form of a
recitative
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 Ponchielli's style.
After a brief episode in
C
♯
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
.
A brief
diminuendo
precedes the
attacca
of the final
coda
in A major, a vigorous
can-can
in the manner of
Romualdo Marenco
's
Ballo Excelsior
[
it
]
(1881), introduced by an abrupt change of tempo to
allegro vivacissimo
.
Derivative works
[
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]
- The tune is remembered by the character
Leopold Bloom
in
James Joyce
's novel
Ulysses
(1922).
[3]
- Dance of the Hours
is one of the most frequently parodied pieces of classical music. An extract was first used by the
Walt Disney Animation Studios
in one of their earliest cartoon series (
Silly Symphonies
).
[4]
The ballet was used in full in the
Walt Disney
animated film
Fantasia
(1940), albeit with
ballet
-dancing
hippos
(complete with
tutus
),
ostriches
,
alligators
and
elephants
including Madame Upanova, Hyacinth Hippo, Elephanchine, and Ben Ali Gator.
[5]
- It was the source of the tune for the song "
Like I Do
",
[6]
which was a hit in 1962 for
Nancy Sinatra
in Italy and Japan,
Maureen Evans
in the UK and Ireland, and
Teresa Brewer
in 1963 (as "She'll Never Love You (Like I Do)") in the USA.
- Dance of the Hours
can be heard during the Slamacow's
Minecraft
animation "Silly Endertainment".
- Segments of the piece formed the basis for the
Andrews Sisters
song "
Idle Chatter
" (1952)
[7]
written by
Al Sherman
.
[8]
- The melody of
Dance of the Hours
was used by
Allan Sherman
in his biggest hit "
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)
" (1963), and its sequel "Return to Camp Granada" (1965).
[9]
This ballad also mentions James Joyce's novel
Ulysses
, which references the same melody.
- 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.
[10]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Dance of the Hours
Flutetunes.com, 2010-08-04. Accessed October 2010]
- ^
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Archived
2011-07-16 at the
Wayback Machine
Program notes. January 2010.
- ^
'
Ulysses
'
Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's
'
Ulysses
'
by Don Gifford, Robert J. Seidman, University of California Press, 2008,
ISBN
0-520-25397-3
. p. 81
- ^
More Silly Symphonies: Volume Two
Ultimate Disney. Accessed October 2010
- ^
Allan, Robin (1999).
Walt Disney and Europe
. Indiana University Press. p. 149.
ISBN
978-0-253-21353-2
.
- ^
McAleer, Dave
(1990).
The Omnibus Book of British and American Hit Singles, 1960?1990
.
Omnibus Press
. p. 59.
- ^
Sforza, John (2000).
Swing It!: The Andrews Sisters Story
. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. p. 246.
ISBN
0-8131-2136-1
.
- ^
"The Andrews Sisters ? One For The Wonder / Idle Chatter"
.
Discogs.org
. Retrieved
May 25,
2023
.
- ^
Lewis, Susan (August 5, 2019).
"The Music Behind The Hit Summer Camp Song, 'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh'
"
.
WRTI.org
. Retrieved
May 25,
2023
.
- ^
Dance of the Hours
Morphoses dance company. World Premiere: September 26, 2006, The Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York. Accessed October 2010.
External links
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