Gallopade on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see
Streetswing's Dance History:
"Galop"
Herman Koenig Dance forms in classical music European dances {{Dance-stub
In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop
The canter and gallop are variations on the fastest gait that can be performed by a horse or other equine. The canter is a controlled three-beat gait, while the gallop is a faster, four-beat variation of the same gait. It is a natural gait pos ...
), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popular in Vienna, Berlin and London. In the same closed position familiar in the waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
, the step combined a glissade with a chassé on alternate feet, ordinarily in a fast time.
The galop was a forerunner of the polka, which was introduced in Prague ballrooms in the 1830s and made fashionable in Paris when Raab, a dancing teacher of Prague, danced the polka at the Odéon Theatre in 1840. In Australian bush dance
Bush dance is a style of dance from Australia, particularly where the music is provided by a bush band. The dances are mainly based on the traditional folk dances of the UK, Ireland and central Europe.__TOC__
Eras of bush dance in Australia
*E ...
, the dance is often called galopede. An even livelier, faster version of the galop called the can-can developed in Paris around 1830.
The galop was particularly popular as the final dance of the evening. The " Post Horn Galop", written by the cornet virtuoso Herman Koenig, was first performed in London in 1844; it remains a signal that the dancing at a hunt ball or wedding reception is ending.
Examples
* Numerous galops were written by Johann Strauss II. * Dmitri Shostakovich employed a "posthorn galop" as the second Allegroscherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...
of his '' Eighth Symphony'' in 1943.
* Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
composed the "Grazer Galopp". He also composed the fourth movement of his '' Symphony No. 2'' as a galop.
* The " Devil's Galop" by Charles Williams is another example.
* The "Infernal Galop" from ''Orpheus in the Underworld
''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act " opéra bouffon" at the Thé ...
'' by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...
.
* The "Comedians' Galop" from '' The Comedians'' by Dmitry Kabalevsky
Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent.
He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...
are two others.
* The "Prestissimo Galop" by Émile Waldteufel
Charles Émile Waldteufel (9 December 1837 – 12 February 1915) was a French pianist, conductor and composer known for his numerous popular salon pieces.
Life
Émile Waldteufel (German for ''forest devil'') was born at 84 Grand'Rue in the c ...
.
* The "Malapou Galop" by Joseph Lanner
Joseph Franz Karl Lanner (12 April 1801 – 14 April 1843) was an Austrian dance music composer and dance orchestra conductor. He is best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to s ...
.
* Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye
Hans Christian Lumbye (; 2 May 1810 – 20 March 1874) was a Danish composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and galops, among other things.
Beginnings
As a child, he studied music in Randers and Odense, and by age 14 he was playing the trumpet in a ...
(1810–1874) wrote several galops, including the " Champagne Galop" (1845). Other works include the "Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop" (1847) and the "Telegraph Galop" (1844).
* George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
composed the galop " French Ballet Class" for two pianos in his score for the film '' Shall We Dance''.
* Galops were also written by Nino Rota
Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (; 3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Nino Rota (), was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visco ...
.
* Franz Liszt wrote some galops for piano, notably the "Grand Galop Chromatique
Grand galop chromatique in E-flat major, S.219 is a bravura piece by Franz Liszt, composed in 1838. This galop was one of Liszt's favorite encores which he considered a "rouser". The ''galop chromatique'' was published as a piano solo and also in ...
" (1838), as well as the "Galop in A minor" (1846).
Sources
External links
Streetswing's Dance History:
"Galop"
Herman Koenig Dance forms in classical music European dances {{Dance-stub