The ''Grand Canyon Suite'' is a

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite ...

for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

Ferde Grofé Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, known as Ferde Grofé (March 27, 1892 April 3, 1972) (pronounced FUR-dee GROW-fay) was an American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement tone poem, '' Grand Ca ...

, composed between 1929 and 1931. It was initially titled ''Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon''. It consists of five movements, each an evocation in tone of a particular scene typical of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

. Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra gave the first public performance of the work, in concert at the Studebaker Theatre in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

on November 22, 1931.

Structure

The movements of the suite are:

Influence

'' is a

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

short

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

film in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

format directed by James Algar. It features color film footage of the Grand Canyon accompanied by the ''Grand Canyon Suite'', though the order of the movements has been somewhat altered. In the manner of ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...

'', there is no story and no dialogue. The film won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1959 for Best Short Subject. ''On The Trail'' has been used as the soundtrack for the Grand Canyon Diorama on the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad in

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

since the diorama's 1958 debut. ''On The Trail'' was the theme music for commercials for

Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to: Companies *Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist **Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group ** Philip Morris Inte ...

cigarettes on US radio and television from 1934 until sometime in the 1960s, accompanied by the voice of Johnny Roventini calling "Call For Philip Morris" in the style of a hotel bellhop paging a customer. This movement is also used extensively in the

Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work in the Canadian film industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible ...

film "

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey's ...

", with the Celesta solo providing the soundtrack music when Ralphie and his younger brother are seen sleeping and dreaming about Christmas morning.

Recordings

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the movements of the suite in three studio sessions on April 26, April 27, and April 28, 1932 for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

at their studios in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

. The suite was released on eight 78 RPM record sides (eight single sided records/four two sided records) in 1932. The movements recorded were "Sunrise", "Painted Desert", "On the Trail", "Sunset", and "Cloudburst".Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. Red Hot Jazz.
/ref> The work has been recorded many times since, with performances by American orchestras conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

, Eugene Ormandy, Andre Kostelanetz,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, Morton Gould, Arthur Fiedler, Maurice Abravanel, Erich Kunzel, Antal Dorati and Howard Hanson. Performances by non-American ensembles are much rarer, with a recording by the

London Festival Orchestra The London Festival Orchestra (LFO) was established in the 1950s as the 'house orchestra' for Decca Records. In 1980 it was incorporated as an independent performing orchestra under Ross Pople. At least in the world of pop music, the orchestra is b ...

under Stanley Black notable among them.

References

External links

Musical lesson on the suite
{{Authority control Suites by Ferde Grofé 1931 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra Works about the Grand Canyon Works about Arizona