''Danse de la chèvre'' (French for ''Dance of the Goat'') is a piece for solo

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

, written in 1921 as incidental music for dancer Lysana of Sacha Derek's play ''La mauvaise pensée''. At the start of the piece, there is a slow dreamlike introduction consisting of

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be ...

phrases. This soon unwinds into the "goat-like" theme in a chromatically altered

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

in 9/8 that skips along, providing the picture of a dancing

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

. Following this theme is a more melodic theme or idea that gives off a more calming feeling. The goat theme and the calm theme both reoccur once again, and at the end of the piece the slow dreamlike idea returns and closes off the piece with a soft and quiet harmonic C for resolution. It is approximately three and a half minutes long. (The piece is approximately

ABRSM The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualificat ...

grade eight standard and can also be found on the ABRSM flute diploma syllabus.) The original manuscript of this piece has been lost. The editions that are out now were derived from a partial transcript found in Honegger's transcriptionist's works. The piece has been worked on by historians to be as accurate as possible.

References

*Halbreich, Harry. Arthur Honegger {{DEFAULTSORT:Danse De La Chevre Compositions by Arthur Honegger Solo flute pieces