Baroque Hoedown

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For the 1982 psychedelic pop music record by the same name, see The Three O'Clock (band).

"Baroque Hoedown" was created by early Moog synthesizer pioneers (and frequent collaborators) Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley (Perrey-Kingsley) in 1967.[1] It was contained on the album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music From Way Out. The composition was once described as being a "harpsichord gone country".

The composition later became the theme song for Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade in 1972 and all of its subsequent iterations around the world,[2] Hong Kong Disneyland's Disney Paint the Night Parade, and for a time, Walt Disney World's Electrical Water Pageant. It was also incorporated into Disneyland's Light Magic, Paint the Night Electrical Parade, and Remember... Dreams Come True as a tribute to the Main Street Electrical Parade.

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In the 1970s, Walt Disney Productions chose this tune to be the theme for the Electrical Parade. It was extraordinary, I didn't know about it because the publishers said nothing to me. It was by chance, in 1980, that I went there and was so surprised to hear "Baroque Hoedown" arranged for a full orchestra.

— Jean-Jacques Perrey, text from English subtitle[3]

Perrey and Kingsley Collaboration

Jean-Jacques Perrey met Gershon Kingsley in 1964 at Carroll Bratman's (Carroll Bratman was Perrey's sponsor).[4] They became associates for a period of time and created music together.[5] Baroque Hoedown comes from the first album Perrey and Kingsley made together; “Kaleidoscopic Vibrations.” Perrey and Kingsley made a second album together called “The In Sound From Way Out.” The two albums were reissued in 1988 on one compact disc called The Essential Perrey and Kingsley.[4]

-Baroque Hoedown is accompanied by 13 other tracks in the album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations, including: “The Savers” “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” “Strangers in the Night” “One Note Samba – Spanish Flea” “Lover’s Concerto” “Third Man Theme” “Fallout” “Winchester Cathedral” “Carousel of the Planets” “Toy Balloons” “Moon River” “Mas Que Nada” “Pioneers of the Stars”

All of the songs that Perrey and Kingsley collaborated on in this album have a fun, whimsical, futuristic feel. Often it sounds as though the synthesizer is emulating different instruments in each piece. In the case of Baroque Hoedown, the synthesizer creates sounds that seem to emulate instruments like a piano, a brass section, chimes, a harpsichord, a percussion section, and something that can only be described as a kazoo.

Covers and Performances

[6] Baroque Hoedown, an original by Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley, has inspired quite a number of groups. One of the main groups that liked this new composition was Walt Disney Productions. Walt Disney Productions liked the composition so much that they arranged it for a full orchestra. They used it as a theme song in their Electrical Parade, as mentioned earlier.

During the parade, Disney played Baroque Hoedown as the main theme, and used it as background support while playing the theme songs from their television shows. The melody of this song is featured in a number of theme songs that we all know today. It is featured in the theme from Rock to the Future, The Unbirthday Song, and many more. It was also featured in the short film Mouse Mania.

Baroque Hoedown has been covered a few times. It has been covered famously by The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. This song has also been covered by a duet arranged for viola and flute, with the accompaniment of a piano. This cover is very different to the original soundtrack, as it does not feature any electronic sounds, or a moog synthesizer. Performances of this piece were done by a recorder ensemble, a flute choir, and also as an ukulele solo.

[7] Perry and Kingsley are among the first group of programmers who successfully put out a single or album using the moog synthesizer. Their album also featured electronic versions of popular songs.

Baroque Hoedown today

Baroque Hoedown is still being used as the song for Main Street Electrical Parade in Disneyland Paris (formerly known as Euro Disney) and at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Florida. There are different arrangements that exist in Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland . Perrey says this is because different countries adapt the song for their audiences. This means that there are three popular arrangements of Baroque Hoedown so far; the French, American, and Japanese arrangements.[5] Portions of Baroque Hoedown are also prominent in the Paint the Night Parade which is featured nightly at Disneyland.

Use of the Moog Synthesizer

Robert A. Moog developed his Moog synthesizer after the Theremin in 1954.[8] Despite being developed in 1954, the Moog synthesizer did not gain popularity until the late 1960s—around the time of Perrey and Kingsley’s Kaleidoscope Vibrations, the album on which “Baroque Hoedown” is featured.

In 1963, Moog met German music engineer Herb Deutsch at the New York State School Music Association gathering at the Eastman School of Music. Deutsch encouraged Moog to create the first prototype of a voltage-controlled synthesizer by combining a voltage-controlled oscillator and amplifier model with a keyboard. Moog noticed he could change pitch electronically by adjusting voltage using silicon transistors, thus he created a system that altered voltage by one step in order to change the pitch by an octave.[9] Moog didn’t call the machine he created a “synthesizer” until 1967,[8] the same year Perrey and Kingsley used his machine to write "Baroque Hoedown".

In “Baroque Hoedown”, Perrey and Kingsley used nuances and characteristics of the Baroque style, such as running lines accompanied by a basso continuo (a bass line that is consistent throughout the whole piece), and an ornamented cadence. Perrey and Kingsley also added swung and syncopated rhythms to achieve the “hoedown” feel. In the piece, Perrey and Kingsley didn’t imitate a specific instrument, but rather utilized the electronic sound of the synthesizer. In one section of the piece, Perrey and Kingsley used the synthesizer to create a different timbre from what they had previously used, the timbre of telephone buttons being pushed.

Although Perrey and Kingsley were some of the first to use the Moog synthesizer, the Wendy Carlos release “Switched-On Bach” was the first classical album to use the Moog synthesizer that become incredibly popular. After Carlos, American avant-garde composer John Cage and jazz musician Sun Ra utilized the Moog synthesizer, as well as pop artists such as the Beatles, the Byrds, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, and the Beach Boys.[8]

Samples

The "Baroque Hoedown" melody is used in many songs, including:

References

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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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