The announcer commented that the next piece on the Community Wind Ensemble concert would be a song that everybody would know. They may not recognize it by the title, but the tune would be familiar because it has been played on the radio, used in movies and commercials and even in video games for many, many years. With that introduction, the band began to play a delightful rendition that made splendid use of all the instruments, including fun and entertaining percussion antics. Near the end of the piece, the rhythm gets wild and the melody climbs and climbs until......a sudden pause for effect.
That PREGNANT PAUSE startled the 4 year-old girl sitting in front of our row. She straightened up in her seat and said, "WHAT?" very loudly. Then the band continued playing to the finish. That's what every conductor dreads --- someone ruining the effect of the PREGNANT PAUSE.
That PREGNANT PAUSE startled the 4 year-old girl sitting in front of our row. She straightened up in her seat and said, "WHAT?" very loudly. Then the band continued playing to the finish. That's what every conductor dreads --- someone ruining the effect of the PREGNANT PAUSE.
First Funicular Railway opening in 1880 "Funiculì, Funiculà" (IPA: [funikuˈli funikuˈla]) is a Neapolitan song composed in 1880 by Luigi Denza to lyrics by Peppino Turco. The song was written for the opening of the first funicular railroad to the top of Mount Vesuvius in Italy. It has been so popular over the years that it has even been mistaken for a Neapolitan FOLK SONG. In other words, composers thought the tune was in PUBLIC DOMAIN, that no one owned rights to use it. One very famous classical composer even got into trouble with copyright infringement laws for using it without permission in a symphonic suite. The copyright limitations have long since passed now, and the song might as well be a FOLK SONG It seems to be freely used for any purpose nowadays, including the arrangement for Wind Ensemble that we heard last night.
Performing a piece that includes a PREGNANT PAUSE is risky business for a community group. The audiences who come to their performances are usually not the seasoned "Patron of the Arts" crowd. They don't always understand concert etiquette. Children and babies are usually admitted as well as the "only so interested" neighbors and family who are there more to support their friends who are performing, than the music.
A friend tells a comical story that happened during a Community Choir's Messiah Sing-Along one Christmas. Two older women in the audience got a little tired of the music and decided to swap pie-making recipes. Probably the most famous of all PREGNANT PAUSES happens near the end of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Apparently, the old ladies couldn't hear each other as the climax of the music got closer and louder. And just as the music stopped suddenly for the Grand Pause, one of the ladies yelled out to her friend,"I make mine with lard!"
Yes, the PREGNANT PAUSE can be effective, mostly when the audience is paying attention. It can also have disastrous consequences. Just as with a pregnancy --- the mother knows the baby will be born, but she doesn't exactly know when it will happen --- the PREGNANT PAUSE is supposed to heighten the expectation of the finish. But sometimes the surprise is on the conductor!
A friend tells a comical story that happened during a Community Choir's Messiah Sing-Along one Christmas. Two older women in the audience got a little tired of the music and decided to swap pie-making recipes. Probably the most famous of all PREGNANT PAUSES happens near the end of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Apparently, the old ladies couldn't hear each other as the climax of the music got closer and louder. And just as the music stopped suddenly for the Grand Pause, one of the ladies yelled out to her friend,"I make mine with lard!"
Yes, the PREGNANT PAUSE can be effective, mostly when the audience is paying attention. It can also have disastrous consequences. Just as with a pregnancy --- the mother knows the baby will be born, but she doesn't exactly know when it will happen --- the PREGNANT PAUSE is supposed to heighten the expectation of the finish. But sometimes the surprise is on the conductor!
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