Quintocracy, featuring the Troy-based Electric City Puppets presents a re-enactment of the original story Berus in the Woods for narrator and woodwind quintet at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The music is composed by Alexander Ford and supported by the Schenectady Community Arts Grant.
'Berus in the Woods' is a narrative piece for wind quintet. The conceptual drive for the piece gives children and new listeners the opportunity to hear instruments in isolation along with thematic materials that help listeners of all ability levels to identify and distinguish the different sounds of the instruments involved. Non-musicians may find the different instruments difficult to identify without guided listening. Britten's 'Guide to the Orchestra' and Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf' work toward the same goal, but take different routes than its constituent parts. 'Peter and the Wolf' moves a step further in placing the skill in a narrative which makes the different timbres more accessible for children. In 'Berus in the Woods', each instrument represents a single character in the story and the piece is constructed, through a narrative, with their interactions intertwining after the initial solo introductions to their themes and sounds.
Ideal Audience: Students in grades K - 6
