Blog - Whitney Music

Dance Forms

April 23, 2012March 22, 2026

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Preparations are underway for the next piano recital on August 4th. We decided that the theme would be dance music this year, inspired by an amazing box of sheet music that a friend rescued from the OSU dance department. The studio suddenly found itself in possession of many rare and wonderful contemporary folios from the 1930s–1960s, and we wanted to put them to good use.

Many people aren’t aware that much of the classical piano literature we encounter on a daily basis was actually composed for parties and dancing! A minuet, for example, is a dance in 3/4 time and considered the precursor of the waltz. Other dance forms include the allemande, sarabande, bouree, chaconne, and galliard. Check out this exhaustive list of dance forms at wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dances

So the students have been reviewing potential recital pieces and have been settling on their choices over the last couple of weeks. True to usual form, it will be an entire summer of dance music as we all take a break from our lesson books and use the summer months to strengthen our repertoires and explore the theme.

Recital Themes

March 6, 2012March 22, 2026

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It’s time to start thinking about our summer piano recital, and we could use your help in coming up with a new theme. In previous years we’ve done:

Program Music – This recital comprised music composed to paint an image or scene. The pieces had descriptive titles and sometimes ‘program’ notes to help lead the listener on their journey.

Music History – During this recital, the audience visited the 4 major periods of music, from Baroque and Classical to Romantic and Contemporary.

Female Composers – All pieces performed during this recital were written by women.

American Music – featured a segment of Ohio composers as well as film and television music.

Music Around the World – During this recital, the audience was taken for a trip around the world, starting in the US and circling around the globe to Europe. Each student played a piece from a different country.

East Meets West – this recital featured a program full of music by Asian composers as well as music by Western Composers inspired by the Orient.

Sounds from Eastern Europe – music from the countries of Hungary, Russia, Poland, and Ukraine were promoted during this event.

Do you have any ideas for a recital theme? If so, please comment below.