HUMOR IN MUSIC AND THE PERFORMING ARTS
Humor in classical music has a long tradition as shown by such playful vocabulary items as the French gavotte, which like the Irish and English gigue or jig is music for a fast-moving dance. A scherzo is a musical joke while a cappricio is a composition that is irregular in form and usually lively and whimsical. A divertimento is a light and entertaining instrumental composition. And a rondo is a composition whose principal theme is repeated three or more times in the same key, interspersed with subordinate themes.
In our PowerPoint about “Humor and Music,” we discuss the musical humor of Anderson, Bach, Beethoven, Borge, Confrey, Debussy, Gilbert and Sullivan, Grieg, Grofé, Haydn, Igoodesman and Joo, Joplin, Lehrer, “Monte Python,” Mozart, Offenbach, Pachelbel, Prokofiev, Rossini, Russell, Saint-Saëns, Schickeley, Simon and Garfunkel, Strauss, Wagner, Webber, Vivaldi, and Yankovic.
Please check out this PowerPoint about “Humor in Music and the Performing Arts, and let us know if you can think of other examples. Thanks.
There is a great song called Bugger Off, a well known song that they play in Irish bars at closing time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrXP5zoFxss
The vaudeville and music hall traditions are also full of funny songs, and their equivalents in most countries.
There are popular songs like monster mash.
But are you talking about the musical elements without lyrics? Do you mean a sort of cartoon score philosophy? In classical music, Tchaikovsky – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy seems quite funny to me? But does that mean that it is objectively funny? Who knows?
The concept of 'humour' is in itself most difficult to define, as e.g. Henri Bergson pointed out.
When it comes to opera, the French genre opéra comique is not necessarily comic (e.g. Bizet's Carmen), but is defined by having spoken dialogue (Carmen had spoken dialogue originally), whereas Italian opera buffa, as Rossinis's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, does not necessarily have spoken dialog, but is definitely humorous. The comicalness of Il Barbiere di Siviglia derives not only from the text, but also from the interplay of the text and musical structures (e.g. ritardandi and accelerandi) and of course from all the performers.
Michael: "Bugger off" is a great way of ending a fun Irish evening of drinking. Nobody is better than the Irish for their drinking songs.
Joseph Pujol, the immortal Le Pétomane, gave many musical performances, but it's difficult to find a recording that isn't scratchy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBJnrfOCD38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tixKopGjn5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOtyk7j0jo8
Certainly, there are many examples of humor in music and the performing arts. Here are some of them:
I hope these examples inspire you to explore more humor in music and the performing arts!
Karl: Thanks for the link. A lot of us are getting a bit "old and scratchy."
Tawanda Mataka: These are excellent examples. Thanks for sending them.
Flanders & Swann Ill Wind springs to mind. Eric Bryce (Australian composer) wrote Jazz Suite for tuned percussion quartet as a parody on bebop, blues & ragtime. David Morgan (Australian composer) wrote An Itsy-Bitsy Collection for marimba & 2 movements are comedic - Duke of York & Peg-Leg March. My Suite for Snare 2nd movement is called an if...? - asking what does one do on a drum if one has no sticks. All are held in the Australian Music Centre.
Having played in a concert band version, I arranged Pizzicato Polka for the Royal Guard of Oman Steelband, and the late sultan appreciated it; and did a calypso version (for steelband here in South Australia) of the vice-regal salute, which the governor said was the most enjoyable version he'd ever heard, but they are not published. I have also made some performances comedic e.g. arranging Simpson's On The Track for duo marimbists on 1 instrument and having them chase each other round & bump each other away.
Much of Gilbert & Sullivan of course Major-General's song in Pirates of Penzance, Admiral's song in HMS Pinafore, Judges song in Trial by Jury are just a few. Would the Toy Symphony & Take 5 count as comedic?
Ryszard: These are wonderful examples. Thanks for sending them. I also used to play in a concert band (cornet), but I never played the Pizzicato Polka, but I have played it on the piano--really fun, but challenging.
Dear Don, an interesting topic again. Have not begun to think about that yet, but this link might be interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og97jAm8DsU
Elena: This is a wonderful link. Check out the beginning of this revised PowerPoint about "Laughter." P.S. Thanks for sending the link.
Dear Don, thank you for your PPTs. One more interesting link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDtCw0MTNU
Don you might also check out Spike Jones and the City Slickers. There are some videos and a lot on CD and the group appeared in a few films. Gerard Hoffnung was also a great compositional comedian. My thesis has videos of some of the pieces I mentioned before at https://hdl.handle.net/2440/135817. The Bryce Jazz Suite is in the Playing with Style concert video along with a piece of mine for 4 guiros (4th mvt in Different Strokes). The snare drum piece is the 2nd mvt of Suite for snare in From Other Worlds.
Elena: Excellent. Check out this revised PowerPoint about "Animal Play":
Dear Don, sorry to diverge from the topic of music, but I've just encountered a funny picture for the subject of humor and animals. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10225571166400641&set=gm.877596736930437&idorvanity=324968788859904
Elena: Excellent. Check out the first slide of this revised PowerPoint about "International Humor." Thanks for sending this link.
Dear Don, I do not know whether this type of performance may be treated as humor: https://www.facebook.com/reel/911861503299592
The interpretation might also be an issue in music and performance. E.g. the Kiffness songwriter from South Africa creates his songs based on the interpretation and rhythmical patterns of sounds produced by animals. Here is a link to his database online: https://www.youtube.com/@TheKiffness/videos
Perhaps, the performance of some ensembles (e.g. "The Swingle Singers") may also be treated as humorous. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK69zl19c0Y
The performance of the earlier group is here (different music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkA8fC9_z9c
Dear Don, concerning animals and the interpretation of their behavior there is one more funny video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4QyndWyKqY
Here is the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmx6HS4j5zk
Dear Don, have just encountered one more joke floating around the internet: the parody of L. van Beethoven's "Joyful, joyful". Here is the link to the scores: https://www.facebook.com/groups/uuhystericalsociety/posts/4607279396062766/?__cft__[0]=AZX67utvY2k2-kCu7EhEBU2JXYGg3omWxXxUUdexRJJRV4sYuJDOTQz1xDWaS4Lletou9sweaIfgNdQL_YIgUxNcKO0lKgFK1XY9OXwYgHWoKj5IyBnWrkfeXHlPQl2SGhKAa89ZFjg2umTc5Ze8fGV1v3p6iWQzEt9SGyqhMQLKPEs8f9W611R3XAAYAmH7Cs3-xE9d9rDqvbEXdUG4HRp6LB7ATN8JGZiC55Y4JvBziw&__tn__=%2CO*F
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