THE BEAUX' STRATAGEM
Nancy T. Hansen Theatre at Purdue University Theatre
THE BEAUX' STRATAGEM
Written by George Farquhar
Adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig
Directed by Richard Sullivan Lee
Sound Design by Austin Mullen
Music Composition by Jeff Sherwood
Music Composition Process
Weekly meetings with the sound designer, director, and choreographer yielded an in-depth understanding of the intents behind Farquhar's story and Lee's direction. The music for the finale dance scene was needed far in advance so that the choreographer had time to work with the music and create the dance sequence. We settled on the tune "Grimstock" from John Playford's The Dancing Master. The rest of the sound score was inspired by this music.
The instrumentation was divided between two worlds:
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Lady Bountiful's House - Chamber string quartet - Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass
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Boniface's Country Inn - Country band - Fiddle, Flute, Piccolo, Lute, Guitar, Double Bass
After an initial arrangement of "Grimstock," I proceeded to add in ornamentation. The sound score was created with sampled instruments from Native Instruments Komplete and East West Play within Digital Performer. In efforts to help the sampled instruments sound more real, we recorded a live musician playing the fiddle and violin parts in the sound score. Additional ornamentation was added to "Grimstock" including live recorded finger cymbals, guitar, and cajon. These added parts gave further life to the piece and enhanced the driving rhythm.
Production Photos
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Sound Cue Samples
Sheet Music
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Newcastle | Branle |
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Grimstock | Gray's Inn |
Hyde Park | Nobody's Jig |
Photos
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