ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD
Ouverture
Composer
Jacques Offenbach
Arranger
Lorenzo Pusceddu
level
4
duration
7'30
formation
Concert Band
Publisher
Scomegna Edizioni Musicali
format
Full score A3+ (32 x 48 cm) and parts A4+ (24 x 32 cm)
Product Code
ES B1048.19A
Recorded on the CD
Description
Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée
aux Enfers) is a two-act operetta composed
in 1858 by Jacques Offenbach.
This work became incredibly popular
also thanks to the famous Infernal Galop,
also known as the “can-can,” a risqué dance
which features ballerinas raising their legs to partially
show their intimate parts to the audience. It
tells the mythological story of Orpheus’ descent
into hell to bring back to life the beloved Eurudice.
The operetta, however, was most likely an irreverent
parody and scathing satire of the “Second
Empire” and of the scandals in society and politics
of the new bourgeoisie during the reign of Napoleon
III.
Jacques Offenbach, born in Germany in 1819,
moved to Paris in 1833, where he began to study
cello at the Conservatory of Music. Financial difficulties
obliged him to abandon his musical education
and he earned his living working many different
jobs until 1837, when he joined the Opéra-
Comique as a cellist.
In 1850, he became the director of the Théâtre
Français, but because this theatrical company was
uninterested in staging his works, he decided to
lease a small theatre where he successfully presented
a series of his own small-scale pieces.
The German origins of the composer did not help
him during the Franco Prussian War, which started
in 1870, and he was forced to take refuge in Spain.
After the war he returned to Paris where the public
continued to support his operettas.
In 1880, Offenbach died leaving unfinished his
masterpiece, The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes
d’Hoffmann), which was then completed and produced
by one of his friends in 1881
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