Ballet School, The

The Ballet School (Impressions of Edgar Degas Paintings) by Bill Holcombe

Arranged for flute choir by Bill Holcombe Jr.

Score and parts; duration: 5’15”

Instrumentation: 4 c flutes, alto flute, bass or contrabass flute/sub bassoon, cello or bass clarinet

In the early 1960’s, Bill worked on a film for the Metropolitan Museum of Art called “What IS A Painting”. The film discussed content, composition and style of paintings through out history. For each period of art history, Bill wrote an original composition in the style of the composers from that period. This work is a development of the ideas from the French Impressionist segment of the movie score, specifically Edgar Degas series of paintings depicting life in the Paris Opera Ballet School in the late 1800s.