TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC (Gr.5)
For Concert Band & Mixed Chorus
Duration Approximately 5:00
Grade 5
FULL SCORE / 2 (+Picc) 1 1 3 (+Bass) Alto (2), Tenor, Bari / 2 3 3 1 1 / Timp Perc (6) / SATB div.
Commissioned by James C. Schuster and the Davison High School Music Boosters, in loving memory of Chandler Wolfgang Anschutz.
To "trip the light fantastic" is to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment, often used in a humorous vein. Grammatically, it is an example of a constructionally idiosyncratic idiom, in that it is impossible to construct a meaningful literal-scene from the formal structure of the phrase. This phrase evolved through a series of usages and references, typically attributed to John Milton's 1645 poem L'Allegro, which includes the lines:
"Come, and trip it as ye go,
On the light fantastick toe..."