Daybreak Express is one of Duke Ellington's most original compositions. It provides a vivid picture of a train speeding down the railroad tracks, with its sounds and bouncing rhythms heard and felt in the music. Duke Ellington loved trains, and he and his band spent long hours on them traveling all over the United States. As there was hardly a day he did not write down some musical idea, if only on a piece of scrap paper, he often composed while riding on trains. Daybreak Express is an example of program music, where music is used to describe a non-musical image or event. Use your imagination and pretend you're on the train with Duke and his band!
Where would you like to take a train?
Imagine what you would see while riding on the train and write about it.
"Help" us see what you see.
I thought that this was like a bumby train going up a hill, then going onto a smooth track. very positive
ReplyDeleteI think I would want to ride a train to Kentucky. Not only does Jennifer Lawrence live there, but I think it is a very beautiful place. I don't think Kentucky is a very urban place, so I might see things like farms. I see me passing farms with many horses and cows, sunny green fields, and maybe some hills and mountains. I can imagine Kentucky being a very calm place. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought it sounded really cool like in an old movie on a train where they play jazz all the time. I really like jazz. It really put a picture in my head of a train going over green hills really fast and then slowly stopped at it's destination.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa
I would go to "anywhere" (Journey) because I have no idea were I would go to.
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ReplyDeletesorry but I typed something off topic here:
ReplyDeleteI know this kind of crazy, but the music reminds be of the movie "Dumbo". At the beginning when they are on the train. I imagine myself going to some big city. I see hills then cars.
--Christy
Thats the same thing I thought of!!!
DeleteI would go anywhere on a train, because adventure is what comes when you have absolutely no idea what's going on. It reminds me of the book, The Little Engine That Could, because it sounds very positive. (One of my favorite books as a three year old by the way.)
ReplyDeleteI would say New York if I lived on the east coast. I would say Australia if there were water or air trains. Since I don't and there aren't I'll settle with Las Vegas. I imagined being really excited when the train started up, getting faster and faster. My head sticking out the window, hair flying everywhere watching the passing landscape. For some reason I see it all in a cartoon. There are animals, people, hills, rivers, and buildings. At night we party until we arrive in the station and we all fall asleep.
ReplyDeleteAt first, it sounded like the train was going over a big hill or mountain really fast. Then, it went down the other side of the mountain even faster. Finally, at the end, the train arrived at it's destination and all of the passengers got off.
ReplyDeleteI would take a train to LA or somewhere like that. i imagined seeing hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, and forests "speed" by.
ReplyDelete-Sam
Where would you like to take a train?
ReplyDeleteI would like to take a train to Xi'an, China (though an airplane would be more suitable) to see my old hometown, which I distinctly still remember and love, even if it doesn't have the best living conditions. I was born and grew up there, so taking a train back would help me to recall my past.
Imagine what you would see while riding on the train and write about it.
Well.. I see myself looking out at all the sights, and maybe I'll get inspiration for a piece of random writing, which I enjoy doing. So at China, the terra-cotta soldiers are in Xi'an, my hometown, so maybe I'll write a realistic fiction story about an archaeologist who suddenly discovers the terra-cotta soldiers and finds out an important fact about them, such as how they were made. Also, I might see plainly, just the hills and the landscape, and I might get an idea about sights, or open a hook of another story with the landscape...(sometimes, that provides a catchy hook)
"Help" us see what you see.
Okay, well.. I'm picturing the Great Wall of China, the only man made monument that can be seen from space. The wall stretches endlessly on and on, and the brownish material it's made of just seems to fit in with the rest of China, even though it clearly is special. I think Chinese, like me, have seen it so much they've gotten used to it being there, but through a person's eyes who's never seen it, it would be fascinating to take in the long stretch of wall that helped so much with war and protection. [It also gives China many tourists, and Shi Huangdi, even though he was cruel, had a great idea right there.] So, China's basically cloudy and has gray sky, so it's not exactly all rainbows and sunshine [and rainbows come after rain] but it is a great place to live in. The streets are quite crowded, and there's people and cars literally every inch. On the train, I would see a lot of people..and I'll feel like I'm "home".
I probably go anywhere because I can't think of where. Plus, I want to see every part of the world. What I see go by are cities full of bussiling people, huge oceans that seem to go on forever, and amazing forests with a large amount of animals. The road is bumpy at frist but then it goes to a smooth track. This music also is very positive.
ReplyDeleteWhere would you like to take a train?
ReplyDeleteIf I had a train, I would travel to somewhere in Asia. I believe that Asia has many cool culture. And I would travel there to explore how people lived there and why they believe in the religion they believe in.
I would also travel to the middle east. I find it interesting how many people has mustaches over there. It's just cool somehow......
Imagine what you would see while riding on the train .
I would see mountains, people, houses, cars, etc. If going into a continent like Asia and the middle east, there should be a lot of people, houses, cars , etc.
I would go to L.A. or Hollywood with my friends to become a famous band. I would see lights, tourist, casinos, bars, hotels, the Hollywood sign and maybe, if i'm lucky, a celebrity.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to go to Canada for some reason.. I would probably see a lot of snow, since it's pretty cold there.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a warm, breezy day as I ride a train to the coast of Florida. As I sit in my red cushion seat, I would look out the window at the bright sun lighting the clouds, the sky a vibrant blue. I would suddenly smell the heavenly scent of a BBQ nearby. As the train took me, my brother, and my mom on a tour through Florida, I would look through the glass window and see houses, cute and petite. Each one having a freshly mowed lawn, bright yellow tulips and sunflowers, and a bench on the pebbled porch (each bench was a little different: old, new, classy, and fancy). Each one of the cute houses would remind me of what I would see straight out of a catalog. Next, I would pass by fields with fresh crops of different varieties. I would see corn, wheat, orange trees, and other various fruits. But my favorite sight would be seeing the amusement parks. Disney world, a crowded fairy tale land with rides and Princesses with their Princes. Sea World, a place with water rides and mermaids in store halls. Then to the beach. The warm dock beneath my feet, seagulls crying as they fly through the perfect air, the sound of rushing water and laughing people, all this would equal the perfect escape. The ultimate paradise to forget about your worries. I would dash through the sand that sent a burning sensation through my feet, I would make mounds of sand 2 feet tall, bury my brother in the sand and "accidentally" cover his face, and then run to man selling ice cream. I would obviously buy the biggest, best one which would obviously be a drumstick. After swimming in the ocean, eating my ice cream, covering my brother's face with sand, listening to the seals make whatever sound they make as the grey dawn breaks, and watching all the grand lights of San Francisco pop on, creating the most amazing display on could see, I would pack up. Then saying my goodbyes to my peaceful getaway, I would depart. Falling asleep on the bright red cushions, i would awake to find myself on the beach of San Francisco...
ReplyDeleteI would travel to stockten to see my grandpa. On the train i would see homes, hotels, stores,and animals. He's important to me because all my life I thought of him as a father.
ReplyDeleteI was in a shiny, new train slowly moving through a cheerful city on a warm spring day. I lean against a soft, suede seat, smelling the scent of coffee and leather. As the train picks up speed, I watch the bright city zoom by, soon all I see is a speck on the horizon. Waiters and waitresses come out to take orders; I have a mug of Earl Grey tea and a chicken sandwich. The landscape is a flash and find my self humming to the rhythm of the train. Finally, I arrive at my destination, my Grandma's house in Arizona.
ReplyDelete*Mesa, Arizona
DeleteI would like to take a train to Germany, because I'm part German, but also World War II really seems to spark my interest, so I'd want to visit the remenants of Auschwitz and maybe some battlefields. Another thing is that it seems like all the European countries are filled with communists, so it might make the U.S. (but mostly its "leader"), not look so bad after all(but that's pretty hard at this point).
ReplyDeleteI think I would probably see some beautiful landscapes, possibly some farmland, and since the train would have to be loaded onto a ship or something to be able to even get to Europe, probably the ocean(which could get old). (Where's Pangea when I need it?!?!?!?!) Anyway, maybe it's just London and England, but I've heard that it's always like dark and overcast and rainy, so perhaps I'd see some gray clouds and clogged rain gutters (because some ----- swept leaves down the drain!!!!!).
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desdamona and Hallie, doesn't the beginning kind of sound like blues in front???
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I see a traveling circus not a train. A traveling circus would go to Ireland, Scotland and Wales to preform. On the way to these places I can see grassy luscious green fields and forests full of healthy green trees. I hear elephants in the traveling circus with a live band in the corner.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't want to ride in a train but if I had to I would ride to..... I don't really know. I don't want to ride in a train because it sometimes can be smelly. I hate big crowds that I don't know (get claustrophobic)and the trains are dirty. When I was listening to the song, I saw people and animals dancing by shaking their shoulders up and down and birds were singing (trumpets). Also, I kind of saw Tom and Jerry trying to hit each other.
ReplyDeletei wont realy care when i ride a train or if as long as i enjoy the ride
ReplyDelete-giselle garcia
I imagine myself in a train seeing and doing a bunch of happy and crazy things. I go and see famous landmarks, and eat my favorite foods on the train. I meet a bunch of famous people. And I am ending my day with dinner in New Orleans
ReplyDelete-kacey
I could see myself taking a train to Hollywood, and seeing celebrities. I could also see myself going to South Carolina. I don't know why.
ReplyDelete