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Start Date
13-6-2025 12:30 PM
Description
The Main Street Electrical Parade has existed at Disneyland, the Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris on and off in various version from 1972 though today (currently existing as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights). The parade came out of the Electrical Water Pageant (1971-present) at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is the first parade to use a continuous, synchronized musical score. Simply put, every float features its own music, but every float’s music is in the same tempo and key, and is synchronized with a common backing track. The backing track itself uses the melody “Baroque Hoedown,” an instrumental song written and recorded by Jean-Jacques Perry and Gershon Kingsley for their 1967 album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations.
Accordingly, the score can be described as a series of harmonic theme and variations, in which a variety of Disney melodies are re-interpreted and super imposed over a cyclical harmonic structure. Ultimately, this is often accomplished by utilizing pan-diatonicism giving the music a somewhat Neo-Classical flavor. Investigating how these Disney melodies are incorporated into the “Baroque Hoedown” theme forms a lens through which this revolutionary musical / technological achievement can be appreciated.
Transcript
Recommended Citation
Bohn, James, "The Main Street Electrical Parade as a Travelling Harmonic Theme and Variations" (2025). Theme Park Music and Sound. 6.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2025/friday/6
The Main Street Electrical Parade as a Travelling Harmonic Theme and Variations
The Main Street Electrical Parade has existed at Disneyland, the Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris on and off in various version from 1972 though today (currently existing as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights). The parade came out of the Electrical Water Pageant (1971-present) at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is the first parade to use a continuous, synchronized musical score. Simply put, every float features its own music, but every float’s music is in the same tempo and key, and is synchronized with a common backing track. The backing track itself uses the melody “Baroque Hoedown,” an instrumental song written and recorded by Jean-Jacques Perry and Gershon Kingsley for their 1967 album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations.
Accordingly, the score can be described as a series of harmonic theme and variations, in which a variety of Disney melodies are re-interpreted and super imposed over a cyclical harmonic structure. Ultimately, this is often accomplished by utilizing pan-diatonicism giving the music a somewhat Neo-Classical flavor. Investigating how these Disney melodies are incorporated into the “Baroque Hoedown” theme forms a lens through which this revolutionary musical / technological achievement can be appreciated.