{"id":1485,"date":"2018-01-17T18:11:31","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T18:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=1485"},"modified":"2018-02-09T21:31:56","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T21:31:56","slug":"ripms-illustrations-of-the-weekhorse-racing-on-the-opera-stagehow-did-they-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=1485","title":{"rendered":"RIPM’s “Illustrations of the Week”<\/br>Horse Racing on the Opera Stage<\/br>How Did They Do It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the scenes in Monr\u00e9al and Blondeau\u2019s Paris port de mer<\/em>, which played at the Parisian Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s in 1891, involves a horse race.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"L\u2019Illustration<\/em>, Vol. XCVII (14 March 1891): 236.<\/h6>\n

An engraving published in L\u2019Illustration<\/em> beautifully depicts this realistic and motion-filled horse race from the perspective of the audience. From this view, however, it is difficult to discern exactly how this event was produced. Are the horses mechanical? Are they real, but restrained in some way? How did they do it? The next image reveals the technology used to create the illusion. When you think you have it all figured out, scroll down<\/span><\/strong>!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"Ibid.<\/h6>\n

Astoundingly, the stage of the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s was rigged with three separate treadmills, upon which three living, breathing horses, ridden by three likely-professional jockeys, galloped unrestrained. To create the illusion of the horses running on a track, the pickets of the fence in the foreground were attached to a belt, which moved concurrently to the 95 yards of scenery canvas being unwound in the background. So, as the horses seemingly move in one direction, the sliding fence pickets and scenery canvas moved in the opposite direction, giving the feeling of motion . Et voil\u00e0<\/em>, a horse race on stage!<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you figure it out? Let us know on our Twitter<\/a> or Facebook<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n

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RIPM search tip:<\/u> A combined search for \u201chorse race\u201d as a keyword in RIPM Retrospective Index and Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals\u00a0generates a list of 109 results, including a four-verse song published in an 1824 issue of the London journal The Harmonicon <\/em>entitled, \u201cThe Race-Horse\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0subscribe to RIPM\u2019s\u00a0Curios, News, and Chronicles!\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

RIPM<\/span>\u00a0is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing\u00a0access to\u00a0music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning\u00a0under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (forthcoming).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
WWW.RIPM.ORG<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the scenes in Monr\u00e9al and Blondeau\u2019s Paris port de mer, which played at the Parisian Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s in 1891, involves a horse race. L\u2019Illustration, Vol. XCVII (14 March 1891): 236. An engraving published in L\u2019Illustration beautifully depicts this realistic and motion-filled horse race from the perspective of the audience. From this view, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1485"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1625,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions\/1625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}