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Eight Pieces Lesson Ideas: Symphony No. 1 in G major – Allegro by Saint-GeorgesIntroduction: performance: this classical symphony is an extraordinary story of a composer who took Paris by storm.A contemporary of Mozart's, Saint-Georges became a champion fencer, virtuoso violinist, and a famous composer and conductor. His hands wielded the foil, the bow and made music with equal skill!Allegro (which means play at a lively speed) is the first movement from this symphony, which premiered in 1779.Listen out for:?The fast and intricate violin parts. Saint-Georges was one of the best violinists of his time and wrote complex music to show off his skills!BORN:?1745 /?DIED:?1799 /?NATIONALITY:?FrenchAside from being a champion fencer and a virtuoso violinist and conductor, Saint-Georges has the distinction of being the first classical composer of African ancestry. His parents were a wealthy slave owner on a plantation in the West Indies and a slave - many elements of Saint-Georges' life would make a great movie plot! So little is known of his musical training, that several myths have grown up around it. We do know that he eventually became the leader of a very good Parisian orchestra and performed his concertos with them, improvising solos at several points and wowing the audience. His appearances with this orchestra led to it being declared the best in France. Saint-Georges wrote two symphonies, several concertos, much chamber music and at least 6 operas. He pursued both fencing and music throughout his life, and towards the end of his life finally admitted that music was his true love.Themes: Overcoming adversity. Think of a character in difficult circumstances and write a short diary entry/story. Consider:Who is the character? What are they like? Appearance, behaviour, circumstances, dress and emotions. Where are they? What is tricky for them and why?How do they overcome their difficulties? Email your work to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can share it on the blog!Finlandia by Jean Sibelius piece: loved Finland. One of his most beloved works is Finlandia, which is about the Finnish people overcoming their enemies. Written in 1899, Finlandia is a tone poem – this means it was composed to portray a particular story. It was written in protest against the increasing censorship by the Russian Empire which was taking place in the late 19th Century.This is music about national identity. It captures not only the vast, majestic landscape of Finland but also its national pride at a crucial moment in the country's history.How does music reflect our own national identity?Listen out for:?The hymn-like theme towards the end of the piece. This was later given words and is one of the most important national songs in Finland, second only to the real national anthem.BORN:?1865 /?DIED:?1957 /?NATIONALITY:?FinnishUndoubtedly the most famous composer ever to come out of Finland, Jean Sibelius (pronounced Zhaa(ng) Sib-ayli-uss) completed seven amazing symphonies and a host of vivid descriptive music using his beloved country as inspiration. After this at the age of 59, he abruptly retired from music and spent his remaining 30 years happily surrounded by his family. He said simply that his final 7th symphony could not be bettered - so why try? Sibelius loved his country and frequently went for long walks in the forests near his home. These walks and the stories of ancient Finnish legends that he read and told his children became the basis for many of his compositions. Finnish people still hold his music close to their hearts. The school that he studied music at was renamed The Sibelius Academy, for many years his face was on Finnish money, and his birthday is celebrated every year as 'Finnish Music Day'.This music reflects a sense of place, written by a composer who loved his country. Think about somewhere that you love to be, whether that is somewhere close to home or somewhere you have been on holiday. Draw a picture of your place. Add colours to reflect the mood you want to show. Write a short descriptive paragraph of your place-think about what you can see, hear, smell, touch and how you feel there. Email a picture of your work to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog!The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers and Russian Dance by TchaikovskyIntroduction: Dance: of the Flowers: Sissay explores two extracts from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker using facts and insight, beautiful animation and footage from the heart of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Payare.The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was transformed into a magical ballet in 1892 – and is now a Christmas favourite. The enchanting narrative is full of wonderful characters and follows a young girl called Clara who is given a wooden nutcracker as a present. The two extracts from the suite give us the chance to look at two very different dances - the whirling Russian Dance and the elegant Waltz of the Flowers.BORN:?1840 /?DIED:?1893 /?NATIONALITY:?RussianPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (pronounced PYOT-uhr il-YEETCH chigh-KOFF-ski) wrote some of the best known and most performed music of all time. He was most famous, and indeed very famous, for his wonderful and exciting ballet scores and symphonies. In both he demonstrated a great skill with melody, unmatched orchestral energy and the ability to express the deepest of emotions. His 'real' life wasn’t a happy one at all though. His mum died when he was just 14 and he missed her terribly. He actually wrote most of his early pieces for her. As an adult he had terrible doubts and constantly wrote to his brother about how much of a fake he felt. It is in his sublime music that he expresses all of these feelings and that's why his music is some of the best loved and most performed in the world – happy, sad, excited, miserable, Tchaikovsky's music really makes us 'feel'.This piece of music is a dance. Follow the link below and try some ballet moves. Once you have mastered them, replay the clips and add in your own! Remember to stretch and warm up before you begin! Live Dance Lesson: Bao A Qu from Anthology of Fantastic Zoology by Mason BatesIntroduction: performance: DJ and composer Mason Bates premiered his compelling 30-minute orchestral symphony Anthology of Fantastic Zoology in 2015.Each of its eleven distinctive movements conjures up a different mythical creature from Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, including the mischievous Sprite and the tower-dwelling beast, A Bao A Qu.The two movements show how music can conjure up creative ideas and powerful pictures in our imaginations.Listen out for:?The middle of A Bao A Qu, when the music starts winding itself back to the start. The piece is a musical palindrome, and just like a palindrome word is spelt the same forwards as it is backwards, the music sounds the same when played forwards or backwards!BORN:?1977 /?NATIONALITY:?American‘Mason’s music has moved the orchestra into the digital age and dissolved the boundaries of classical music’ - businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz awarding Bates the Heinz medal. Mason Bates is an American composer who often writes for a combination of orchestral players and electronics. He was recently named the most-performed composer of his generation! He was born in Virginia and studied at the University of California until 2008. He has written highly acclaimed pieces for several major orchestras and is currently the first ever composer-in-residence for the Kennedy Centre of Performing Arts in Washington DC. He is known for mixing the harmonies of jazz and rhythms of techno with novel orchestral writing. He works also as a DJ (his stage name is 'DJ Masonic') and a curator, passionate about bringing new music to new spaces. World famous conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Michael Tilson Thomas have championed his work and he is now amongst the first composers to receive widespread acclaim for combining symphonic sounds with electronic sounds. In 2016 he wrote his first film score.Get creative! Design your own mythical creature using description, drawings or junk modelling. What is your creature called? Does it have special powers? What are they? Can you tell us more about your creature? Email a picture of your creature to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog!Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World’ – Largo by Dvo?ákIntroduction: performance: Naomi Wilkinson explores Antonín Dvo?ák's music using facts and insight, beautiful animation and footage from the heart of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Payare.Dvo?ák, who was so inspired by the folk music of his native Czech culture, wrote this symphony during his time in America, in the 1890s. Dvo?ák was homesick, but also greatly influenced by the sights and sounds he experienced in America.BORN:?1841 /?DIED:?1904 /?NATIONALITY:?CzechAntonín Dvo?ák (pronounced AN-tuh-neen DVOR-zhaak) spent most of his life near Prague. He had a good musical education from the age of 6 and grew up to be a fine viola player and teacher. He had a unique style that often combined traditional folk tunes with a large, orchestral sound. Dvo?ák found it hard to make a living from his music so he tried entering composition competitions. His luck wasn't good and he was getting frustrated at not winning when one of his pieces was spotted by an extremely famous composer called Brahms. Brahms took a real interest in Dvo?ák, he gave him lots of advice and even introduced him to a publisher. Within a couple of years Dvo?ák was almost as famous as Brahms himself! At the peak of this fame in 1892 he accepted the post of Director at the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. The position was extremely well paid and Dvo?ák was initially excited about the move but something was wrong – he didn't really like America! He was miserably homesick and after just 3 years he quit the post and returned home for good. Despite this unhappiness, some of his most memorable pieces were written during his short time in the United States.Think about your continent study. What might it be like to travel there? How might you feel? Do some more research into your chosen country/continent. Imagine that you have just arrived there. Write a letter home to your family describing what it is like. Think about describing the landscape, the people, the traditions, the food and animals. Draw a map showing your route. Email a picture of your map and letter to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog!Carmina Burana - 'O fortuna' by OrffIntroduction: performance: fortune spins her wheel, Naomi Wilkinson takes a chance to explore Carl Orff's most popular piece 'O fortuna', using facts and insight, beautiful animation and footage from the heart of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ten Pieces Children's Choir.Based on medieval literature, 'O fortuna' is one of the most famous choral pieces in the world. The piece gives us a chance to meet Fortuna, the Roman Goddess of Fortune (also worshipped in Greek mythology) and transports us back to medieval times.BORN:?1895 /?DIED:?1982 /?NATIONALITY:?GermanCarl Orff was a German composer who is now best known for his strange and massive choral work: Carmina Burana. Orff was born in Munich and began writing music when he was very young. By the age of 16 his music had been published and he had completed many songs based on German poetry. Orff then served in the German army during World War One and this changed him forever. In the 1920s he developed a method of teaching music to beginners and spent much of his remaining life working with children. The little xylophones you might have used in primary school are actually called 'Orff instruments' in many countries across the world and his teaching methods are still widely used. Carl Orff's life spanned an incredible period of German history including two wars. All the events his country went through affected him as an artist and towards the end of his life he disowned many of his early works and stopped them being performed arguing that they no longer reflected the person he had become.This piece is very dramatic. Think about the opposites portrayed in the music, by the wheel of fortune. Using an online thesaurus, find 6 synonyms (words that mean the same) for the word happy. Now find 6 antonyms (words that mean the opposite). Be ambitious with your choices! Now, make a wheel of fortune. You can use any material you can find (junk, paper, card) and decorate it showing the dramatic changes of fortune described in the music. Extension: Look up Roman gods. What other ones did they have? Create a booklet of them with a picture and description. Email a picture of your wheel and/or booklet to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog!Abdelazer – Rondeau by Henry PurcellIntroduction: Full performance: in 1695, Henry Purcell’s Abdelazer suite takes us back to the theatres and masques (presentations of poetry, dance and music) of the late 17th Century. Henry Purcell wrote lots of incidental music for the theatre. In some ways it was used as film music is used today – to set different moods and transport us between different parts of the story.Purcell’s music influenced one of our other Ten Pieces composers,?Benjamin Britten. He used this Rondeau as the basis for The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra – another great piece for children to explore.Listen out for:?The structure of the piece. Purcell was using a pattern – or plot – called a French rondeau to create his piece. The structure is: AABACA. A is the main melody, B is the strain, C is the second strain, and then it goes back to the beginning!BORN:?1659 /?DIED:?1695 /?NATIONALITY:?BritishEngland’s greatest composer until the 20th Century, Henry Purcell was an organist and composer who is still much admired for his English songs. He was from a musical family who lived very close to Westminster Abbey and as a youngster was made a chorister and then assistant to the organist and ‘Keeper of the King’s Instruments’. During this time, he learnt his craft composing mostly vocal music whenever the opportunity came his way. Later, he split his time between writing sacred music for the Abbey, royal commissions and music for the theatre. Today, over 300 songs of his survive. Purcell died aged just 35 or 36. It seems that he was late home from the theatre and his wife locked him out. He caught a chill after spending the night outside and died shortly after from it. He is buried in Westminster Abbey and was mourned as a ‘very great master of music’.This is an early film score, for a dramatic play. What does it make you think of when you listen to it? When you next watch a film, listen closely to the music. How do the composers use it to emphasise what is happening in the story? Can you think of any particularly good examples? Look them up on YouTube and draw what the music makes you think of. Email a photo of your picture and the music that inspired it to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog!Rodeo – Hoe-Down by Aaron CoplandIntroduction: Performance: composed in 1942 for a ballet called Rodeo, the Hoe-Down features two American square dance tunes and fuses evocative music and dance.Rodeo takes us to the exciting, dramatic world of cowboys, cowgirls and the American West. A hoedown is a dance competition that is often described as noisy and riotous. The music is full of vigour and energy as the cowgirls and boys pair off.This is music about real people and their folk tunes and customs; it's full of open plains, a sense of adventure and the American pioneering spirit.Listen out for:?The main theme of the Hoe-Down. It's actually taken from a traditional folk song called 'Bonaparte’s Retreat' by William H. Step.BORN:?1900 /?DIED:?1990 /?NATIONALITY:?AmericanAaron Copland (pronounced AIR-uhn KOHP-luhnd) was possibly the most famous American composer of the 20th century. He was one of the first 'serious' American composers to carve out his own path amongst the much more famous songwriters and jazz musicians of the 1920s. His music is said to 'sound like America' and often features a large, open sound (like the vast American prairies), and complex rhythms (like cowboys on horseback). Copland was born and brought up in Brooklyn, the youngest of 5 children all living above their father's grocery shop. Copland learned piano with his sister and started writing down ideas at the age of 8. By the age of 15 he had decided to be a composer and his love of European music led him to Paris and to study with famous music teacher Nadia Boulanger. When he returned home he began writing music in many different styles including three symphonies, four ballets and several film scores. He also became a great teacher and supporter of younger composers. After his death from Alzheimer's disease he left most of his fortune to the Aaron Copland Fund for Composers which supports young composers and performing groups. The fund is so large that it will continue to support young musicians for decades.This piece of music is telling the story of a dance. Listen carefully as it progresses, what do you think is happening in each part? Draw a story board of what you imagine to be happening. Google what a cowboy looks like if you are not sure how they would be dressed. Email a photo of your comic strip to admin@royalmile.edin.sch.uk so we can upload it to the blog! ................
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