16 Intermediate/Senior 17 Study Guide The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Student Concerts are generously supported by Mrs. Gert Wharton and an anonymous donor. Table of Contents Concert Overview Concert Preparation Program Notes 3 - 5 6 - 8 9 - 21 Lesson Plans Artist Biographies Musical Terms Glossary 22 - 25 26 - 27 28 - 29 Instruments in Musicians Teacher & Student the Orchestra of the TSO Evaluation Forms 30 - 41 42 - 45 46 - 47 The Toronto Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges Doug Friesen for preparing the lesson plans included in this guide Concert Overview Compose Your Own Concert Intermediate/Senior: Suitable for students in grades 7–12 Lucas Waldin, conductor Tiffany Yeung, violin (2016 TSYO Concerto Competition Winner) Maxime Goulet, soloist Each performance will be truly one of a kind as the audience decides what the program will include! The repertoire will be determined by YOUR vote—both in advance and in person during the performance. The chosen repertoire will be woven into a unique program to make this concert unforgettable! Check out the links on the next page to learn more about the music and how to vote. Make sure to cast your vote by October 6th! Program to include excerpts from* Maurice Ravel Boléro Audience Choice Vote #1 A) Franz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C minor B) Modest Mussorgsky "Promenade", "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" & "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition C) Claude Debussy Claire de Lune from Suite Bergamesque Mason Bates Mothership Pablo de Saraste Carmen Fantasy on Themes of Bizet, Op. 25 Audience Choice Vote #2 A) George Gershwin An American in Paris Suite B) Giachino Rossini Overture to William Tell (Final Allegro) C) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Sea & Sinbad's Ship" & "The Festival at Baghdad" from Scheherazade, Op. 35 Igor Stravinsky Infernal Dance from The Firebird Maxime Goulet On Halloween Night Audience Choice Vote #3 To be announced during the concert! *Program subject to change 3 Concert Overview How to Vote! Compose Your Own Concert is a unique opportunity to share your voice and help shape the concert program. The only concert this season where you decide what pieces will be performed. There are two opportunities to vote. In each of the videos below, TSO Musicians go head to head, defending their favourite pieces of repertoire, trying to convince YOU which piece to vote for. Will they sway your vote or change your mind? Watch each video and have YOUR say. Be sure to leave feedback on why you voted and remember, voting closes October 6th. Will your favourite piece win? Find out at the concert when you hear the TSO perform live! Audience Choice Vote #1 Music can take many different forms from solo piano to full orchestral symphonies. These three popular orchestral works were originally composed for solo piano. Check out our program notes to find out more information about the pieces and their composers. Listen to the links below and vote for your favourite! vs vs Franz Liszt Modest Mussorgky Claude Debussy Hungarian Rhapsody "Promenade", "Ballet of the Claire de Lune from No. 2 in C minor Unhatched Chicks" & Suite bergamesque "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition 4 Concert Overview Audience Choice Vote #2 Music can take us on adventure to faraway lands. These three composers take us on ride to the busy boulevards of 1920's Paris, to life in the Swiss Alps, and finally to an adventure at Sea. Listen to the links below and vote for your favourite! vs vs George Gershwin Giaochino Rossini Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov An American in Overture to William Tell "The Sea & Sinbad's Ship" Paris Suite (Final Allegro) & "The Festival at Baghdad" from Scheherazade Not sure who to vote for? Watch three TSO musicians debate which piece you should vote for in the video below. Audience Choice Vote #3 Our final audience choice vote will be determined by applause! Stay tuned and clap for your favourite in this surprise showdown. 5 Concert Preparation Let's Get Ready! Your class is coming to Roy Thomson Hall to see and hear the Toronto Symphony Orchestra! Here are some suggestions of what to do before, during, and after the performance. Whether it’s your first symphony concert or you’re a seasoned audience member, there’s always something new to learn and experience! Before Listen and Read Listen to the pieces of music • Have you heard any of these pieces before? • Which one is your favourite and why? • Do you hear anything new or interesting? • Try out one of our listening journals and record your observations • Make sure to cast your vote by October 6th! Read the biographies and program notes • Were there any composers you had never heard of before? • Did you learn anything new or interesting about one of the pieces, composers, instruments, or TSO musicians? During Look and Listen Look around the orchestra and the hall • Have you been to Roy Thomson Hall before? • Are there any instruments you haven’t seen before? • Do you notice anything interesting about the orchestra? • There will be a live vote for the 3rd audience choice—Which piece will be the winner? Listen to the orchestra and conductor • Is it different listening to the live orchestra versus a recording? • Think about how the different pieces make you feel. • Is there a particular instrument or part of the piece that you like listening to the best? 6 Concert Preparation After Discuss and Reflect Discuss and reflect with your classmates • Was there anything that surprised you during the concert? • What was your favourite/least favourite piece and why? • Was your experience different from your classmates? • Fill out our Student Feedback form and let us know what you think! Review Rules and Reminders Review these rules and reminders with your classmates • No outside food or drink allowed inside Roy Thomson Hall • No flash photography or recordings • Please visit the bathroom before the concert—Audience members walking in and out during the concert can be distracting • We encourage you to applaud and show appreciation—The orchestra relies on your energy to perform • If you’re unsure when the piece of music is over, look to the conductor and performers on stage—The conductor will turn and face the audience once the piece of music is over Have fun and enjoy your experience! 7 Concert Preparation Listening Journals Name: ____________________________ Date: _________________________ Name of the piece ___________________________________ Composer ___________________________________ 1) What kind of instruments do you hear? What type of group or ensemble is playing? 2) What different dynamics do you hear? Do the dynamics change often or infrequently? (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, crescendo, diminuendo, etc.) 3) What tempo marking would you give this piece? (ex. Largo, Adagio, Andante, Allegro, Presto, etc.) 4) What type of key is this piece in? Major Minor Both Other 5) Which musical time period do you think this piece was written in? And why? Baroque Classical Romantic 20th Century 21st Century 6) How does the music make you feel? What does the music make you think of? 7) What two words would you use to describe this piece of music? (Try to use complex descriptive words ex. serene, uneasy, contemplative, joyous, etc.) 8 Program Notes Maurice Ravel Biography Maurice Ravel was born in the Basque town of Ciboure, France. Ravel started his musical training from an early age and began his studies at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 14 under the mentorship of the famous French composer Gabriel Fauré. His early compositions, while not immediately popular because of their unconventionality, showed great potential and helped establish his career as a composer. Ravel struggled to gain acceptance as leading composer at the Paris Conservatory. He failed three years in a row to receive the top composition prize, the Prix de Rome. Vewied as a failure, he was dismissed from Fauré’s class altogether. Despite his strained relationship with the music establishment of the day, Ravel continued on to be a prolific composer with his own unique contribution to French music. Some of Ravel’s most successful works included the orchestral work Rapsodie Espagnole, his opera L’heure Espagnole, and his ballet Daphnis et Chloé. Ravel also had success as an orchestrator, where he was particularly well-known for his orchestral arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Boléro Quick Facts Ravel’s Boléro is one of the most recognizable orchestral works of the twentieth century. In 1928, dancer Ida Rubinstein commissioned Born Ravel to compose a new ballet score. Initially, she requested that he March 7, 1875 orchestrate six pieces from Albeniz’ Iberia but after some copyright issues, Ravel decided to go in a different direction. Drawing inspira- Died tion from his early piano pieces, he composed a simple insistent December 28, 1937 theme. After the successful premiere of the ballet, Boléro became increasingly popular in the concert hall. It begins pianissimo with an Nationality ostinato in the snare, the theme is then introduced several times by French different instruments and the entire orchestra slowly crescendos creating a powerful listening experience. Full Name Joseph-Maurice Ravel Watch & Listen to the TSO 9 Audience Choice Vote #1 Franz Liszt Biography A principal figure in the Romantic movement, Franz Liszt is most well known as a virtuoso pianist and prolific composer of more than 1000 works! He was born 1811 in Hungary and moved to Vienna, as a child where began to take piano and composition lessons from Czerny and Salieri. Inspired by the virtuoso violinist Paganini, Liszt was determined to become the Paganini of the piano. He became immensely famous touring Europe performing piano recitals.