Self ies: 3rd – 6th Musical Grades Portraits Lesson 1 – Musical Portraits Objective Using a variety of repertoire from the BPO concert, students will explore ways that composers throughout time have used music to create portraits depicting themselves and others. Through four different musical selections, they will understand that portraits can depict characters, real people, places and even the creator of the portrait themselves. Students will examine the tools that composers use such as dynamics, tempo, tonality, and musical texture to create the mood of a piece of music.

Suggested Materials • Musical Portraits Worksheet (provided) • Orchestral Composer Timeline graphic (provided) • Text from Mozart Aria and ’s Lincoln Portrait (provided) • Recordings of Mozart’s “Un moto di gioia mi sento” from Figaro; Copland’s Lincoln Portrait; Smetana’s Moldau and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (audio links can be found at youtube.com/user/BfloPhilharmonic)

New York State Arts Standards 3 – Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art 4 – Understanding the Cultural Contributions of the Arts

Common Core Learning Standards for ELA & Literacy Reading, CCR 1, 2, 4 and 7 Writing CCR 1, 4 and 8 Speaking & Listening, CCR 1, 2 and 4 Language, CCR 1, 2 and 6

Procedure 1) In this lesson we will explore how four different composers created portraits in music: a. Portrait of a character in a story – Mozart aria from the opera, Figaro b. Portrait of an important historical figure – Copland’sLincoln Portrait c. Portrait of a place – Smetana’s Moldau d. Self Portrait of the composer – Beethoven’s 5th Symphony 2) Hand out the attached Musical Portraits Worksheet to each student. 3) Introduce the Mozart aria from the opera, Figaro to students and play a recording. Share the English lyrics of this aria with students as they listen (see attached).

EDUCATION EDUCATION

Lesson 1 – Musical Portraits (continued)

4) Complete the Musical Portraits Worksheet together using the following prompts: a. What type of portrait is being shown? A character, a real person, a place or is it a self portrait of the composer? Once they have determined the type of portrait, write the composer name and piece in the appropriate box on the worksheet. b. What does the mood of this music sound like? Cheerful, peaceful, gloomy, angry, calm, etc. Ask students to come up with their own descriptive words for the mood. Add these words into the box on the worksheet. c. What musical elements help create this mood? Dynamics (is it loud, quiet, of varying dynamics, etc); tempo (how fast or slow), tonality (is it a dark or bright tonality), type of melody and accompaniment (is it a flowing tune, does it have a rhythmic drive, etc.) Add these descriptors to the worksheet. 5) Continue the lesson by introducing ’s Lincoln Portrait and playing a recording. Share the text from the narration with students as they listen (see attached). 6) Use the above prompts to fill out the appropriate box of the Musical Portraits Worksheet. How does the choice of words affect the mood of this music? 7) Complete the Worksheet by repeating steps 3 and 4 with Smetana’s Moldau and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. 8) Once the Worksheet has been completed and if you have time, you can continue with the following writing prompts on the back of the Worksheet: a. Two of these selections use words to help create the portrait; the Mozart and the Copland. If you were going to select words to set to music to create a portrait of yourself, what words might you choose? Would it be a story about something that happened to you? A poem describing how you feel? A description of what you look like? Write a sample. b. Two of these selections do not use words, but only use music to create the portrait. Do you think a composer has a harder time creating a portrait without words? Why or why not? EDUCATION

Mozart’s “Un moto di gioia mi sento” from Figaro English translation by John Glenn Paton© Re-printed with permission, LiederNet Archive

An emotion of joy I feel in my heart that says happiness is coming in spite of my fears.

Let us hope that the worry will end in contentment. Fate and love are not always tyrants.

From weeping, from pain one cannot always live. Sometimes then is born a good thing out of sorrow.

And when one believes the danger is greatest, one sees shining a greater calm.

Copland’s Lincoln Portrait (excerpt to be performed at BPO concert)

“Lincoln was a quiet man. Abe Lincoln was a quiet and a melancholy man. But when he spoke of democracy, this is what he said.

He said: “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of these United States, is everlasting in the memory of his countrymen. For on the battleground at Gettysburg, this is what he said:

He said: “That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the .” WORKSHEET EDUCATION

Name:______Musical Portraits

Portrait of a character in a story Portrait of a place Composer:______Composer:______Piece:______Piece:______

Portrait of an historical figure Composer’s self portrait Composer:______Composer:______Piece:______Piece:______