text texttext texttext text
CONFIDENTIAL
Inspector Tovey Investigates the Instruments of the Orchestra
Bramwell Tovey Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Spring 2013/2014 Study Guide
PRESENTING SPONSOR: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Orpheum Theatre Home of the Vancouver Symphony Founded in 1919, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is the third largest symphony orchestra in Canada. The VSO performs to an Designed in 1927 by architect Benjamin Marcus annual audience of more than 200,000 people and performs Priteca, the Orpheum Theatre is Canada’s last great over 150 concerts annually in the historic Orpheum Theatre, as entertainment palace, and one of Vancouver’s most well as in venues throughout the Lower Mainland. As a cultural spectacular heritage buildings. Since its opening, the staple of the Lower Mainland, VSO Education Programs are Orpheum has hosted vaudeville, cinema, musical experienced by over 50,000 students annually. theatre, concerts, ballet, opera, and children’s shows.
Maestro Bramwell Tovey has been the VSO’s Music Director since The building is a masterpiece of theatre design, with 2000. He is known for his extraordinary artistic leadership and a magnificently painted dome soaring above ornate passionate advocacy for music education. In 2008, the VSO won plaster carvings, gold leaf, and crystal chandeliers. a GRAMMY award and JUNO award and completed a successful Great care was taken with the acoustics of the building: tour to China and Korea, the first such tour by a Canadian the sound is so clear that musicians can hear a whisper Orchestra in over 30 years. The VSO’s mission is to enhance the in the very last row of the highest balcony, and the quality of life in our city and region by presenting high-quality audience can hear every note played on stage. In 1973, performances of classical and popular music to a wide variety of Famous Players slated the Orpheum for demolition, audiences, and offering educational and community programs. but thousands of Vancouverites wanted to save it. The City of Vancouver responded, rescuing and renovating the theatre.
In the fall of 2013, the VSO became the first organization to be inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. Stars for both the VSO and Bramwell Tovey will soon Music Director appear on Granville street’s star walk! Maestro Bramwell Tovey Maestro Bramwell Tovey is the Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.
Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he frequently works with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others.
Tovey is also known as a champion of new music, both as conductor and composer. As a composer, Tovey was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, which was premiered in January of 2011.
Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto.
Recently, Tovey was made an Honourary Member of the Order of Canada, and inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.
2 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey Bramwell Tovey Members of the Music Director Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Kazuyoshi Akiyama Conductor Laureate first violins flutes Jeff Tyzik Dale Barltrop, Concertmaster Christie Reside,Principal Principal Pops Conductor Joan Blackman, Associate Concertmaster Nadia Kyne, Assistant Principal Nicholas Wright, Assistant Concertmaster Rosanne Wieringa Gordon Gerrard Jennie Press, Second Assistant Concertmaster piccolo Assistant Conductor Robin Braun Nadia Kyne Mary Sokol Brown oboes Edward Top Jenny Essers Roger Cole, Principal Composer-in-Residence Jason Ho Beth Orson, Assistant Principal Akira Nagai, Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Karin Walsh Xue Feng Wei English horn Education Staff Rebecca Whitling Beth Orson Joanne Harada Yi Zhou clarinets Vice-President, Angela Cavadas ◊ Jeanette Jonquil, Principal Artistic Operations & Education Nancy DiNovo ◊ Cris Inguanti,Assistant Principal Ruth Schipizky ◊ Todd Cope Christin Reardon MacLellan second violins e-flat clarinet Education & Community Vacant, Principal Todd Cope Programs Manager Karen Gerbrecht, Associate Principal bass clarinet Jeanette Bernal-Singh, Assistant Principal Cris Inguanti Pearl Schachter Adrian Shu-On Chui bassoons Artistic Operations & Education Assistant Daniel Norton Julia Lockhart, Principal Ann Okagaito Sophie Dansereau, Assistant Principal MP3 tracks and performer Ashley Plaut Gwen Seaton bios available online at DeAnne Eisch ◊ contrabassoon www.vancouversymphony.ca Erin James ◊ Sophie Dansereau violas french horns Neil Miskey, Principal Oliver de Clercq, Principal Andrew Brown, Associate Principal David Haskins, Associate Principal Stephen Wilkes, Assistant Principal Benjamin Kinsman Lawrence Blackman Andrew Mee Table of Contents Matthew Davies Richard Mingus, Assistant Principal Programme Emilie Grimes trumpets page 5 Angela Schneider Larry Knopp, Principal Ian Wenham Marcus Goddard, Associate Principal Composer Bios cellos Vincent Vohradsky pages 6-9 Ari Barnes, Principal trombones Janet Steinberg, Associate Principal Matthew Crozier,Principal MP3 Track Listing Zoltan Rozsnyai, Assistant Principal Gregory A. Cox pages 10-11 Olivia Blander bass trombone Natasha Boyko Douglas Sparkes Instrument Families Joseph Elworthy tuba pages 12-16 Charles Inkman Peder MacLellan, Principal Lesson Plans Cristian Markos timpani pages 18 -24 basses Aaron McDonald, Principal Dylan Palmer, Principal percussion Appendix: Orchestra Puzzle Brandon McLean, Associate Principal Vern Griffiths,Principal pages 25-27 Brendan Kane, Assistant Principal Tony Phillipps David Brown harp J. Warren Long Elizabeth Volpé, Principal Frederick Schipizky piano, celeste Linda Lee Thomas, Principal
◊ Extra musician
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 3 What is a Symphony Orchestra?
When you come to see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Bramwell Tovey will introduce you to (or reacquaint you with, as the case may be!) the many diverse instruments found in a contemporary student activity: orchestra. Just like the people that make up your community - the students, teachers, staff, volunteers and parents in your school - the instruments of the orchestra are all part of their own families.
The word symphony means “sounding together”. An orchestra is made up of a group of musicians -- usually seventy to one hundred people -- playing instruments from four main families: string, woodwind, brass and percussion. A symphony orchestra consists of these many different instruments “sounding together”.
The louder instruments are at the back of the orchestra, and the quieter ones are in front so that the audience hears a balanced sound. The size of the instrument does not always match the size of the sound it can produce. When you are at a symphony concert, you will notice that large instruments can make soft or muted sounds while small instruments, like the triangle or the piccolo, can ring out above the whole combination of other instruments.
A composer produces the sounds he wants by choosing combinations of instruments from each family and writing the sounds that they will play together. Because a symphony orchestra is made up of so many different instruments, and because the musiciains are so well trained to produce a variety of sounds, the composer has a palette of instrumental colour combinations and sound possibilities at their disposal. More about instruments at the VSO? Inquiring minds want to know! Ann Okagaito, violinist, is part of the VSO’s string family...
Q. Who are your favourite performers on the violin? A. My favourite violinists to listen to are Leonid Kogan, Christian Tetzlaff and Augustin Hadelich.
Q. What do you like best about your instrument? A. Some fun things about the violin: It’s versatile. It can be used as a solo instrument, in a chamber music ensemble, or in orchestras. ALL while being one of the easiest instruments to carry around! And unlike some other instruments, our range of repertoire is huge!
Ann Okagaito Jenny Jonquil, clarinetist, is part of the VSO’s woodwind family...
Q. Why did you choose to play the clarinet? A. In grade 5, we were allowed to choose a wind instrument to start in the school music program. I picked the clarinet because that’s what all my friends chose.
Q. What is your favorite piece to play on clarinet? It’s hard to say because there are so many great pieces that I have caught myself saying are my “absolute favourite”. It has a lot to do with what I’m playing at the time and especially who I’m playing with. To pick one, probably the Mozart Clarinet Quintet.
Q. Complete the following sentences: A. Music makes me....feel alive see the following page for more Music teaches me....to express myself about the MUSIC MAKES US Jeanette Jonquil Music changes me....for the better line of questioning!
4 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey What is a Symphony Orchestra? Inspector Tovey student activity: Investigates the Instruments of the Orchestra Concert Programme Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 3 Richard Wagner
Fiddle Faddle Leroy Anderson Peer Gynt: In the Hall of the Mountain King EdvardGordon Grieg Gerrard
Pizzicato Polka Johann Strauss II
Have your students brush up on their instrumental detective Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy skills! It’s elementary... download the PDF printout and get to Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky know instruments in your own community, at the VSO and around the globe! Blue Wind Bramwell Tovey Be sure to also check out the orchestra map puzzle on pages 25-27 of the study guide. Stars and Stripes Forever John Philip Sousa Symphony No. 4: IV. Finale Petr Illyich Tchaikovsky
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Benjamin Britten
The Coalition for Music Education has come up with three sentence starters that are an excellent way to discuss the impact of music in your classroom. Send the VSO your students’ completed answers to the mailing address below! Music makes me... Music teaches me... Music changes me...
Did you know that Music Monday is the first Monday in May, every year? It’s a nationwide celebration of music education in schools, and the VSO is a proud partner.
For more information on how you can participate, or to register your school, visit www.musicmonday.ca . Participate in the 10th anniversary of Music Monday, May 5th, 2014, and make this the best year ever for Music Monday in BC!
Send us your mail! Christin & Pearl, VSO Education 500-833 Seymour St Vancouver, BC V6B 0G4
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 5 Persons of Interest: Composer Biographies
Richard Wagner b. May 22, 1813 / Leipzig, Germany d. February 13, 1883 / Vienna, Austria What Beethoven did to the symphony, Richard Wagner did to the opera. His operas were longer than any before him – sometimes 4 hours long – and demanding on the singers, the orchestra, and the audience. He even went so far as to have a new opera stage – the Bayreuth Festival Richard Wagner Theatre – built specifically for the purpose of staging his operas. Between 1851 and 1874, Wagner wrote a collection of four operas called The Ring of the Niebelungens, more commonly called the ‘Ring Cycle’. Together, these operas contain an astounding 23 hours of music. Wagner also wrote the libretti for all four operas (which helped inspire J.R.R. Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings trilogy). The second of these operas – The Valkyrie – is the most famous, as it contains the well-known Ride of the Valkyries, which depicts the entrance of the valkyries – half-horse-half-woman warriors of Norse mythology – into Valhalla, the Norse equivalent of Heaven. Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson b. June 29, 1908 / Cambridge, Massachusetts d. May 18, 1975 / Woodbury, Connecticut
Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Swedish immigrant parents, who had come to the United States in their youth. His father was a postal clerk and amateur musician who played the mandolin, and his mother was organist for the Swedish Church in Cambridge.
In 1919, at the age of 11, Anderson began studying music and piano at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Upon his graduation from high school, his father bought him a trombone so that he could play in the school band at Harvard University, where he was to attend college. He stayed at Harvard for many years, earning both Bachelors and Masters degrees in music.
Anderson was also extremely talented in languages, and worked toward a PhD in German and Scandinavian languages at Harvard. In addition to the languages he was brought up speaking, English and Swedish, Anderson was also fluent in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, German, French, Italian and Portugese. His talent for the Icelandic language led him to a brief career in the U.S. military. He was drafted into the U.S. Army as a private during World War II. He was shipped off the Iceland to serve as a translator. He was eventually promoted to Captain and worked at the Pentagon as Chief of the Scandinavian Desk of Military Intelligence. He continued to compose music during this time. When offered the prestigious position of U.S. Military Attaché to Sweden, he turned it down to make composing his sole profession.
Anderson’s music has become a staple in American pop culture. It is still performed on numerous occasions and is often used as background music for advertisements, or theme music for television shows. It would be hard to escape the holiday season without hearing, at least once, Anderson’s famous Sleigh Ride. 6 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey Edvard Grieg b. June 15, 1843 / Bergen, Norway d. September 4,1907 / Bergen, Norway Pyotr Ill’yich Tchaikovsky Edvard Grieg Edvard Grieg was the first major Norwegian composer. He started studying piano at age six with his mother, and grew to become quite an accomplished piano player. As a result, most of his music is for the piano, including a concerto and numerous suites based on Norwegian folk songs. He also found the time to write several pieces for orchestra, including a set of dances and a symphony. The people of Norway loved him so much that 40,000 people attended his funeral, and his birthday is a national holiday! In 1876, Grieg wrote a set of short songs as a soundtrack to a play by a friend of his. The Peer Gynt Suite, as the music is now known, is Grieg’s most well-known work. If you’ve ever seen a Disney movie or watched Saturday morning cartoons, you’ve probably heard one of these songs. The fourth song, In the Hall of the Mountain King, is actually a chase scene. Peer accidentally wanders into the territory of an evil king, who sends his servants to chase after Peer. They start slowly and quietly, gradually moving faster and faster, until a frantic Peer finally runs out of the kingdom.
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky b. May 7, 1840 / Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia d. November 6, 1893 / St. Petersburg, Russia Russian composer Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, and began piano lessons at the age of five. When his father was appointed director of the St. Petersburg Technical Institute in 1850, Tchaikovsky was able to receive a great general education through the school, as well as further his musical education through study with the director of the school’s music library. His father supported his musical studies, later paying for lessons with a well-known piano teacher from Nuremberg, and then supporting Tchaikovsky while he attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In his years immediately following graduation, Tchaikovsky acted as professor of harmony, composition, and music history for ten years. Finding teaching quite tiring, Tchaikovsky left his position and began conducting. In order to conduct, he had to overcome a strong case of stage- fright. He eventually increased his confidence so much that he began to regularly conduct his own works. Tchaikovsky’s works include some of the most renowned music of the romantic period. His music is recognized for its distinct Russian flavour, as well as its lush harmonies and exciting melodies. Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker at the request of Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, which was looking for a new ballet for the Christmas of 1892. Tchaikovsky accepted the job, but was less than thrilled with the music he composed for it: he often ranked it among his worst. Nonetheless, it has become standard Christmas repertoire. The Trépak is a lightning-quick dance, based on a Ukranian folk-dance called the tropak, which was very popular during Tchaikovsky’s life. On the other hand, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies is fragile and mystical, as if straight out of a dream. It wasn’t Tchaikovsky’s idea to write a piece of music based on the play Romeo and Juliet – at least a dozen composers before him composed music on the same subject, and it took a good friend to persuade Tchaikovsky to write the overture. Despite Tchaikovsky’s hesitance to write Romeo and Juliet, it has become one of the most well-known classical compositions, due in large part to the famous ‘love’ theme, a melody that has been featured in movies and TV shows for decades.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 7 From left to right: John
text Philip Sousa, Benjamin Britten adn Johann Strauss II
Britten, Benjamin b. November 22, 1913 / Lowestoft, England d. December 4 / Aldeburgh, England
Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, where he was the youngest of 4 children. His father was a dental surgeon and his mother was an amateur singer. Britten was a child prodigy. His mother began teaching him piano when he was just a toddler and by the time he was 5 he had begun to compose. At the age of 14, he had already written 13 piano compositions, several string quartets, an oratorio and dozens of songs. In fact, the themes for “A Simple Symphony” came from his childhood compositions. In addition to studying piano, Britten took lessons on the viola.
Britten loved his country and his compositions reflect his fascination for the sea, his enthusiasm for English tradition, and his concern for young people. His major works include “The Ceremony of Carols”, “Peter Grimes” (a full length opera that was an immediate success), “War Requiem”, “Let’s Make an Opera”, “Billy Budd”, “Hymn to St. Cecelia” (which he felt he owed to himself since he was born on St. Cecelia’s Day) and “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”.
Sousa, John Philip b. November 6, 1854 / Washington, DC d. March 6, 1932 / Reading, Penn
Sousa is best known as the King of American Marches, having composed 136 over the course of his career. Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., and started playing the violin when he was six years old. When he was thirteen, his father signed Sousa up as an apprentice in the Marine Band, to stop him from joining a circus band! Sousa was an apprentice for seven years, during which time he learned to play each and every wind instrument available to him. After the marine band, Sousa joined a pit orchestra for the theatre, where he learned to conduct. A band instrument, the sousaphone, is named after John Philip Sousa, as it was designed to several of his specifications. Sousa wanted awarm sounding brass instrument that projected sound up and over the band, while either marching or sitting.
One of the world’s most recognizable marches, Sousa wrote this piece on Christmas Day of 1896, in his head while aboard a ferry.The piece is in standard American march form, featuring several separate melodies and a contrasting section called a “trio”. The trio of The Stars and Stripes Forever is easily the most recognizable section of the piece, sometimes sung to the words “Be kind to your webfooted friends, for a duck may be somebody’s mother...!” Sousa conducted this piece at nearly every concert he performed, from then on and until his death. Marches are performed at different speeds, depending on the preference of the band. Sousa conducted his marches at a quick 120 beats per minute (that’s two beats for every second on a clock!) while European conducters prefer a slower 100 beats per minute.
8 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey Strauss II, Johann b. October 25, 1825 / St. Ulrich, Austria d. June 3, 1899 / Vienna, Austria Think: Once you’ve listened Johann Strauss Jr. was an Austrian composer known to The Stars and Stripes Forever, particularly for his waltzes and polkas. Strauss was predict how it will be different, or the same, to move to the Dance of the the son of renowned composer Johann Straus I, who Sugar Plum Fairy. discouraged his son from pursuing musical studies. However, Strauss the younger began studying the violin Do: Get your students moving to in secret, to his father’s extreme displeasure. Straus II’s both pieces of music... try marching, early career was marked with obstacles to overcome, processing, and gliding. Remember to move on the beat! as many local establishments refused to give him music work, Pyotrfor fear Illyich of Tchaikovsky aggravating his father. Strauss II did Share: How do the pieces of music manage to persuade a Casino to let him play, and he compare? Is there a difference in used the opportunity to perform some of his earliest mood or speed? waltzes and polkas.
Late in his career, Straus II was a source of admiration for his contemporaries including Wagner and Brahms. Famously, Strauss wife Adele approached Brahms for an autograph. Brahms obliged, notating a few bars of Strauss’ famous Blue Danube and wrote “Unfortunately, not by Johannes Brahms.”
Ever wonder what instruments great composers played? Let’s take a look:
PIANO VIOLIN Strauss Strauss Sousa FLUTE ORGAN PERCUSSION Sousa Mozart Sousa Beethoven Sousa Mozart Beethoven Tchaikovsky Wagner Beethoven Britten Tchaikovsky Tovey Wagner What is a Virtuoso? A virtuoso is an extremely talented performer who commands great techinal skill on their instrument, in any genre or time period. Historically, two notable classical virtuosos were Franz Liszt (piano) and Niccolo Paganini (violin). Liszt is credited with being the first performer to turn pianos sideways for concerts - so that people could admire his profile, as well as his fast-flying fingers! Paganini, for his part, is one violinist in a line of many who was rumoured to have sold is soul to the devil in exchange for talent! This myth of otherworldly talents on an instrument took new roots in early, French Canadian culture, where violins sometimes took sinister characterstics, and dancers were compelled to dance until they dropped!
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 9 download the mp3 files for free at www.vancouversymphony.ca/esc musical tracks
1. Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 3 Richard Wagner Lohengrin is an opera by Richard Wagner, written in 1848. An opera is a play set to music, where all the characters sing their parts. You will hear the VSO play the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin. This music happens at the beginning of the third act as the curtain comes up, and it describes the wedding of the two main characters: Lohengrin and his bride Elsa. The powerful brass instruments represent Lohengrin, while the more gentle woodwinds and strings represent Elsa.
2. Fiddle Faddle Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson’s Fiddle Faddle is an exciting piece of music featuring the violins, often called fiddles. It is based on the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice. As you listen, see if you can hear the tune of Three Blind Mice.
3. Peer Gynt: In the Hall of the Mountain King Richard Wagner In the Hall of the Mountain King is from a larger work by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, called Peer Gynt Suite. The story is about Peer’s adventures inside the Mountain King’s castle. Beginning softly and slowly, the music gradually gets faster and more intense as Peer tries to hide from the King and his trolls. Peer eventually escapes just in the nick of time, as the mountain crumbles behind him. Listen for the cellos and basses playing In the Hall of the Mountain King.
4. Pizzicato Polka Johann Strauss II Strauss’ Pizzicato Polka features the string section, made up of the violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Pizzicato describes the way the instruments are played for this piece: the players pluck the strings with their finger rather than playing with a bow.
5. Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is from the ballet The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. The Sugar Plum Fairy is the ruler of the Land of Sweets. The beautiful, delicate sounding instrument you hear at the beginning is called the celeste. The celeste looks like a piano, but a sound is made by little hammers striking metal plates instead of strings.
6. Blue Wind Bramwell Tovey In addition to being a conductor, Maestro Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is also a composer. A composer is someone who writes music. Blue Wind is a piece that features the woodwind section of the orchestra, including the flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, and contrabassoon. To listen to this piece you’ll have to watch you YouTube video of the VSO performing Blue Wind.
7. Stars and Stripes Forever Joh Philip Sousa Stars and Stripes Forever is a very famous march written by a very famous march composer and band leader named John Philip Sousa! Sousa was known as “The March King” because he wrote over 100 marches. A march is a piece of music with a strong beat that’s easy to march to, like in a parade. Stars and Stripes Forever is the national march of the United States. You will hear two versions of this march on the recording. The first is played by a band, the way Stars and Stripes Forever was originally written. At the VSO concert, the march will sound more like the second recording, played by an orchestra.
10 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey 8. Symphony No. 4: Movement IV Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky One of Tchaikovsky’s most well-known symphonies is Symphony No. 4, written in 1878. The finale (or final movement) is a great example of the way the orchestra musicians work as a team to sound good together. Each instrument, and each section (or department) of the orchestra plays a very special role in the sound of the entire orchestra.
9. The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Benjamin Britten Benjamin Britten wrote a wonderful piece of music called The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. You will learn all about the instruments of the orchestra when you hear the VSO perform this piece. But for now, here is the exciting introduction where we begin with the full orchestra, hear each section play for a few seconds, then put everyone back together again.
What Instrument Family Keeps You Moving? Here’s what VSO Assistant Conductor Gordon Gerrard has to say about the Percussion Department: “The coolest thing about percussion is that it’s really like the heartbeat of the orchestra. Rhythm is what keeps music alive, and it’s usually the percussion section that is at the centre of it all. And they can do it with so many fascinating kinds of sounds! They can make sounds that will transport you to distant sonic worlds, and evoke every possible emotion you can imagine. Guaranteed they will always make you sit up and listen.”
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 11
the string family Dale Barltrop is the VSO’s The string section is the largest family in concertmaster. the orchestra, and is made up mainly of Dale is from four instruments : violin, viola, cello, and Brisbane, Australia. double bass. These instruments, that all In addition to look very similar, are made of hollow wood, playing the violin, with strings attached. The musicians make Dale loves to travel sounds either by drawing a bow made of and enjoys horsehair across the strings, or by plucking swimming, running, the strings with their fingers. hiking and skiing. The bigger the instrument, the lower the sound, and the smaller the instrument, the higher the sound. 2. The viola is the next biggest instrument in the string family, and is sometimes called an alto. It looks exactly like the violin, but is a bit bigger, and thus makes a lower sound.
1. The violin is the smallest stringed 2. instrument and makes the highest sound. There are two sections of violins in the orchestra – first violins, and second 4. The double bass violins. The leader of the first violins is the is the largest member of 5. The harp rounds out concertmaster. The concertmaster works the string family – it stands the instruments in the string closely with the conductor to coordinate all seven feet tall! It also makes family. The orchestral harp of the strings. The concertmaster also tunes the lowest sound of the has an impressive forty- the orchestra, and plays many of the solo string instruments. To play seven strings, and weighs violin passages. it, musicians either sit on a about the same as a fifth grade student! stool, or stand. 1.
3.The cello, 3. sometimes called the violoncello, is not held 4. under the chin like the violin or viola, but between the player’s knees, resting on a 5. peg, with the neck extending over the left shoulder of the player.
12 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey
1. The flute, and its smaller sibling, the piccolo, used to be made of wood, but today, are made of either silver or gold. The musician holds the instrument sideways, and blows across the hole.
2. The oboe is a double-reed instrument that is used to tune the 2. orchestra because of its pure and steady sound. Reeds are made from thin pieces of cane that vibrate when air is blown across them. 1.
The VSO’s woodwind section is a talented and busy group of musicians! Many of them play more than one instrument. Cris Inguanti also plays the bass clarinet the woodwind and Julia Lockhart studied the harpischord (a Baroque keyboard instrument) in family addition to the bassoon. Like the string family, the woodwind family has four main instruments: flute, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. These instruments are hollow tubes with holes in them. The musician makes a sound by blowing air into one end, and covering the holes to produce different pitches. Sometimes, the woodwind family expands on-stage to include instruments such as the English Horn, the contrabassoon, and the saxophone
3.
3. The clarinet is a single-reed instrument, meaning it has only one reed, while the oboe has two. The bottom end of the clarinet flares out, and is called the bell.
4. The bassoon is also a double-reed instrument, and is the lowest of the woodwind family. The reed connects to 4. the basson by means of a bocal.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 13
1. The French horn is a tightly-curled instrument; if you were to uncurl it, it would be 17 feet long, ending with a widely flared bell. In its usual playing position, the bell points down and back, and is partially closed by the musician’s the brass family right hand.
Brass instruments are shiny gold or silver- 2. The trumpet is the highest of the coloured instruments, made from metal. brass instruments, and has around 4 ½ feet of The musician makes sounds by buzzing tubing. It has three piston valves, which allow his or her lips in a mouthpiece. High the player to change the pitch. Of the brass and low notes are created by valves or instruments, it plays the melody most often. slides, the size of the mouthpiece, and how the musician uses his or her lips (the 3. The trombone is the only brass embouchure). instrument that doesn’t need valves. To change The four main instruments are French the pitch, the player’s right hand moves a slide horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba. The up and down; finding the correct pitch depends trombone also has a larger, lower sounding on the musician’s ability to stop the slide at the cousin called the bass trombone. correct position.
4. The tuba is the lowest of the brass instruments, but isn’t the longest. At 15 feet long, it is two feet shorter than the French horn. It plays lower than the French horn because its tubing has a larger diameter. It has three to six piston valves or rotary valves that allow the musician to change pitch. 3. 1. 4. 2.
Benjamin Kinsman, VSO French Horn player, introduces students to his instrument at a VSO Connects session. Here, Ben is also holding a funnel attached to a garden hose; essentially a functional French Horn!
14 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey
the percussion The piano is also included as part of the percussion family family, because sound Percussive instruments make sound when is produced when they are hit, shaken, or scraped. The word the strings are hit by “percussion” describes the sound produced hammers. by hitting one object against another. Of the four orchestral families, the percussion section has the fewest musicians. At the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, there are two full-time percussion players as well as a full-time timpanist. Depending on the piece of music being played, the percussion section can expand to include a few more ‘extra‘ performers. Percussive instruments can either be pitched or unpitched.
Pitched instruments, such as the timpani, chimes, or the xylophone, can produce specific notes. Unpitched instruments produce an indeterminate pitch, or a sound that does not match up with the tuned notes of other instruments. Examples include the cowbell, triangle, bass drum, or even hand claps. The percussion family is often linked above all other musical components to rhythm, and even draws 1. The timpani (pictured) are the most comparisons to a regular, pulsing heartbeat, within the visible instruments in the percussion family, larger ensemble. In some genres of music, like jazz because they are placed on a platform at and rock, the drummer, is part of the “rhythm section” the back of the stage, in the centre. Timpani by name. But because of the two different categories of percussive instruments, pitched and unpitched, are usually played in sets of four, with each the percussion section cancontribute to melody and drum a different size and pitch. The player harmony, as well as rhythm. uses a pedal to tighten or loosen the skin on the top of the drum to change the pitch.
2. The bass drum, snare drum, and triangle are indefinite-pitch instruments that are hit with a drumstick or a beater. 1. 2. 3.The marimba (pictured) and xylophone are definite-pitch instruments that are played with yarn-covered or rubber mallets.
4.The tambourine and cymbals (pictured) are also indefinite-pitch 4. instruments, but they do not require a beater to play. The tambourine is struck with the 3. player’s right hand, while the cymbals are crashed together.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 15 6 16
Instruments of the Orchestra This is a typical layout for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in the Orpheum Theatre and most likely the layout you will see at your school concert.
13/14 Concerts School VSO Elementary
Inspector
Tovey Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver BC Stage Plan The Conductor Orchestral conductors stand on a podium with a baton (which looks a bit like a wand) in front of the orchestra, constantly communicating directions to the whole orchestra during a performance. The primary responsibilities of the conductor are to set tempo, indicate beats (particularly first or “down” beats) and to listen carefully and critically to the ensemble. Communicating changes that need to be made within the ensemble (such as showing the violins you want them to play louder to balance the sound) requires highly trained listening skills. There are no strict rules for conducting, and you will notice that different conductors have very different styles. However, the very basics of beat indication do follow a set pattern that you can see below.
Maestro Bramwell Tovey is the Conductor and Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony. He led the VSO to break the world record for the largest orchestra performance in an outdoor venue when he conducted over 6,000 musicians in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Try a few of the conducting examples below with a baton or pencil. Tracks on the accompanying CD are labelled with which pattern to follow so you can conduct along!
A) 4/4 Time B) 2/4 Time C) 3/4 Time Most common Fast music Often heard in waltzes
Don’t forget to conduct in 3/4 theHappy next time Birthday you sing happy birthday for a classmate! It’s a bit tricky so here’s the first four bars to help - make sure to count 1,2 before you start! Traditional
Happy
Birthday! Hap - py birth - day to you! Hap - py birth - day to you! 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
95 years of orchestral fun in Vancouver! The Orphuem Theatre at Seymour and Smithe has celebrated many exciting milestones since it was built in 1927. This year is the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 95th anniversary season. Pictured at left, Assistant Conductor Gordon Gerrard conducts last year’s spring Elementary School Concert in the Orpheum.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 17
Primary/Junior Lesson Plans Lesson 1 by Christin Reardon MacLellan All in the ‘Orchestral’ Family: Exploring Orchestral Instruments by Characteristic, Sound, and Family
Goals: As a result of this lesson, students will: -identify and describe the instruments and instrument families of a symphony orchestra -classify instruments into groups based on physical and aural characteristics -learn the word timbre, and describe the timbres of orchestral instruments -experience the thrill of listening to an instrument played beautifully, and consider which instruments they enjoy most
Materials: YouTube videos and a means of playing them Instrument photos White board or large flip chart paper Instruments (if available)
Procedure: Part 1 1. Tell students that they will be learning about the instruments in a symphony orchestra. Ask students to share orchestral instrument names they might already be familiar with. 2. Inform students that orchestral instruments are grouped into 4 families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. As a class, make a list of other things that we can group together, based on similarities (types of food; types of cars; types of animals) 3. Discuss ways that we form groups- what makes things similar or different? 4. Watch and listen to Benjamin Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (note: YouTube video is in 2 parts- part 1 and part 2)
Part 2 1. Introduce the instrument families one at a time (see Teacher Tool Kit and pages __to __ in study guide for detailed info about each family), showing students photos of each instrument and watching the accompanying video (video list is in Teacher Tool Kit). Teach the word timbre in simple terms for students: the type of sound an instrument makes that lets you know what instrument it is. 2. Try to have real instruments on hand for students to look at and touch- you may want to borrow from the band teacher at your school, or from a high school. 3. After being introduced to each instrument in a family, ask students to describe the instrument in terms of how it looks and how it sounds. Make a class list of each instrument’s qualities on the board or on a flip chart. (Extension- have students work on instrument colouring pages or complete a writing assignment about an instrument or instrument family).
Part 3 1. Divide class into groups of approximately 4 2. Tell students they are going to play a game called “Who Am I?” involving instruments of the orchestra. Students should take turns choosing an instrument and describing the instrument to other group members, ending with the question “who am I?” The other group members should then guess which instrument has been described. For example, if a student chooses the clarinet, the description might go as follows:
18 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey
“I am a woodwind instrument. My colour is usually black. I have silver keys. I have a sweet, mellow sound. You need to use a reed in order to play me. I play higher than my close relative. Who am I?”
It will be helpful for the teacher to demonstrate the exercise to the class, having students guess.
Assessment: -listen to students playing “Who am I?” to determine whether they are able to communicate ideas about instrument characteristics. -observe students’ reactions to different instruments
Video Links: *All videos are accessible on YouTube, at the VSO’s channel, in the playlist “Inspector Tovey Investigates the Instruments of the Orchestra- lesson plans”
Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGltkHps5U Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPHsNUgreU
STRINGS Violin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8s5aV60yFA&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=24 Viola: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaZGfXMONw&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=25 Cello: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCicM6i59_I&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=26 Bass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgZ_-f7pVk4&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=27 Harp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sih95mn0Qic&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=29 WOODWINDS Piccolo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfEWHWAI114&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=19 Flute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEAQdgauLlQ&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=15 Oboe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhygJyCvYeA&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=17 English Horn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HhrxVx1Ztc&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=34 Clarinet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1IosQKnF-I&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=16 Bass Clarinet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aahcKs4pCM&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=23 Bassoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-hyXL5ABIE&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=18 Contrabassoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B08YMuB6gGQ&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=30 BRASS Trumpet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEFjjGUXKxM&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=21 French Horn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnFl1q0IYTA&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=20 Trombone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H9IrnFZGhE&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=22 Bass Trombone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi0BuXa_W3U&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=31 Tuba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM650087-4o&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=32 PERCUSSION Timpani: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HreiK3E3Ov0&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=35 Marimba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLAQ0myEFgA&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=36 Snare Drum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a1vBTzN0_A Piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYQ4qWAk34A&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=28
Just for Fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPK3IJBiTDs&list=PLwnrLcBnmIWNUQLx4HEE4XnIqFpZSuqqP&index=33 Instrument Colouring Pages! http://www.kids-n-fun.com/Coloringpages/Musical-Instruments
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 19 Lesson 2 by Pearl Schachter Leroy Anderson’s Fiddle Faddle: Three Blind Mice, Nursery Rhymes & Musical Variations
Goals: As a result of this lesson, students will: - Become familiar with musical concepts (tempo, dynamics, timbre) and relate into descriptive words - Identify different instrument groups and their characteristics - Internalize rhythm through movement - Develop improvisation strategies by exploring the concept of variations
Materials: - Audio recording and player of Fiddle Faddle, or YouTube video of VSO playing Fiddle Faddle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoDrDdR0Yg
- Images of different animals (can use mouse and bear provided at the end of this lesson) - Blackboard or chart paper to record different descriptive words and imagery
Procedure: Activity A (Introduction to Fiddle Faddle)
1. Show students illustrated pictures two animals of contrasting size and character. Using classroom reading, ie picture books, or the illustrations at the end of this lesson to prompt brainstorming, ask students for words to describe the different animals (small, furry, quick, quiet; large, heavy, powerful, loud). It may be helpful to use sentence starters related to the five senses such as looks/feels/sounds. Record list of descriptive words while students brainstorm, making suggestions to consider the size, speed and character of each animal’s movements.
2. Tell students that you are going to listen to a piece of music that is related to an animal (or several animals). Using their investigative skills, students should take the time, while they listen, to guess the animal. Inform students that there is a very important clue that the composer has hidden in the music (the first line of Three Blind Mice is the basis of the violin theme in Fiddle Faddle). Play audio, or VSO YouTube video, of Leroy Anderson’s Fiddle Faddle for students. At the end, before letting students guess the animal, ask if they recognized the piece of music (some may answer “Three Blind Mice”) and to pick out any of the previously brainstormed words that apply to the music they just heard. Guess the animal!
3. Listen/watch the piece a second time with students, asking them to identify instruments/characters. They should be able to identify the violins/strings as the mice. Tell them that “Fiddle” is another word for violins, and the piece is called “Fiddle Faddle” which describes the string-heavy nature of the piece. Point out other notable instruments as the piece plays (flute flourish, bass drum... bicycle horn!). Note that around 1:40 the brass carries a lower melody while the violins continue with the “mice scurrying”. Discuss whether the brass sounds like mice - have students collaborate to invent a story scenario that accounts for the tune in the brass.
Extension: Mice Moving to the Music!
In an open space, or with desks pushed aside, have students walk, pretending to be mice while Fiddle Faddle plays. The catch is that they are only allowed to take steps on each of the three notes from “Three Blind Mice” If this theme is not playing, their feet should be frozen in place (but they can continue to wiggle their noses, and dance to the music like mice would!). This might take some practice... remind students to keep their steps quick and light. Once the mice have mastered their parts, come up with a movement for the brass melody in the middle of the piece.
20 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey
Activity B (Exploring Variations)
1. Starting with the words “Fiddle Faddle” explore the concept of rhyming/matching words. Write the words Fiddle and Faddle next to each other, ask your students what’s the same and what’s different (one letter). Next make a list of words that are similar, but different. For example: look, took, book, shook, cook. Talk about how in all of these words, only one letter is different and yet the meaning has changed dramatically. Introduce the concept that the same idea can be true in music, too, where you change one small element to make a very different overall effect.
2. Pick a nursery rhyme or song that is familiar for students. For example, Baa, baa, black sheep. This nursery rhyme is already a variation, as it shares a tune with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!
Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, Three bags full; One for the master, And one for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane.
After seeing what words you can substitute to creat a slightly different song, discuss with students all the other elements that can be varied to make a song a variation of the original. Key, tempo, instrumentation, dynamics, articulation and size of the group performing are all ways do accomplish this. Demonstrate, with student participation, by singing song at half speed, followed by double speed.
As an example, bring back the recording of Fiddle Faddle. There is a section at 1:12 where the violins play pizzicato (pluck the strings instead of using their bows) to create a different effect on their instruments. Talk about incorporating classroom instruments (or even found instruments, like the bicycle horn...) and unconvential ways that they might be used in order to create a more interesting variation.
3. Have students work as a class, or in small groups, to create their own variation. Perform together, or in small groups.
Assessment: 1. Is that student able to use a variety of descriptive words to verbalize ideas and musical concepts? 2. Is the student able to recognize the sound of different instrument families? 3. Does the student recognize and move (on the beat) to a musical phrase in context? 4. Does the student demonstrate a an understanding of variations in language and musical elements? 5. Is the student able to perform the variation, as part of the larger group?
Extension: Variations in artwork!
Have students draw an easily reproduced image (ex- sheep at right). Students should illustrate three or four of the same image, each with a slightly different feature (ie one with larger eyes, or with wool that’s been coloured). In partners, students will explain to each other how their drawings are “the same but different”.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 21
22 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey Teacher Tool Kit
String Family: violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp -made of wood with strings attached. There are 4 strings on the violin, viola, cello and bass -make sounds by bowing (using a bow) or plucking strings -the inside of string instruments is hollow, allowing sound to vibrate inside -the handle of the bow is made of wood, and the hair on the bow is actually horse hair from a horse’s tail! -violin is the highest and smallest instrument, followed by viola, cello, and bass -harp is a different type of string instrument. It has 47 strings that are plucked and 7 foot pedals that adjust the length of the strings to produce sharps and flats.
Woodwind Family: piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon (additional woodwinds: bass clarinet, English horn, contrabassoon, saxophone) -woodwind instruments are typically made of wood, except for piccolo, flute and saxophone which are made of metal. -sound is produced by blowing across the instrument (piccolo, flute), blowing across a single reed (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone), or blowing across a double reed (oboe, English horn, bassoon, contrabassoon). -the sound is produced from the vibrations caused by blowing into the instruments -Piccolo: a smaller version of a flute that plays an octave higher. Piccolos are made of either wood or silver. -Flute: used to be made of wood; now made of silver, gold, or platinum. It looks like a narrow tube with tone holes that are covered by keys. The player blows across the tone hole at the top of the flute to make a sound. The sound can be light and mellow or shrill and high. -Clarinet: the clarinet is typically made of granadilla wood and is dark brown or black in colour. It has many tone holes surrounded by silver keys. The clarinet’s sound is mellow and soothing, and it can play very high or very low. The bass clarinet is larger and plays much lower. It has a silver neck that is easy to recognize. -Oboe: the oboe looks similar to a clarinet and is also made of granadilla wood. However, the oboe is thinner and is played with a double reed (2 thin pieces of reed glued together). It also does not have a mouthpiece like the clarinet- the sound is produced by blowing directly into the reed. The sound of the oboe is easy to hear. It sounds more nasal than the other woodwinds, and can be very expressive. The English horn is a close relative to the oboe- it is larger and sounds quite a bit lower. -Bassoon: the bassoon is a large double reed instrument, typically brown or black in colour. The double reed is attached to a metal piece called the bocal. The bassoon plays low, and it’s close relative, the contrabassoon plays even lower. -Saxophone: the saxophone is not typically used in a symphony orchestra, although it is a member of the woodwind family. Some composers did include a saxophone in their pieces, though this is not common. The saxophone is made of brass, but is considered a woodwind instrument because it is played with a single reed, like the clarinet.
Brass Family (trumpet, French horn, trombone, bass trombone, tuba) -brass instruments are made of brass and sound is produced by buzzing the lips and blowing air into a cup-shaped mouthpiece. The sound is made higher or lower by changing the embouchure (shape of the lips) and by pressing valves or moving a slide (trombone). Trumpet: the trumpet is the highest, smallest instrument in the brass family. The sound of the trumpet can be sweet, and also very dignified. French horn: the French horn is made of about 17 feet or narrow tubing wound into a circle. The sound of the French horn is soothing and deep. Trombone: the trombone plays lower than the French horn and trumpet, and instead of pressing valves, the sound is changed by moving a slide in and out. The bass trombone is a close relative of the trombone, and plays much lower and louder.
Inspector Tovey VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 23 Tuba: the tuba is the lowest sounding member of the brass family, and the one of the lowest in the whole orchestra (along with string bass and timpani). The tuba is made of about 16 feet of large tubing.
Percussion Family (piano, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, xylophone, marimba, chimes, triangle, and many other instruments!) -a percussion instrument is anything that is hit, scraped, or shaken. -the percussion section provides rhythm, texture, and tone colour in the orchestra -some percussion instruments, like xylophone and timpani, can play specific pitches, while others, like snare drum and bass drum provide an indefinite pitch, yet important sound. -percussionists often play many different instruments in one piece of music -the piano is considered a percussion family, because when a key is pressed, a small hammer is triggered inside the piano, which hits a string to produce a sound.
See pages 12 to 16 in study guide for photos and further information about the instruments.
Want to learn more?
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra www.vancouversymphony.ca Canadian Composers www.musiccentre.ca More Great Resources: Deborah Ziolkoski Just for kids: children’s guide A simple, fun approach to classical music The VSO’s Peter and the Wolf, video and audio on CBC: http://funwithcomposers.com/ More Classical Music for Kids http://music.cbc.ca/#/concerts/Vancouver-Symphony-Or- www.classicsforkids.com chestra-2012-10-07/ National Arts Centre: Instrument Lab http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/instrumentlab/ Concise History of Wester Music, 2nd Edition Hanning, Barbara Russano W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, USA, 2002. Books for Teaching & Reading: Check out the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra App, The Arts as Meaning Makers based on Benjamin Britten’s Orchestral Adventure: Claudia Cornett and Katharine L. Smithrim Pearson Education Canada Inc, Toronto, 2001. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/young-persons-guide-to-or- chestra/id665019589?mt=8 This too is music Rena Upitis Heinemann, Toronto, 1990 And an animated short film on the theatre experience, set to Rossini’s William Tell Overture: Making Musical Instruments with Kids: 67 Easy Projects for Adults Working with Children http://vimeo.com/48547146 Bart Hopkin, See Sharp Press, USA, 2009.
The Composer is Dead (with CD) Snicket, Lemony HarperCollins, USA, 2009.
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed Kuskin, Karla HarperCollins, USA, 1986.
24 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey Appendix A - Page 27 VSO Spring Study Guide 2014: Orchestra Puzzle Appendix A - Page 28 VSO Spring Study Guide 2014: Orchestra Puzzle
Appendix A - Page 29 VSO Spring Study Guide 2014: Orchestra Puzzle More Concert Info:
Calling all artists! We want to showcase your students’ artwork on the stage-side video screens. Send us your class’ art depicting “instruments with character” by Friday, February 14th and it will be displayed before and after the concert, when you come to visit.
On VSO concert day, make sure you check out the Beethoven Wall on Seymour Street, adjacent to the the Orpheum.
There are 43 panels in total, displaying Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) in the composer’s own handwriting!
Send your comments, questions and concert reviews to Christin & Pearl:
Education Department Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 500 - 843 Seymour Street Vancouver, BC V6B 0G4
Or by email: [email protected] 28 VSO Elementary School Concerts 13/14 Inspector Tovey