American Journey Mark B
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2012-2013 ConCERTS FoR YounG PEoPLE Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Staff the American Journey Mark B. Kent, Vice President for Education and Community Engagement Niki Baker, Manager of Ensembles and Instruction through Janice Crews, D.M.A., Professional Learning Teaching Artist Tiffany Jones, Education Associate – Sales and Recruitment MUSIC Ahmad Mayes, Community Programs Manager with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra With deepest gratitude… Major support is provided by the This project is supported in part by an award City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. from the National Endowment for the Arts Major funding for this program is This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council provided by the Fulton County Board of for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia Commissioners under the guidance of General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its the Fulton County Arts Council. partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra thanks the following organizations for their support of our Education and Community Programs. The support of these corporations, foundations and individuals is invaluable in helping us reach and educate diverse communities. Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation The Helen Plummer Charitable Foundation Brown & Moore Associates, LLC Publix Super Markets & The Coca-Cola Company Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc. Delta Air Lines Remillard & Associates, Inc. E Z Agape Foundation SunTrust Bank Trusteed Foundation – Georgia Pacific Walter H. and Marjory M. Rich MEET THE InterContinental Hotels Group Memorial Fund Cover art by Elle SchusterCover art by Elle Schuster Links, Inc., Azalea City Chapter SunTrust Foundation Orchestra The Society, Inc., Greater Atlanta Chapter Livingston Foundation, Inc. Activities Wells Fargo on page 2! Massey Charitable Trust The William Randolph Hearst Inside! Name MetLife Foundation Endowed Fund Primerica, Inc. The Zeist Foundation, Inc. Class The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra DE AR STUDENT, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) was founded in 1945 and has about 90 musicians. In the past 32 years, the ASO and ASO Chorus America is a proud nation of diverse people – a true have recorded more than 100 albums and received an impressive 27 “melting pot” of people from all over the world. From Native GRAMMY® Awards, the highest honor in the music industry. The ASO American folk music to modern day Rock & Roll, the music performs at Atlanta Symphony Hall, the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Chastain Park, and in many places throughout the of America tells the story of how our country has evolved community. With over 200 concerts each season, the ASO performs over time. In this book, you will learn about the music you for more than half a million audience members every year! are going to hear at the Next Generation Concert. Discover Jere Flint plays the cello in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and how each time period of American history has influenced is also the ASO Staff Conductor. Mr. Flint conducts all of the education concerts for students, concerts for families, and the Atlanta Symphony our music. The music you hear will reflect these time Youth Orchestra. He was born in Long Island, New York, where he grew periods. Sometimes, music from a more recent time is up playing baseball and running track. He started playing music as a young boy and would also practice conducting to his favorite influenced by the past. As you explore the instruments of recordings. Mr. Flint gives this advice: “Take up an instrument or just the orchestra and the music presented in this concert, you sing, and pursue all kinds of music, whether it is classical, pop, rock, will hear many types of music that originated in America. and/or jazz. Even if you don’t make Your friends, a career of music, Ta BLE OF CoNTENTS it will always be 1400 > Early American Indian . 4 The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra an important and 1492 > Early Settlers . 5 enjoyable part of 1782 > The Revolutionary War . 7 your life.” Mr. Flint 1783 > American Independence . 8 has been a part of 1790 > Post-Revolutionary War . the ASO for over 9 30 years! 1800 > The Start of Western Expansion . 10 1860 > The First Industrial Revolution . 11 Your journey through 1861 > The Civil War . 12 1866 > Reconstruction . 14 American music with the 1893 > A New Century . 16 1930 > Early 20th Century America . 17 Atlanta Symphony 1950 > Post-WWII . 19 1970 > The Civil Rights Era . 21 Orchestra begins now! 1971 > Modern U .S . History . 24 2000 > The Rock/Pop Movement . 25 2000 > Contemporary America . 26 The Future of Music . 28 1 WOW In 2009, archaeologists found a 35,000-year-old flute OW made out of the wing-bone W of a giant prehistoric Long before brass vulture! instruments were invented, people buzzed Meet the Orchestra! their lips into conch BRASS shells andhorns! animal INSTRUMENTS WOW are made of metal and make a sound when the Many string player buzzes his or her instruments use a bow, lips into a metal cup which is made of a wooden called a mouthpiece. stick and the hair from a What is a Symphony Orchestra? horse’s mane or tail. The horse hair is scratchy and A symphony orchestra is a large group of musicians who play helps pull the string and instruments from each musical family – the string, brass, woodwind, make it vibrate! and percussion families. These musicians are lead by a conductor who waves his or her arms to the beat to help the musicians play together. There are between 80 and 100 people in a full-sized orchestra! Composers often write symphonies, which simply means a long, complex piece of music for an orchestra. WOW Percussionists in an orchestra are sometimes required to play unusual things, like anvils, brake drums, or whistles! 3 2 1400 > EaRLY AMERICAN INDIAN EARLY SETTLERS 1492 > EaL R Y AMERICAN INDIAN N ative Americans, also called American Indians, 1492 > were living in North America long before immigrants came to their land, thousands of years before the land you live in now was ever I Can Hear It! called the United States of America. American WOW Indians played flutes and drums to accompany When MacDowell composed music for the their singing and dancing, and their music What to Listen for in musicians he knew, he used the often marked important times of year, such as MacDowell’s “In War-time”: name Edgar Thorn because he celebrations of the planting season or harvest. didn’t want his friends to feel As you listen to “In War-time,” check off the things you hear on the following list. pressured to perform his music. Beginning: Low, quiet flute melody, inspired by So, how can a symphony orchestra play a Native American flute melody ?? music that sounds Native American? Clarinets take over for a moment with a bold Native American Indian Suite, III . “In War-time”(1897) pow-wow song, and then the dynamics (volume) build as the strings Edward MacDowell (1860–1908) take over the melody. American composer Edward MacDowell was not a Native American and didn’t live at the time when American Indians were the only inhabitants in this country. However, MacDowell wrote his Indian Suite Middle: Intensity builds- the woodwinds and strings play higher and at a time when American symphonic composers used faster, adding to the chaos of this musical battle scene. Native American and African American folk music in End: A dramatic finish: the entire orchestra plays W their compositions. This trend was encouraged by the repeated notes all together. Native AmericansOW Czech composer Anton Dvořák (see page 16), who said that make their drums, What else do you hear or imagine when you America needed a national style of music. You can learn more about all flutes, rattles, and other listen to “In War-time”? of the Next Generation composers at www.aso.org/edu. instruments out of natural Answer below. materials such as wood, Edward MacDowell was born in New York City and animal hide, bone, and started playing the piano at age 8. He became a well- turtle shells. known conductor, composer, and piano teacher and also spent time in Europe. MacDowell was one of the first internationally famous American composers, perhaps due to the invention of the gramophone and phonograph in the late 1870s, which made sound WOW recordings more widely available and helped MacDowell to share his music with the world. Native American music includes ancient secret songs which are used for special ceremonies and 4 5 never, ever change. EAL R Y SETTLERS THE REVOLUTIONARY waR 1782 > 1492 > A MERICA, THe “MELTING POT” Yankee Doodle (1945) 1782 > America is called a “melting pot” of different Morton Gould (1913–1996) cultures. Early settlers from European countries Composers are often influenced by traditional music from such as Spain, England, and France made their America’s past. For example, almost 200 years after Yankee homes on the Eastern coast of America. The Doodle was first sung, composer Morton Gould wrote his own Europeans brought with them African slaves, variations on the traditional American tune. A variation is a way and the blending of different people lead to a that a composer can rewrite a melody over and over again by blending of their music. Traditional European changing the instruments, tempo (speed), dynamics, or other classical music for symphony orchestra also made its way to North characteristics, all while keeping the melody recognizable. Gould America’s shores. Meanwhile, America as a nation was taking shape. rewrote the famous melody of Yankee Doodle in many different ways, making it a very entertaining piece of music. T HE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1775–1782) Morton Gould was born in New York City in 1913.