NEW ADVENTURES KS2 & KS3 SCHOOL CONCERTS Supported by 1 CONTENTS The orchestra – who goes where? 2 Woodwind 3 Brass 4 Strings 5 Percussion 6 Composer timeline – Who, When, Where and What? 7 Where in the world? 11 The pieces and activities: 1. Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges L’Amant anonyme 12 2. Jörg Widmann 180 Beats Per Minute 12 3. Maurice Ravel Mother Goose Suite, Fairy Garden 12 4. Edvard Grieg Peer-Gynt Suite, In the Hall of the Mountain King 13 5. Felix Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1, Andante 14 6. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Petite Suite de Concert, La tarantelle frétillante 14 7. Anna Clyne This Midnight Hour 19 8. Augusta Holmès La Nuit et l’Amour 19 9. Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Finale 19 Answers 21 Glossary 22 Free access to the CBSO’s Key Stage 2 and 3 digital concerts has been due to the generous support from the Birmingham Music Education Partnership, led by Services for Education. Birmingham Music Education Partnership works together to create joined-up music education provision, responding to local need as part of the National Plan for Music Education. We are also grateful to the Clive & Sylvia Richards Charity, principal supporter of the CBSO’s work with young people. 1 WHO ARE THE CBSO? The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is the flagship of musical life in Birmingham and the West Midlands, and one of the world’s great orchestras. Based in Symphony Hall, in a typical year it gives over 150 concerts each year in Birmingham, the UK and around the world, playing music that ranges from classics to contemporary, film music and even symphonic disco. THE ORCHESTRA WHO GOES WHERE? Activity Follow the link and click on the sections to meet the CBSO. Where would the conductor go? What is their role? KS3 Extension Follow the link to Classic FM to see if you can put the correct instruments in the correct place in the orchestra. 2 WOODWIND Activity: Woodwind instruments make a sound by the player blowing air through a tube, across the hole or with a (single or double) reed. The air inside the instrument vibrates creating sound waves. To change the pitch of the notes you need to cover the holes or the keys. By covering the holes, this affects the amount of air vibrating inside and makes the notes higher or lower. Can you try to do this yourself? Two easy ways of doing this are either blowing across a bottle or into two pieces of paper, held loosely together. KS3 Extension: Can you come up with any more ways to imitate a woodwind instrument? Flute (and Piccolo) Oboe (and Cor Anglais) Bassoon (and Contra Bassoon) Clarinet (Eb, Bb, A, Bass) 3 BRASS Activity: Brass instruments make a sound by the player blowing air through an incredibly long tube although, it is not as straightforward as just blowing into the mouthpiece. In order to make a sound, a brass player’s lips must vibrate very, very quickly. When placed against the mouthpiece of the instrument the air inside begins to vibrate, forming sound waves. To make different notes the amount of air vibrating inside the instrument must change. On a trombone, a part called the slide makes the tube of vibrating air longer or shorter, and this changes the pitch of the note from lower to higher. However, on a trumpet, French horn or tuba, valves are pressed down to change the amount of air. Can you try to do this yourself? An easy way of doing this is to blow air down a pipe attached to a funnel. KS3 Extension: Can you come up with any more ways to imitate a brass instrument? French Horn Trumpet Trombone Tuba 4 STRINGS Activity: String instruments make a sound when the player causes the strings to rapidly vibrate under tension, with a bow or by plucking them. The wooden body of string instruments amplifies the sound as the air vibrates inside. Can you try to do this yourself? An easy way of doing this is to stretch elastic bands around a plastic box. KS3 Extension: How can you make the pitch go higher or lower? Can you figure out the measurements to make notes match a scale? If you would like to find out more about the links between music, maths and physics try watching this TEDx Talk. First and Second Violins Viola Cello Double Bass 5 PERCUSSION Activity: Percussion instruments make a sound by being struck, shaken or scraped. They are grouped into two sets – tuned and untuned. Tuned instruments play specificpitches or notes like woodwind, brass and string instruments, however untuned instruments make a sound with an unclear pitch. Can you try to do this yourself? Two easy ways of copying untuned percussion instruments are tapping a hard surface or putting rice into a container and shaking it. KS3 Extension: Can you come up with any more ways to imitate a percussion instrument? List as many percussion instruments as possible and group them into tuned and untuned. Percussion 6 COMPOSER TIMELINE WHO, WHEN, WHERE AND WHAT Piece number: 1 Name: Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Nationality: French (born in Baillf, a commune of Guadalupe in the Caribbean, but moved to Paris). Interesting facts: • His parents were George Bologne de Saint-George, a wealthy married plantation owner, and Nanon, his wife’s 16-year-old African slave, of Senegalese origin. • Guadalupe was a French colony. • At the age of seven he moved to France and went to boarding school. • He went on to became a classical composer, virtuoso violinist and conductor of leading symphony orchestra Le Concert des Amaleurs. Born: 1745 • He was one of the first black colonels in the French army and a renowned Died: 1799 champion fencer. (age 54) ? What do you think it would have been like to move across the world to go to school? ? How do you think he felt, being so successful at music and sport? Piece number: 9 Name: Ludwig van Beethoven Nationality: German (born in Bonn, moved to Vienna) Interesting facts: • He was from a musical family and his talent was obvious from a young age. • He had music lessons and did many hours of practice from a young age. • At the age of 11, he began work as a professional musician. • He is famous as a piano player and composer. • In his late twenties, he tragically began to go deaf. Eventually he could hear nothing at all but he continued to write wonderful music. Born: 1710 Died: 1827 (age 56) ? Do you think you could (or could have) left school at age 11 to get a job? ? How do you think he carried on writing music when he could not hear? 7 COMPOSER TIMELINE Piece number: 5 Name: Felix Mendelssohn (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) Nationality: German (born in Hamburg, moved to Berlin). Interesting facts: • His father was a banker and he was from a wealthy family. • He began learning piano at the age of 6 and his first composition written by the time he was 13. • He was a frequent visitor to England and was well known by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. • He toured around Europe, playing and composing along the way. Born: 1809 Died: 1847 ? If you could go on tour, where would you go? (age 38) Compare the idea of touring to your favourite musician/band today and think of other ? ways composers could share their music, both then and now? Piece number: 4 Name: Edvard Hagerup Grieg Nationality: Norwegian (born in Bergen) Interesting facts: • He is one of Norway’s most well known composers. • He wrote in a Nationalist style, weaving extracts from Norwegian folk music into his compositions. • His compositions are inspired by the scenery and legends of Norway. • The Norwegian musician, Ole Bull, encouraged his parents to send him to study at the Leipzig Conservatoire in Germany, after hearing him play the piano when he was 15. • As an adult, he spent the Spring and Summer at home, writing music, and the Autumn and Winter, travelling across Europe, playing and conducting his music. • On one of his tours, Kind Edward VII of Great Britain talked so loudly in one of Grieg’s Born: 1843 concerts, that he had to stop playing-twice! Died: 1907 (age 64) ? How could you weave sounds of where you live into your own music? Where would you choose to spend your Spring and Summer working and ? what would your hobby be? 8 COMPOSER TIMELINE Piece number: 8 Name: Augusta Mary Anne Holmès Nationality: French (born in Paris) Interesting facts: • Her father was Irish and her mother was French. • She played the piano as well as composing, however was only able to take music lessons after her mother had died, as she discouraged it. • She knew the famous composers Liszt and Franck, who was her teacher. • Working in a male dominated profession, she became known as a composer of programme music, often with a political meaning. • In 1899, she was commissioned to write a piece to celebrate the centenary of the Born: 1847 French Revolution. She wrote the Ode triomphale for the Exposition Universelle. Died: 1903 The piece needed roughly 1,200 musicians. (age 55) ? How would you fit 1,200 together to perform a piece? Do you think this is more or less than the CBSO? ? If you were to create a piece of art about politics (e.g., visual/dramatic/musical), what would it be about? Piece number: 6 Name: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Nationality: English (born in Croydon, London) Interesting facts: • His parents were Alice Hare Martin and Dr.