Chester from New England Triptych, by William Schuman Grades: 5 - 12 Music Concepts: form, style, harmony, melody, tone color National Standards: 6. Listen and describe music. 8. Relate music to other arts/disciplines (visual arts & history). 9. Relate music to history/culture (Revolutionary War) Materials: Recording of William Schuman New England Tryptic “Chester”, iconic pictures labeled Church Hymn, Spirit of ’76, Strife of War, and Remembrance displayed in random order. Strategy/Procedures 1. Have students point to or signal 1, 2, 3, 4 on a hand the pictures representing the current section of music playing, ready to pose a possible history for the tune “Chester” in the history of the Revolutionary War based on the order of musical events. Monitor for signals indicating the order listed under Materials above, and suggestions that the tune historically started as a hymn, was used as a fife-and-drum call to battle, became symbolic of the war effort, and was later adopted by the Continental Army as a marching tune. Reinforce answers that lean toward “correct” answers, withholding feedback and probing for deeper answers until student discussion leads close enough to affirm “correct” answers. 2. Learn to sing the song by memory by reading the music for "Chester" or echoing phrase by phrase after the teacher, then sing it along with the woodwind hymn at the beginning. Monitor for accurate reading and/or echoing of pitch, rhythm, and words. Reinforce best singing efforts until everybody can sing it accurately by memory. 3. Ask students to describe the musical effects provided by the Woodwinds, Piccolo, Brass, Snare Drum. Monitor for answers that allude to the Woodwinds as reverent singing of a hymn, Piccolo as the fife in Spirit of '76, Brass as strife of war and in playing the tune in the march of remembrance, and the Snare Drum as part of the march of remembrance. Reinforce closest answers to lead everybody to a deep appreciation of the role of instruments in telling a story. 4. Ask students to compare the tempo of the hymn with that of the march and the overall form of the work. Monitor for answers leading towards an awareness that the march is four times faster than the hymn and that the form is quasi theme and variation (the composer, William Schuman, did not write full variations on "Chester" but after introducing the song as a hymn and a march, he used only fragments of the hymn tune). Reinforce the best individual answers and probe all others for their clarifying descriptions. 5. Have students fill out the multiple choice questionnaire as the work is played again, after completion signaling each answer with a show of 1-finger for the first choice, 2-fingers for the second choice, and so on for each item. Monitor that students fill out the questionnaire completely, and for the percentage of students who signal the correct answer. Share with the class the portion of students who got it right, go back to previous steps to reinforce answers with a low percentage, and repeat until 100% get 100% correct. Chester from New England Triptych 1. The song seen in the following notation is played first like a o hymn o festival march, and is performed by o strings. o woodwinds. 2. At the beginning the music is o homophonic (one melody with chordal accompaniment) o polyphonic (two or more melody lines combined). 3. The melody is suddenly interrupted by the sound of o a harp o heavy chords. 4. After the interruption we hear o a new melody o the same melody played four times faster (An example of diminution in which the duration of each tone is shortened). 5. The sound of the music suggests the picture of o "The Spirit of '76" o covered wagons. 6. The instrument imitating a fife is the o oboe o piccolo. 7. Strife and confusion of war is suggested by o interrupted melodies and quick changes of tone color o all brass instruments. 8. The marching of soldiers is suggested by the sound of o snare drum o cymbals. 9. The end of the composition indicates o defeat o fighting spirit. This sound is created by o timpani o snare drums o brass o all of these. .......................................................................................................................................... 10. The composer, William Schuman, has succeeded in recalling an important period of American history, the o birth of our nation o Civil War o westward movement. 11. The composition gives the impression that the people of this period were o afraid o courageous o religious (check 2) .