A Philharmonic Fantasy

Transcription

1 The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Neal Gittleman, Music Director Patrick Reynolds, Conductor Young People s Concert A Philharmonic Fantasy

2 November 15, 2005

3 Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Neal Gittleman, Music Director Patrick Reynolds, Conductor A Philharmonic Fantasy Program Sleeping Beauty Waltz Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Mother Goose Suite Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas Maurice Ravel Music from Aladdin Oriental March The Market Place in Ispahan Dance of the Moors Carl Nielsen The Sorcerer s Apprentice Paul Dukas

4 Music from Star Wars John Williams/ arr. Burden The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Young People s Concerts are underwritten by MeadWestvaco Foundation.

5 Dear Educator, Welcome to the November 15, 2005 Young People s Concert, A Philharmonic Fantasy. This performance will explore how music can tell a story without words and enliven the imagination through sound. The program notes for this concert are designed to assist teachers in preparing students for the concert experience. Please feel free to copy these materials and share them with other teachers in your building whose classes will attend the concert. They can also be downloaded from our web page at Also enclosed is a CD that includes excerpts from each of the programmed compositions with introductions by Conductor Patrick Reynolds. There will be references to these excerpts throughout this guide. These notes contain information about the composers and their music as well as ideas for integrating this musical information across the curriculum. The activities are meant to be used both in the music classroom and in the regular classroom and do not require previous familiarity with the music. We hope these ideas will help provide students (and teachers) with an enjoyable and enriching concert experience. Gloria Pugh Director of Education Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

6 This concert theme and the information in these notes reinforce Ohio Academic Content Standards?Listen to the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra conductor s introduction to this concert on Tracks 1 and 2 on the accompanying CD.

7 Meet Our Conductor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Patrick Reynolds, Assistant Conductor Birthplace: Baton Rouge, Louisiana yes, I was born in a baton town First Music lesson: I first began piano lessons at 6 with my mother. In 4 th grade I started the cello and by the time the school band was available to me, I really wanted to join, so I started trumpet Instruments I play: Trumpet and piano I became a conductor because: I enjoy the possibilities that exist making music with large groups of people, and I m crazy about the music. My job as a conductor is: Sir Adrian Boult said that the most important thing for a conductor was to see that everyone is happy and comfortable I think there s a lot of wisdom in that. Favorite food: Crab cakes Favorite childhood book: Poetry and humor What I like to do in my spare time: Sail, read a good newspaper in a good coffee shop anywhere.?listen to Mr. Reynold s introduction to A Philharmonic Fantasy on CD Track 2.

8 Sleeping Beauty Waltz Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky ( ) About the composer piano. Peter Tchaikovsky (chi-kov -skee) was born in Russia in a small town about 800 miles from Moscow. He was interested in music at an early age and begged his parents to let him take piano lessons. It is said that he once heard a melody by Mozart on a music box which inspired him to want to play the Tchaikovsky s parents were not musical and not interested in encouraging young Peter to be a musician. They allowed him to begin piano lessons at age 6, but he had to quit because playing the piano made him too excited to sleep! He couldn t get the music out of his head. When Peter was 8, he was sent to a boarding school but really missed his family. He wrote his first piece of music after his mother s death when he was 14. Writing music was the only activity that cheered him up. Tchaikovsky s parents wanted him to be a lawyer, so at 19 he enrolled in law school, completed his studies and got a job with the Ministry of Justice. He was still interested in music, however, continuing his piano lessons and lessons in composition. He soon gave up his government job, and studied at a music school in Moscow where he became a professor of composition upon graduation. During this time he began to compose seriously. His music was very popular and he was in great demand as a conductor. Throughout his life, despite the popularity of his music, Tchaikovsky was nervous, shy, and had very low self-esteem. He got so nervous when he conducted an orchestra that he was convinced his head would fall off, so he conducted with one hand and held onto his head with the other! Tchaikovsky wrote beautiful melodies. Although he wrote many different kinds of music, he is best known for his ballets The Nutcracker (one of the most recorded works ever), Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty. About the Music Sleeping Beauty Waltz (1889)

9 Premiering in St. Petersburg, January 14, 1890, Sleeping Beauty was the first successful ballet Tchaikovsky composed and continues to be very popular today. The Waltz, one section from the ballet, takes place in the early part of the traditional fairy tale story as Princess Aurora celebrates her 16 th birthday.?listen to Mr. Reynold s summary of the story on CD Track 3.?Listen to this excerpt of the Sleeping Beauty Waltz on CD Track 4. Can you hear the music moving in sets of three beats? As you listen, close your eyes and imagine elegant couples dancing around a grand ballroom to this music. Describe how they might be dressed? What would the room look like? If this music celebrates the birthday of a princess, what kind of building would the dance floor be in? Draw a picture that matches your descriptions. Words to Know (See Glossary on page 12) Conductor Composer Conservatory Premiere

10 Mother Goose Suite - Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas Maurice Ravel ( ) About the Composer Maurice Ravel was born in France and lived most of his life in Paris. His father was a Swiss engineer and his mother was from the Basque region between France and Spain. He began piano lessons when he was 7 and went to a Paris music school when he was 18. But like Tchaikovsky, he was a late bloomer as a musician and composer. His career as a composer did not take off until he was in his 30s. Ravel liked to collect children s toys, especially small mechanical ones, and he was interested in children s literature and the world of a child s imagination. The Mother Goose Suite, first written as a piano duet piece, was created as a gift to the children of his friends Ida and Cipa Godebski. Later Ravel was asked to orchestrate this piece so it could be performed by an orchestra as a ballet. About the Story Mother Goose Suite is a set of five pieces based on different children s fairy tales from the story and rhyme collection Mother Goose by the French fairy tale writer Charles Perrault. The collection was written in 1697, yet we re still entranced by these stories today! The fairy tales described in the Mother Goose Suite are Spinning Dance and Scene, Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty, The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast, Hop o my Thumb, Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas and The Fairy Garden. Laideronette, which means The Ugly Little Girl in French, was a princess who is made ugly by a wicked witch. Since she is ashamed of the way she looks, she hides out in a distant castle where she meets a Green Serpent who used to be a handsome prince. They travel to a country where Pagodas live, tiny people made of jewels, crystal, and porcelain. Like every good fairy tale, Laideronette and the Green Serpent eventually return to their former beautiful selves, they get married and live happily ever after. Do This: Compare and contrast this fairy tale with the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

11 ?Listen to CD Track 5. About the Music Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas sounds very Oriental, but why? What makes music from the Far East sound different from our own? Western music is based on the notes of a 7-note scale, but Oriental music, based on a 5-note scale, has a very distinctive sound. In fact, if you play only on the black keys of a piano keyboard, your music will sound Oriental as these black keys are arranged in a pentatonic scale pattern. Ravel s music doesn t really try to tell the story of Laideronette and her Green Serpent prince, but it does create the mood of their happy celebration at the end of this fairy tale.?listen to CD Track 6. What percussion instruments make this music sound oriental? How many times do you hear the gong play in this excerpt? You will have to listen very carefully in the soft sections!?listen: Compare and contrast this music to the Sleeping Beauty Waltz on Track 4. Ask yourself these questions about each piece of music: What instruments play the melody? What is the mood of the music? How is the rhythm the same or different? What is the speed of the music? What does the music make you feel like doing? Words to Know Suite Orchestrate Oriental Far East

12 Music from Aladdin Oriental March The Market Place in Ispahan Dance of the Moors Carl Nielsen ( ) About the Composer Carl Nielson was born near Odense, on the island of Funen, a beautiful island in Denmark. Odense, Funen, was also the home of the 19 th century fairy tale writer, Hans Christian Andersen. His father, a craftsman and housepainter, had a second job as a fiddler and sometimes cornet player. He was a popular musician in their village and Carl often played the violin in his father s band. Carl s father was his first violin teacher, but the family didn t have much money for further music studies. At age 8 Carl composed a couple of dance tunes. When he was 18 he traveled to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, and was admitted to the Conservatory on the strength of his compositions. He showed enough talent that some town people supported him during this period. Carl hoped to make a living as a composer, but saw that he needed a regular position for income. He was violinist in Chapel Royal, the opera and ballet orchestra of the Royal Theatre for 40 years, plus conducted, taught and composed. Carl Neilsen spent the last 15 years of his life working as a creative artist as he had hoped from his earliest years. But it wasn t until after his death that he won the recognition he deserved as one of Denmark s most famous composers. About the Story The story of Aladdin is from a collection of Middle Eastern fairy tales called 1001 Arabian Nights or sometimes listed as Tales of the Arabian Nights. The story is about a young boy Aladdin who meets a magician. The magician convinces Aladdin to go into a magical garden to get a special lamp which the magician can only get if it is handed to him by someone else. After Aladdin gets the lamp he refuses to give it to the magician and takes it home instead.

13 Aladdin soon discovers that there are two genies inside the lamp who can grant him his every wish. He uses the genies to get food and money for his family, and to marry the beautiful princess Fatima. The magician comes back and tricks Fatima into giving him the lamp. However, Aladdin manages to get the lamp back, and he and Fatima live happily ever after. About the Music The music from Aladdin that you will hear at the concert was originally written to accompany a play much as movie music does today. Nielsen liked the music so much that he adapted some of it to be played as an orchestra piece all by itself. As was the case with Ravel s music, this music doesn t really tell the story of Aladdin, but it gives us the feeling (flavor) of the Middle Eastern background that is the setting for the story.?listen to CD Track 7.

14 Oriental March?Listen to CD Track 8. How would you describe this music? What two instruments keep the strong steady beat at the beginning of this excerpt??listen to CD Track 9. How is this music different from the previous excerpt? The Marketplace in Ispahan?Listen to CD Tracks 10 and 11. As you listen to Track 11, raise your hand when you hear a second piece of music added to the first one. At the concert, see if you can keep track of all four pieces of music the orchestra will play at the same time! After this concert, discuss what happens at the end of this music. Dance of the Moors?Listen to CD Tracks 12 and 13. What makes this music sound so exciting? Watch all the musicians carefully during the concert. They will definitely Try This: Choose a setting from a story you know. Find ways you can create sound effects to describe that setting using items found in your classroom. Perform a soundscape which describes the setting of your story. be getti ng a work out! Words to Know Middle East Genie Moors

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16 The Sorcerer s Apprentice Paul Dukas ( ) About the Composer Paul Dukas was born in Paris, France. His mother was a very talented pianist and so Paul, of course, studied piano at a very young age. When he was 13, he began to try composing and chose to study composition at the Paris Conservatory of Music. He became a professor of composition at the school and was also a music critic for two Paris newspapers. Although Dukas wrote many pieces of music, not many remain because he destroyed most of them. He was so self-critical that he didn t want anything published that he thought was not up to his standards. However, one piece that did survive his harsh criticism is The Sorcerer s Apprentice which has become a hugely successful work. In fact, Walt Disney chose it to be part of his musical film collection called Fantasia with Mickey Mouse as the disobedient apprentice.?listen to CD Track 14. About the Story The Sorcerer s Apprentice, a story drawn from a ballad by the poet Goethe, is about a magician s apprentice who can t resist trying his hand at a little magic while his master is away. He brings a broomstick to life. The broom dances round and round, then begins to bring water to wash the floors. However, the apprentice can t get the broom to stop as the house fills with water. In desperation he chops the broomstick in two pieces and to his dismay, both pieces carry in even more water. Finally, the magician returns, breaks the spell, and the broomstick becomes just a broomstick once more. Check This Out: This story and music have become familiar to many who have seen the video of the Disney cartoon, Fantasia. Check out Fantasia from your local library and watch this part. After you have seen the video, play the music only on another day

17 and imagine what is happening in the story as you listen to the recording. How do you know when the broom is running back and forth for more water? What happens to the music in the end when the broom is back under control??listen to CD Track 15 this is the melody that represents the broom. What instrument represents the broom in this excerpt? Is it a low or a high sound??listen to CD Track 16 what family of instruments represent the apprentice calling out the magic spell to get the brooms to stop??listen to CD Track 17 what instruments represent all of the rushing water when things get totally out of control?

18 ?Listen to CD Track 18 How does the music tell us that the Sorcerer has come to the rescue? After the spell is broken, the music gets very quiet and the Sorcerer and the Apprentice have a conversation. What do you think they are saying? Write your own dialogue for the end of this story. Add And the moral of this story is Words to Know Apprentice Sorcerer Ballad

19 Music from Star Wars John Williams (b. 1932) About the Composer John Williams is without a doubt the most productive and bestknown composer of our time. He has written music for more than 80 movies, received 5 Academy Awards, 17 Grammys, 3 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, and 5 BAFTA Awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts! What American child or adult is not familiar with at least one John Williams tune? Best known for his film scores, he has written music for such classic favorites as Superman, the Indiana Jones series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, Jurassic Park, all of the Star Wars movies, and the Harry Potter movies to name only a few. John Williams was born on Long Island, New York to a musical family. His family moved to Los Angeles where Mr. Williams studied music at UCLA. After serving in the Air Force, he studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York where he studied piano and also worked as a jazz pianist in clubs and on recordings. In 1956, he was hired by 20 th Century Fox as a pianist in their studio orchestra; soon he was writing music for TV shows such as Gilligan s Island, Lost in Space, and Wagon Train. This was the beginning of his amazing career. In addition to his impressive list of movie music, John Williams has also composed music for the Olympics and many concert pieces for orchestra and chamber groups. From , he was the conductor of the distinguished Boston Pops Orchestra. Currently Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts, he continues to work on movie projects and several other commissions. He has been awarded several gold and platinum records, and earned both a Grammy and an Oscar for his score to the movie Schindler s List. Discuss This: What would a movie be like without any music? How does music help set the mood or prepare the viewer for the next scene?

20 ?Listen to CD Tracks 19 and 20. About the Music This music is exciting and stirring whether or not you have ever seen a Star Wars movie. It s mostly fast and uses lots of brass instruments. At the concert, imagine scenes from a movie in your head as you listen. Words to Know Score (in music) Commission

21 Glossary Apprentice a person who works for someone else in order to learn their job Ballad a simple story told in poetry form Ballet a theatrical dance usually with costumes and scenery Commission a formal request to compose a piece of music for a specific occasion, concert or performing artist(s) Composer a person who writes music Conductor a person who directs an orchestra Conservatory a music school Dialogue a written conversation between two or more people Far East the countries of eastern Asia Genie in Mohammedan folklore, a supernatural being who can grant wishes and can be controlled through magic. Middle East the countries of North Africa Moors natives of one of the North African states Orchestra a large musical performing group made up of instruments in four different families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Orchestrate to use instruments in a composition according to their individual properties and the composer s idea of the sonorous (sound) effect of a work Oriental of, relating to, or situated in the Orient, the biogeographic region that includes Asia south and southeast of the Himalayas and the Malay Archipelago west of Wallace s line

22 Pentatonic a five-note scale upon which much oriental music is based Premiere the first performance of a play or piece of music Score (in music) the copy of a musical composition showing all the parts Sorcerer a wizard Suite a series of musical pieces composed around a central idea

23 Music and Geography Composers and Their Countries Use a classroom globe or map to complete the chart and answer the questions below. Composer Birthplace Continent Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Russia Maurice Ravel Carl Nielsen Paul Dukas John Williams France Denmark France United States Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Locate the city of Moscow on your map. Is it a large city or a small town? In which direction would Tchaikovsky have to travel to visit Ravel? Maurice Ravel What other composer is from Ravel s native country? In which direction would Ravel travel to visit Carl Nielsen? Carl Nielsen What seas surround Denmark? Is Denmark closer to Russia or to France? John Williams Locate Dayton, Ohio on a United States map. In which direction would John Williams have to travel from his home in California to visit Dayton?

24 How many of the composers listed on the above chart are from Europe? How many of the composers listed on the above chart are from North America?

25 Use Your Math Skills Composer Birth and Death Dates Years Lived Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Maurice Ravel Carl Nielsen Paul Dukas John Williams b Complete the chart above and answer the following questions: 1. Which composer lived the longest? 2. Which composer is still alive today? How old is he? 3. How old was Nielsen when Ravel was born? 4. Which composers were born in the same year? 5. Which composers lived in more than one century?

26 Music and Language Arts After the concert, write a short paragraph about the composition that you enjoyed the most. Describe why you liked it and how it made you feel. Send a thank-you note to Mr. Gittleman and the musicians of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra thanking them for all the practice that went into preparing the concert for you. Let them know what you liked about your experience. Describe all of the parts of your concert experience for your school newspaper and/or a letter to your parents. Poetry by the Number Write a five-line poem according to the following format: Write Line 1 = 1word A poem, Line 2 = 2 words A musical memory, Line 3 = 3 words In fifteen words, Remember: Line 4 = 4 words Add a word each line. Line 5 = 5 words

27 Share your paragraphs, thank-you notes, descriptions, and poems with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra!

28 Timeline Music and History North America Europe Peter Tchaikovsky born 1840 Carl Nielsen born 1865 Paul Dukas born 1865 Maurice Ravel born John Williams born

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30 Music and History Choose two events that occurred during each composer s lifetime, and place those events on the Music and History Timeline on the previous page California Gold Rush 1865 Civil War ends slavery 1869 Transcontinental railroad 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone 1879 Thomas Edison invents the light bulb 1886 France gives America the Statue of Liberty 1894 Italian engineer Marconi builds first radio equipment 1895 First motion picture 1896 Henry Ford builds his first experimental car 1900 Coca Cola introduced 1903 Wright brothers first flight in North Carolina 1908 Ford builds the Model-T car 1917 Russian Revolution begins 1920 Women are allowed to vote 1929 Stock Market crash 1931 Empire State Building opens in New York City 1943 Penicillin discovered 1951 Color TV introduced in the U.S Segregation in U.S. schools declared unconstitutional 1957 First satellite launched 1961 First manned space flight 1963 President Kennedy assassinated 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act 1968 Martin Luther King Jr assassinated 1969 First manned landing on the moon 1981 Home computers widely available 1982 Compact discs introduced 1992 World Wide Web created for home use becomes popular 1999 First balloon flight around the world 2000 International space station launched 2001 Terrorists strike at USA in New York City s World Trade Center 2002 Queen Elizabeth II of England marks 50 years as monarch

31 2002 Euro currency debuts in 12 European countries 2003 Rover space station lands on Mars, sends images back; evidence of water 2004 A tsunami, giant wave from an earthquake, wipes out people, coastlines of Indian Ocean nations

32 Music and Citizenship Being a member of an audience is an important responsibility. Musicians can play their very best when the audience observes appropriate concert manners. Discuss the difference between attending a live symphony orchestra concert, attending a rock concert, and listening to music or watching a television show at home. Review the following concert manners:? Welcome the concertmaster to the stage with applause? Welcome the conductor to the stage with applause.? Sit quietly while the music is played.? Remain in your seat throughout the concert.? Sit up in your seat throughout the concert.? Applaud when the conductor puts down his baton at the end of each composition. Think about this: How do you feel when you have to perform or ma a presentation in front of a group of people? Does the audience response and behavior have an effect on how well you perform?

33 Concert Listening Tips Going to an orchestra concert takes mental energy. Here s what you can do to be sure you get the most from your concert experience. NOTICE! When you are seated you will be part of an audience of about 2,100 people. Some of the musicians will already be on the stage warming up. When it is time for the concert to begin, the concertmaster, who sits in the first violin chair, will stand and all the musicians will tune their instruments to a note played by the oboe. When they are ready, the conductor will enter the stage and the audience welcomes him with applause. CONCENTRATE! Listening to music is like going on a trip. All parts of the trip, the exciting parts and the less exciting parts make up the whole thing. But music is more of a challenge because you must concentrate to see and hear what is happening. Here s what you can do to stay focused and enjoy the concert. Don t let people around you distract you. Let the music get inside you. Remember that the music is being played just for you! Take time to look at each instrument as it is being played. As you watch, can you hear THAT instrument? Musicians have conversations with their instruments. Which instruments seem to be talking back and forth to each other? Observe how many different ways sound is produced in an orchestra. What does the conductor do? How does he show the loud and soft, fast and slow parts of the music? What else do you notice that he does? It s a workout, but if you really concentrate and are alert to everything happening on the stage, the music will speak to

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35 Map Skills Draw a circle around the Schuster Center on the above map. Is your school to the north, south, east or west of downtown Dayton? What downtown street will your bus driver or chaperone take to arrive at the Schuster Center? Draw a circle around the downtown library. Which direction would you travel to go from the concert at the Schuster Center to the library?

36 Music Web Sites for Kids American Symphony Orchestra League: Play Music An interactive site featuring music games and interviews with young artists and contemporary composers. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra For kids, teachers and parents. Classical Net Find 4200 classical music files right with links to 2500 more Classics for Kids Based on the WGUC radio program Classics for Kids, this site features information about composers and pieces featured on the show. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music is fun to learn! Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music Education Site. From the Top Explore the world of classical music by meeting other young musicians. Discover musical facts, stories, or guides to all things music-related. Music History Read about composers from the Middle Ages to the present and hear MIDI files of their music. Music Notes: An Interactive Online Musical Experience Clear, concise explanations of many aspects of music, plus a section of interactive games. The New York Philharmonic Kidzone! Interactive web site for kids,

37 parents, and teachers. Music! Games! History and fun! The San Francisco Symphony A music learning website for children and families Composer Web Sites