Concert Preparatory Packet For Teachers

Transcription

1 Concert Preparatory Packet For Teachers Hawaii Youth Symphony Youth Symphony I December 5, 2016 Blaisdell Concert Hall

2 Notes About This Prep Packet This packet was created to help you prepare your students for your concert. Generic materials Because the age of students in the concert audience range from Kindergarten to Grade 8, and because the three Youth Symphony orchestras are playing many different pieces, these materials are rather generic. Please adapt them to your specific grade level and needs. FREE CD! Listening CDs are available free of charge. If you would like one, and promise to play it in your classroom, please let the teacher in charge of this field trip know and have them with the request. In order to get the most out of your field trip, it is best that the students come prepared, and that your concert is a culminating activity rather than just exposure. Note: The sing-along songs on your CD are straightforward versions with no repeats or special endings. Please follow the song leader at the concert. When to listen You may set aside time for direct, intentional listening experiences, or you may play the CD during seat work time, transition time or other down time. The more the students hear the music, the more they ll enjoy the concert. Sing-along songs Students should practice songs in class and try to memorize them. Use the lyrics creatively in Language Arts! Worksheets Several generic worksheets have been created. Some of them require that students have the two pages of information about the instruments families, found in the Student Resources packet. Web resources Students will love these interactive websites: Dallas Symphony Orchestra - all about the instruments, including sound samples! or go to click on Listen and click on By Instrument Carnegie Hall s The Young Person s Guide to the Orchestra - an awesome quest game! Learn about the instruments while finding and collecting them. It takes several days to complete. Students will need to create a user ID and password. Teachers may create a class list and monitor student progress in the Instructor Module.

3 Music Standard/Benchmarks for DOE Schools Hawaii Youth Symphony Concerts December 2016 HCPS III Music: Understands and applies elements of music and understands how music communicates ideas, feelings, and experiences across cultures Grade K Benchmark FA.K.2.2 Demonstrate simple representation of high and low, short and long, loud and soft, fast and slow (use concert pieces as examples) Benchmark FA.K.2.3 Use an instrument to maintain a steady beat using quarter notes and quarter rests (clap/play to recordings of concert pieces) Benchmark FA.K.2.4 Identify various sources of music that can be heard in daily life and their purpose (name the orchestra as a source of music) Grade 1 Benchmark FA Sing a simple song with appropriate vocal range from memory (learn and sing the sing-along songs) Benchmark FA Identify families of instruments and how each sound is produced (learn about instruments) Benchmark FA Explain how music can communicate ideas and moods (explain what the music makes you feel or think of) Grade 2 Benchmark FA Describe instrument families and sounds from various cultures (learn about instruments)

4 Music Standard/Benchmarks for DOE Schools HCPS III Music: Understands and applies elements of music and understands how music communicates ideas, feelings, and experiences across cultures Grade 3 Benchmark FA Identify simple musical forms and melodic or rhythmic ostinato (repeated) pattern (musical form of sing-along song or concert pieces) Benchmark FA Identify the basic instruments of the orchestra by sight, sound, and category, e.g., brass, woodwind, percussion, strings (learn about instruments) Benchmark FA Use specific musical terms, e.g., dynamics, tempo, to respond to elements of a musical performance (post-concert discussion/reflection) Grade 4 Benchmark FA Identify musical forms (e.g., rondos), theme, and variations (identify musical form of concert pieces) Benchmark FA Compare and contrast musical styles from two or more cultures (---depends on concert pieces) Grade 5 Benchmark FA Analyze musical elements when explaining or critiquing a musical selection or musical performance (analyze concert pieces) Benchmark FA Compare the use of musical elements in aural examples of American music and in music from other cultures (--depends on concert pieces) Grade 6-8 Benchmark FA Evaluate the effectiveness of a musical performance or composition (evaluate effectiveness of concert or piece) Benchmark FA Compare the role of music and composers in various cultures and time periods (learn background of pieces and composers, compare)

5 Listen & Learn School Concert Monday, December 5, :30 am and 11:00 am Youth Symphony I Henry Miyamura, Conductor Selections/excerpts to be chosen from the following: The Star-Spangled Banner (sing-along) Hawaiʻi Ponoʻi (sing-along) Semiramide Overture Francis Scott Key arr. Arthur Luck Henri Berger Words by King David Kalakaua arr. John Smith Gioachino Rossini Symphonic Metamorphosis, I. Allegro Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor Paul Hindemith Alexander Borodin Na Mele Overture Neil McKay Mele Kalikimaka (sing-along) The Thunderer March Robert Alex Anderson arr. Angel Peña John Philip Sousa

6 Program Notes and Background Information Youth Symphony I December 5, 2016 Youth Symphony I will play excerpts from the following pieces: Na Mele Overture Na Mele Overture treats the audience to a medley of favorite Hawaiian songs. Composer Neil McKay (b. 1924), a native of British Colombia, arrived in Hawaii in 1965, to begin his 24 year tenure at the University of Hawaii Music Department. He taught theory and composition. He has composed over 150 pieces since his retirement. Dr. McKay has been a special friend to the Hawaii Youth Symphony. Na Mele Overture was composed for Hawaii Youth Symphony in 2003 for its annual Na Mele fundraiser. It was premiered in November 2004 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. It includes favorite songs and snippets of: I Am Hawaii, Waikiki, Akaka Falls, Beautiful Lihue, Hilo Hanakahi, My Sweetheart and Pearly Shells. Hungarian Dance No. 1 German composer Johannes Brahms ( ) is sometimes grouped with Bach and Beethoven as one of the great Three Bs. The son of a seamstress and musician, Brahms showed musical talent at an early age. He eventually became popular and influential across many musical genre piano, chamber music, orchestral and solo voice/choral. Brahms was a devout student of the Bible and described his musical ideas, themes, harmonies and orchestrations as coming directly from God. He completed Hungarian Dances (21 in all) in They were originally written for piano, four hands. Dance No. 1 is in the key of G minor and had been scored for orchestra by Brahms himself. Listen for: tempo changes, characteristic of Hungarian gypsy dances repeated sections Symphonic Metamorphosis, I. Allegro Rejection was a blessing in disguise. In 1940 Paul Hindemith ( ) composed ballet music for a dance company at the request of its director Léonid Massine. The music was rejected due to artistic differences between both parties. Three years later, Hindemith developed the music, originally written for piano, and it became Symphonic Metamorphosis, his most popular orchestral work. Hindemith was a German composer who eventually became an American citizen. He based Metamorphosis on themes from 19 th century German composer Carl Maria von Weber s piano duets. Listen for: a constant, driving beat by the full orchestra repeated sections

7 the middle section, featuring the oboe and other woodwinds the return of the first theme by the violas Semiramide Overture Have you ever crammed to do an assignment or project? That was a normal thing in creating an opera in Gioachino Antonio Rossini s ( ) day. From the time a contract for an opera was signed until opening night, a composer was given about a month to complete the project. That included finding a libretto (script), composing the music, supervising rehearsals and conducting the first performances. The Italian composer Rossini completed the music for his two-act opera Semiramide in just 33 days. Composers of the day often wrote generic overtures that could be used to open any of their operas, but the overture for Semiramide included musical highlights from the opera itself, making it unsuitable for use for any other opera. The audience was aurally treated to a preview of things to come, similar to today s audiences experiencing the opening credits of a movie. This overture s lasting popularity makes it one of the most frequently performed pieces today. Listen for: Light, joyous melodies (despite this opera being based on a tragedy (Voltaire s Semiramis) Rossini crescendo (music gradually getting louder) a long, gradual crescendo of an unvarying rhythm, building slowly toward a climax a trademark technique of Rossini The Thunderer John Philip Sousa ( ) was an American composer and conductor, known especially for his American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition he is known as "The March King." The Thunderer (1889) is one of Sousa's most famous marches. The origin of the name is not known, though it is speculated that it gets its name from the "pyrotechnic effects of the drums. Sing-along Songs The Star-Spangled Banner Hawaiʻi Ponoʻi Mele Kalikimaka These songs should be familiar to students of all ages. They should be part of their must know repertoire. Please have students memorize lyrics, not only for the concert, but to add to their general knowledge. These songs are included on the concert preparation CD. If you haven t ordered one when you made your reservations, would like one, and promise to play it in your classroom, please admin@hiyouthsymphony.org and request a free copy.

8 Youth Symphony I Sing-along Lyrics Monday, December 5, 2016 The Star-Spangled Banner O say can you see by the dawn s early light, What so proudly we hail d at the twilight s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Hawai i Ponoʻī Hawaiʻi ponoʻī, nānā i kou moʻī Ka lani aliʻi, ke ali i Makua lani ē, Kamehameha ē Na kaua e pale, me ka ihe Mele Kalikimaka Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day. That's the island greeting that we send to you From the land where palm trees sway. Here we know that Christmas Will be green and bright The sun to shine by day And all the stars at night Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way To say Merry Christmas to you. Tag: To say Merry Christmas A very Merry Christmas To say Merry Christmas to you. Youth Symphony I Sing-along Lyrics Monday, December 5, 2016 The Star-Spangled Banner O say can you see by the dawn s early light, What so proudly we hail d at the twilight s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Hawai i Ponoʻī Hawaiʻi ponoʻī, nānā i kou moʻī Ka lani aliʻi, ke ali i Makua lani ē, Kamehameha ē Na kaua e pale, me ka ihe Mele Kalikimaka Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day. That's the island greeting that we send to you From the land where palm trees sway. Here we know that Christmas Will be green and bright The sun to shine by day And all the stars at night Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way To say Merry Christmas to you. Tag: To say Merry Christmas A very Merry Christmas To say Merry Christmas to you.

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