When it comes to creting music, composers like to push the limits. Get redy to her how! Ntionl Symphony Orchestr Young People s Concert Ankush Kumr Bhl, conductor Mriss Regni, NSO violinist nd host Dvid nd Alice Rubenstein re the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO. Performnces for Young Audiences is mde possible by
musicl op The Power An orchestr is extremely powerful. It cn cpture specific time or plce, inspire n emotion, tell story, or pint picture ll with music. It cn sound big nd grnd nd then smll nd soft. It cn switch in n instnt from super-slow to super-duper-fst. It cn rech deep down for low notes or sor wy up for high notes. How cn n orchestr hve such incredible powers? The nswer is it s ll in the music. Composers, the people who write or compose music, use specil toolbox to mke their music sound s drmtic s possible. Throughout our Lerning Activities nd t the concert, you ll her more bout these unique tools nd how composers use them to explore musicl extremes. Strings Woodwind Brss Percussion Double Bss Bss Drum Snre Drum Cstnets Tringle Chimes Timpni Tm Tm Xylophone Trumpets Trombones Tub Alto Sx Clrinets Hrps Bssoons Flutes French Horns Pino Piccolo Oboes Viols Cellos First Violins Second Violins Bton 2 Conductor s Stnd
posites of Music The Fst nd slow of Tempo Tempo is tool composers use to control the speed of the music. It might be fst, slow, or nywhere in between. The tempo cn sty the sme or it cn chnge gin nd gin before the music ends. Composers put directions in the sheet music so the conductor nd the musicins know the right tempo to use. For exmple, they use Itlin words like: dgio (h-dah-zhee-oh) for slow llegro (h-ley-groh) for fst presto (PRES-toh) for super-fst! Dncing with Swords Armenin composer Arm Khchturin (A-rm kh-chuh- TOOR-ee-uhn) wrote his Sbre Dnce to describe Russin wrriors who dnced with their swords. A sbre is curved sword with fncy hndle. Since then, Sbre Dnce hs been used to cpture the crzy energy of circus cts, crobts, mgicins, nd jugglers. During the concert, listen crefully for extremes in tempo nd pitch during Sbre Dnce. Khchturin s music ws gretly influenced by the folk music he herd during his childhood. The high nd low of Pitch The second tool composer uses is pitch selecting high notes nd low notes nd mny notes in-between nd stringing them together. When you hum or sing to music, you re following the melody, or the pitch, of high notes nd low notes. Sometimes composer moves from one note to nother by tking simple steps up or down the scle. Other times, the melody leps to much higher note or drops to much lower one. You might lso her the notes slide up or down from one note to the next. If the melody contins notes tht re relly high or relly low, the composer cn pick from ll the musicl instruments in the orchestr to rech these notes. Certin musicl instruments hndle pitches better thn others, just like singers. Some re high; some re low. 3
meet the The Power When it comes to writing music for n orchestr, composers hve nother extreme tool to choose from size. They cn go big by writing music for full orchestr sometimes s mny s 120 musicins. Or, they cn go smll by writing for smller orchestr or soloist. Wit, Wht Is Soloist? Mny composers write music to feture one instrument over ll others. When tht hppens, n orchestr cn showcse prticulr member or include n dditionl musicin who is not regulr member. Even though soloist is only one person compred to big orchestr, he or she performs with extrordinry skill. The string section is mde up of violins, viols, cellos, nd bsses. These instruments cn sound soft nd sweet, or soring nd mjestic. 4 The woodwind section gthers flutes, oboes, clrinets, nd bssoons. Woodwinds cn crry the melody over the quietest nd the loudest prts of piece. Some think they come closer to the humn singing voice thn ny of the other instruments. Clling All Plyers A composer picks from mny instruments in n orchestr from extremely big ones to extremely smll ones. There re lots of choices becuse n orchestr is big. In fct, it is so big tht is divided into four sections, or fmilies: The brss section includes horns, trumpets, trombones, nd tub. Brss instruments re importnt in the loud, exciting prts of the music. They lso cn be used to crete epic swells nd sudden bursts of sound. The percussion section is home to drums, chimes, gongs, cymbls, nd whistles. These instruments re used to provide pounding rhythms, booming drum rolls, nd driving energy.
orchestr of Musicins The Extremely Tlented Violin The violin might well be the fvorite instrument for composers becuse it sounds so much like us. And even though it is the smllest of ll the stringed instruments, the violin mkes the highest sound. Mde of wood with four metl strings, musicins ply the violin using bow ( wooden stick strung with tight ribbon of horsehir in their right hnd nd pressing the string with the fingers of their left hnd. The body of the instrument hs hollow center. This center is clled resonting chmber, nd it mkes the sound of the strings loud nd strong. Tht sound comes out of the two f-shped holes. During the concert, wtch for NSO violinist Mriss Regni perform nd listen how smll instrument cn mke such powerful sound. When Big Is Better In An Alpine Symphony, Germn composer Richrd Struss (REE-crd STRAUS) describes difficult mountin climb tht begins before dwn nd ends just s night flls. In between, the climb is filled with beutiful sights, dventure, nd Struss remembered his own childhood experiences in the extreme sport of mountin climbing to write An Alpine Symphony. terrible storm. Struss chose full orchestr to recrete this journey. He even dded instruments not usully prt of n orchestr including cowbells, glockenspiel (GLOCKen-shpeel) which is like lrge xylophone, nd wind nd thunder mchines. Thunder Mountin! Here re five esy steps to building your own thunder mchine. (Mke sure you get grown-up to help!) Wht You ll Need: crdbord crdbord tube wire spring tpe scissors pencil blloon glue 1. Tke crdbord tube from n empty pper towel roll nd stretch rubber blloon over one end. 2. Stnd the other end of the tube over piece of crdbord. Trce the round outline of the tube s end. Cut out tht circle nd poke smll hole in the center. tpe blloon 3. Unwind the wire spring from n old spirl notebook. Insert one end of the wire spring through the hole in the crdbord circle. Twist it four or five times so the spring is divided into short end nd long end. glue 4. Use glue to ttch the crdbord circle to the open end of the tube so the short end of the spring is inside the tube nd the long end outside. Let it dry overnight so the circle is securely ttched. 5. Pint or decorte the tube. Once dry nd secure, hold the thunder tube so the spring hngs downwrds. Shke the tube. The spring inside will vibrte creting thunderous sound! thwck! thwck! 5
Mking Mus The Loud nd Quiet Another tool in the composer s toolbox musicl dynmics controls whether music is loud or quiet. While dynmics focus on the music s volume, there s more to it thn simply sliding the dil on the volume control. The funny thing bout music is tht sometimes loud is fun nd exciting, but it cn lso be drmtic, or sd, or spooky, or ny number of things. In the sme wy, quiet music cn be soft nd gentle, but lso drmtic, or sd, or spooky. It ll depends on the types of dynmics used when musicins perform the work. Wit, How Do Musicins Know How Loud or Soft to Ply? Just like choosing tempo, composers include directions for musicins in the sheet music. And gin, just like with tempo, different Itlin terms re used to describe musicl dynmics. For exmple, here re few: (kreh-shen-doh) becoming louder (dih-min-yoo-en-doh) becoming softer (FOR-ty) loud (for-tee-see-moh) very loud softly (hl- knee-en-ty) fde to nothing or silence 6 Mhler s own life ws filled with extremes from gret success to trgic hertbrek. It is wht inspired his music. Extreme Emotions Austrin composer Gustv Mhler (GOOS-thf MAH-ler) is celebrted for tckling thoughtful ides nd emotions in his music. His music often considers the biggest questions: Wht is life? Wht is deth? Wht is love? Mhler is considered one of the gretest Romntic composers, but the word romnce here doesn t men herts nd flowers. In Mhler s cse, it describes musicl style tht is filled with thoughts nd feelings. During the concert, you will her excerpts from Mhler s Symphony No. 2 nd Symphony No. 5. In both pieces, the composer expresses his concern over life s extreme conditions. Listen how Mhler uses musicl dynmics to mke the music more emotionl nd thought-provoking.
sic Mtter of Musicl Dynmics From Big to Smll The string bss, the hrp, nd the timpni re mong the lrgest instruments in the orchestr. The smllest instruments include the tringle, cstnets, nd the piccolo. The piccolo is smller version of flute, but don t let its size fool you! Piccolos re powerful! Strike Up the Bnd Did You Know? S o the only ous is ls n to hve composer fter t nmed instrumen is usphone o s e h T. him ent like ss instrum lrge br over t wrps h t b u t lder. in s shou ic s u m e h t phone ee sous s n e t f o You but hing bnd c r m in. orchestr not in n Americn composer John Philip Sous (SOO-zuh) is most fmous for his rousing mrch, The Strs nd Stripes Forever, which ws recognized by the U.S. government s the officil mrch of the United Sttes. It s not long piece of music but its belting brss, crshing cymbls, nd piercing piccolos re sure to get ny udience clpping nd cheering. Sous s Strs nd Stripes Forever is the perfect exmple to her ll of the composer s tools: tempo, pitch, dynmics, nd size. 7
Before You Go Your clssroom techer my hve shred Concert CD with you so tht you could listen in dvnce to the music included in the Exploring Extremes progrm. Listen to the CD nd do ll the ctivities. You will enjoy the concert more if you re lredy fmilir with the music. Things to Know An orchestr is group of musicins who ply different instruments. There re 96 members of the Ntionl Symphony Orchestr. Mny of them will be plying t the concert. Dvid M. Rubenstein Chirmn Deborh F. Rutter President Drrell M. Ayers Vice President, Eduction Christoph Eschenbch Music Director Ntionl Symphony Orchestr Ankush Kumr Bhl Conductor NSO Young People s Concerts re mde possible in prt by the generous support of The Clrk Chritble Foundtion; Kpln, Inc.; Mr. Jmes V. Kimsey; The Morris nd Gwendolyn Cfritz Foundtion; Prk Foundtion, Inc.; U.S. Deprtment of Eduction; nd The Volgenu Foundtion. The conductor is the person who leds the orchestr. Using hnds nd sometimes thin white stick clled bton (buh-tahn), conductor sets the tempo for the musicins. Notice how the musicins sty focused on the conductor nd re ble to strt or stop t the conductor s commnd. The best conductors bring out the emotion in the music to mke the orchestr s performnce more enjoyble for the udience. After n orchestr is seted, the leder of the violins, known s the first violinist or concertmster, bows to ppluse nd tkes his or her set. This person then sks the principl oboist to sound n A note, to which the entire orchestr tunes. Wtch for the first violinist t the beginning of the performnce nd clp to welcome him or her to the stge. 8 For more bout Exploring Extremes, visit: rtsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/kc-connections Mjor support for eductionl progrms t the Kennedy Center is provided by Dvid nd Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Progrm. Eduction nd relted rtistic progrms re mde possible through the generosity of the Ntionl Committee for the Performing Arts nd the President s Advisory Committee on the Arts. www.kennedy-center.org /rtsedge Cuesheets re produced by ARTSEDGE, n eduction progrm of the Kennedy Center. Lern more bout Eduction t the Kennedy Center t www.kennedy-center.org /eduction The contents of this Cuesheet hve been developed under grnt from the U.S. Deprtment of Eduction nd do not necessrily represent the policy of the U.S. Deprtment of Eduction. You should not ssume endorsement by the Federl Government. 2014 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts