Term 4 Week 5: Armistice Day and Berlin Wall 25th anniversary

This week we will catch up on lessons missed when the Seniors were at camp and when the power went off for most of Thursday last week. 

The 11th of November is known as Armistice Day. In the UK and other Commonwealth countries it's also known as Remembrance Day.  In the US it's known as Veterans Day.

At 11:00 a.m. on the 11th of November 1918 the fighting stopped to end World War 1 - known then as the Great War.  It was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

In many parts of the world, there are ceremonies to remember those who served and died in all wars since - and including - World War 1.  In New Zealand, our main memorial day is Anzac Day on April 25th, but Armistice Day is still observed in New Zealand officially and by all RSA clubs and many other institutions.

Here's a link to part of New Zealand's  official Armistice commemoration in Wellington on Tuesday. The background music  is a group singing the  poem 'Flanders Fields'. 

Here's a video of this year's Remembrance Ceremony in London. You will hear Big Ben chime 11 times then there is 2 minutes of silence. Look at how still everyone is. You have to wait for a while to see someone move so you know that it's not a still photo.  You will also hear the Last Post played and you will see the Queen and others lay wreaths.

 This is a band playing Nimrod Enigma Variations  by Edward Elgar. This music is always played at UK Remembrance ceremonies. We learnt about this music when we were learning about Anzac Day music earlier in the year.

Poppies at the Tower of London

Here's a video of the poppies at the Tower of London.

In London, a special display of ceramic poppies has been at the Tower of London to commemorate World War 1.  Each poppy represents  a British soldier  or   Empire soldier who died in the war. There are 888,246 poppies, each one hand made.

This week also marks the 25th anniversary of the pulling down of the Berlin Wall. The wall was built in 1961 by East Germany to try to stop its people leaving the Communist part of the country to join the democratic western part of the country.  The wall was patrolled by guards who were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape.  Finally, in 1989, the wall was pulled down and the two parts of Berlin - and Germany - were reunited into one country. There were many celebrations, including a Beethoven concert conducted by Daniel Barenboim which he did for free for the people who had been on the Eastern side of the Berlin wall.  This is a small part of that concert.   

This is Daniel Barenboim conducting the Allegretto from Beethoven's Symphony Number 7 in A major.  This was also played at the concert, although this is a later recording.

Here's a simple version of the notes and note values (below). This is just one line of music; listen to how the  rest of the music adds more to the tune.

Click on this link to hear  the complete version of the Allegretto, with a bar graph of the different tunes played which combine to form the overall sound.  Try following one particular line each time you watch it.  Can you hear the repeated pattern of the notes in the music written  above?  Can you hear the theme repeated in different ways, especially towards the end?Listen for the change in dynamics, too.  Note where it gets louder and softer.

Here's your air guitar version. Listen to it get louder as it progresses. 

Here's another electric guitar/ heavy metal version. Listen for changes in tempo (speed) and dynamics (loud / soft).