2016 Term 1, Weeks 3 and 4: March from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

This week we are revisiting the March of the Nutcracker, which was one of the very first lessons we did two years ago. 

  There are many versions of the story of The Nutcracker and the ballet of the same name. In short,  the Nutcracker is a toy given to a young girl at a  Christmas party. When she goes to sleep,  she dreams that the toy comes to life and has a battle with the Mouse King. The Nutcracker toy turns into a prince and takes the girl on a journey where there are lots of different performers before she returns to her bed in time to wake up from her dream.  (Don't expect it to make too much sense; just enjoy the music and the ballet.)

The Nutcracker toy

The nutcracker toy in the ballet

The Nutcracker is one of the most well-known and performed ballets - often at Christmas time.  The music for the ballet was written by Piotr (Peter) Tchaikovsky.

Here is a link to the complete Nutcracker ballet performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, December 2012. The conductor is Valery Gergiev. (Check the settings to select the HD option.) 

- Why do the audience start clapping at the beginning of the performance?
- How do they know when to start clapping?
- What do the conductor and the orchestra do while the audience are applauding at the beginning of the performance?
- Why do you think they do this? 
- Watch the conductor and work out the different kinds of signals he makes to the orchestra. What do you think they mean?
- Why is there no applause after the overture?    

Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky is one of the most well known composers of all time. He was born in 1840 in Russia, and he started to learn the piano when he was five years old. By the time he was eight he could read music as well as his teacher. 

 When his mother died in 1854 he turned to music to help deal with his sorrow, and at this time he made his first serious attempts at composing by writing a waltz in her memory.  His father wanted to extend his son’s interest in music, and he asked a well-known German piano teacher to see what he thought of the young Peter’s ability. The teacher said that Peter appeared to have no potential as a piano player or a composer. So Peter completed his study in law and took a job in the Ministry of Justice - but his love of music remained. 

In 1861, Tchaikovsky began classes with the Russian Musical Society and soon he had a job at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. His music was very popular and he was in great demand as a conductor.

Tchaikovsky was very much inspired by the English playwright Shakespeare, and in 1869 he composed his first major work: the Overture-Fantasy Romeo and Juliet. In 1891 he travelled to America and was invited to conduct the New York Symphony at the opening of Carnegie Hall. 

Tchaikovsky died from cholera in 1893. 

Listening map for March of the Nutcracker.

Watch the video below and see if you can follow the symbols. Can you tell which instrument is playing?  How do you know when the music is going up or down?


 You can practise your air guitar to this heavy metal version of the Nutcracker March. 

This is a live performance of the Nutcracker March at an outdoor concert.  It is very fast! The conductor is Seiji Ozawa from Japan. 

- What are some similarities and differences between the this conductor and the conductor of the ballet orchestra?

- What instruments can you name? 

 

Extra and Extension: 

Follow this link to find an easy piano score for the Nutcracker March. 

Here's a listening map for the overture of The Nutcracker. Follow the rhythm pattern for the triangle, and keep the beat for the other instruments. 

This is an animated score showing the patterns of the notes as they are played.  How does it show fast and slow, notes that are held and notes that are short, notes going up and down?  

This is another piece of music from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky It's called Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. This version is from Walt Disney's movies "Fantasia" from 1940. (This was long before the days of computer animation and every single image was dawn and coloured by hand.) Listen very carefully and you will hear an instrument called a celesta or celeste. It is a kind of piano keyboard, but sounds a little bit like a glockenspiel. You can also hear a celeste in the Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter. 

 

And a relaxing breathing exercise  to finish the lesson. 

Year 7 and 8 Homework - due Friday Week 6, 11 March: 
- You can start a title page; don't be in a rush to finish it, as you will want to add to it as we go. 
-  No computer-generated work for this book; all your own work, please. 
- Complete the  3 bullet points (or more if you are keen) of interesting facts about Tchaikovsky
- Tidy up your listening map - put a border around it; it can be ruled or fancy - but keep it relevant.  
 

2016 Term 1, Weeks 2: Welcome Back

 A joke for the February heat - and because there is such a shortage of fans in NZ at the moment. . .


Songs we are singing this week: 

- Imaginary bubble gum for warm ups
- rounds for warm ups (E memerie, John Kanakanaka, Sarasponda, Mrs O'Leary's Cow)
- My Roadside Goat 

I knew you were treble (parody of Taylor Swift  song) 

Count on Me (Bruno Mars) 

There's a hole in my bucket  
(Boys sing Henry's lines and girls sing Liza's lines - with appropriate expression)
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
 
Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it. 
 
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, with what? 
 
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with  a straw. 
 
The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long, 
 
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it. 
 
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what? 
 
With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, a knife. 
 
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, too dull. 
 
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it. 
 
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what? 
 
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone. 
 
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry. 
 
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it. 
 
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet, dear Liza, with what? 
 
With some water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With some water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water. 
 
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what? 
 
With a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, bucket. 
 
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole. 

There's a hole in my bucket. Click here for interactive options

Two Times Tables Round 
Two zeros are zero   2x 0 = 0  
two ones are two  2x1 =2 
two twos are four 2x2 = 4  
two threes are six 2x3 = 6
two fours are eight 2x4 = 8  
two fives are ten 2x5 = 10  
two sixes must be twelve 2x6 = 12
 
Two sevens are fourteen  2x7 = 14  
and two eights are sixteen 2 x8 = 16
and two nines are eighteen ­­­­­­ 2x9 = 18  
and two tens are twenty  2x10 = 20 

Two elevens are twenty two,   
twenty two, twenty two  2x11=22
two twelves are  twenty four  2x12=24  
Can you test me, what’s my score?  



I've Been Working On The Railroad
Follow this link for keyboard music score 

I've been working on the railroad all the livelong day.
I've been working on the railroad just to pass the time away.
Can't you hear the whistle blowing,
Rise up so early in the morn
Can't you hear the captain shouting
Dinah, blow your horn.

Dinah, won't you blow, Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?
Dinah, won't you blow, Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, 
Someone's in the kitchen I know.
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah 
Strumming on the old banjo.

Fee fie fiddle eeii o, 
Fee fie fiddle eeii o, 
Fee fie fiddle eeii o,
Strumming on the old banjo.

Click on this link to learn about a school where children from very poor families in Paraguay have created musical instruments from the rubbish dump and have formed an
orchestra.