Term 4 Week 6: Chopsticks

 The tune known as Chopsticks  was originally called the Chop Waltz. It was written in 1877  by a 16-year-old British composer called Euphemia Allen - although she used the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli.  When she wrote the music, she said that it should be played with the palms of the hands facing each other vertically and the keys struck with the little fingers  - in a chopping motion.   It is one of the world's most common tunes and is often the first piano music young players pick up from other players, without needing to read music.

Here's a Muppets  episode with Liberace doing Chopsticks

You can see the sheet music and the piano playing it at the same time here. 

Here are two classical pianists having a bit of fun with Chopsticks variations based on other well-known classical pieces.

Here's a bar graph of the music and the piano playing it at the same time.

This is a version from a 1958 television (black and white) programme. It's played in several different styles, including jazz,  and includes a song as well.

This is an Australian  fun song version  by Peter Combe - with lots of children involved.

 And a Sesame Street Two-Headed Monster version.

And another Sesame Street song - about how to use chopsticks to eat food.

This is a Christmas version of Chopsticks.

and a boogie version from  1960s television programme.

And, just for the fun of it, a dancing 27-year-old cockatoo. 

Term 3 Week 10: Spring Concerto by Vivaldi

Continuing from last week's work we did on Antonio Vivaldi and his concertos for violins (The Four Seasons Op. 8, nos.1-4)

Il Prette Rosso - Antonio Vivaldi

The series of concertos which includes the Four Seasons was published in Amsterdam in 1725. They were dedicated to Count Wezel von Morzin who was a Bohemian nobleman and Vivaldi's patron (a bit like a sponsor nowadays).

A concerto is a piece of music made for a solo instrument and an orchestra. If the solo instrument (sometimes there might be two) is a violin, it is called a violin concerto. If the solo instrument is a piano, it's called a piano concerto).

During this time, Vivaldi was travelling all  around Europe and the Four Seasons was very popular. The French King Louis XV liked it very much when Vivaldi performed it in Paris in 1730.

Each 'season' is accompanied by a special 14-lined poem called a sonnet. These sonnets describe the setting and events of the music. 

Each season  concerto has 3 separate movements, written for a solo violin and an orchestra plus a continuous line  of music for a bass instrument, organ or harpsichord. This helped keep everyone in time when there was no conductor.

Concerto in E 'Spring'

Allegro   opens the music. It is a fresh and happy tune. A soloist and other  violins imitate birds singing (runs and trills); a 'flowing' passage represents a stream and a gentle breeze; rapid scales, tremolo,  and scampering solo passages represent a thunder storm. 

Largo is a long and tender melody for a solo violin with other strings accompanying, and this represents a peaceful scene of a shepherd and his dog dozing under some trees.

Allegro is a relaxed country (pastoral) dance where the soloist plays along with, and leads, the rest of the orchestra. 

An Italian sonnet has a special form. It has 8 lines then 6 lines. 
(Can you see there are 2 lots of 4 lines and 2 lots of 3 lines?)

The first part of the sonnet tells of birds, brooks, trees, the breeze, storms,  thunder and lightning.
The second part tells of rustling leaves, a goatherd,  bagpipes playing, a dog barking, and dancing  

(Note - there is a 'g' missing from 'dog' in the poem image)

 

Learn the parts of the violin and test yourself on the picture underneath.

From the bird feed nyc

From the birdfeednyc

This is easy violin music for Spring, but it might help you learn the names of the notes as well.

Here's another listening map of the first Allegro. Can you follow it?  

You can see more images of Vivaldi and Venice on this blog.

Here's a very easy chart of how to play a simple version of the first allegro of Spring.

Here's a video of the entire Spring Concerto with images of Spring - in Europe - and the words of the sonnet written to match the appropriate place in the music

Here's a group of musicians playing Spring in Venice. Watch for images and video clips of other scenes in Venice.

This is an animated graphic showing the tempo  (speed of the beat) of the first allegro of Spring. Can you see patterns and rhythms in the movement of the images?

Here's another listening map  called Prima vera which is Spanish for spring. 

Who would have thought there would be a link between sushi, rock guitar and Vivaldi's Spring Concerto? 

This electric guitar and drum rock version gives a very good example of the change in dynamics from forte to piano, and you can see the mimicking of the bird sound done well, too. It's also good for your air guitar and air drum practice.

 

Term 2 Week 1: George Frederick Handel - Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah

This year we are looking at examples of music that meet specific purposes and contexts. One of these is the National Anthem, which we sing at the beginning of assemblies. The National Anthem is also played or sung at events of national importance or when New Zealanders  are officially representing our country overseas - such as sports events and  memorial events, like Anzac Day. 

Last term, we looked at the Maori version of the New Zealand National Anthem, and went through it one line each week. We looked at what the words in Maori meant - it's not a direct translation - and how to pronounce and phrase them correctly. (Phrasing means the way the words are joined together - or separated - when sung so that they make better sense.)

This term we are looking at Verse 1 of the English version and learn what the words really mean.

Here's a version in New Zealand Sign Language, Maori and English.  I'm not sure if you are supposed to mirror this or  reverse it. I will find out.

Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany, on 23rd February 1685 and died on 14 April 1759.   Because  he composed much music when he lived in England,  he is known as George Frederick Handel. 

Handel's father was a barber and surgeon (they did both jobs in the olden days - ouch!) and he was not at all interested in music. Young Handel had to smuggle a clavichord - a very quiet piano-like instrument into the house to practise so that his father wouldn't hear. One day Handel played for a German duke who was so impressed he convinced Handel's father to let him study music. 

Handel particularly liked opera (he wrote over 42 of them!),  so he went to Italy for four years to study. He returned to Germany to be the court composer for a prince - but soon left to go to England to further work on his love of opera.  Interestingly, this German prince ended up becoming the king of England  (George I) and his court composer - Handel - was already in England!

Handel composed music for other special occasions.  Water Music was performed on a boat on the Thames at a royal party. Handel wrote Zadok the Priest for the coronation of King George II and it has been performed at every coronation since then.

Handel is most famous for composing the oratorio Messiah. An oratorio   is a piece of music for orchestra, choir and solo singers. It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland,  to raise funds for charities - including paying off the debts of some  142 people in jail so they could be released from jail. Because the concert hall was going to be so crowded, the men were asked to remove their swords, and women were asked not to wear wide hoops under their skirts.  It was not particularly popular in London to start with, until it was performed to raise funds for a hospital, and he continued to play it every year there as a fundraiser.


There is a famous story about King George II who attended a royal performance of Messiah. When it came to the Hallelujah Chorus he stood up. Whenever the king stood up, everyone in his presence had to stand up, so the whole audience stood. No one is really sure whether the king stood up because he liked the music or for some other reason, but it has become tradition for the audience to stand up when the Hallelujah Chorus is sung.

Handel suffered a stroke when he was 54 which left his right side paralysed for a while. In 1751, he  began to lose his eyesight and he died in 1759 in London. Over 3,000 people attended his funeral.

Here's an orchestra and choir of young people performing the Hallelujah Chorus.

Here's a boys' school singing Halleluiah Chorus. Listen for the changes from loud to soft, and from soft to loud.

Here's the graphic notation of the Hallelujah Chorus (with scrolling bar graph). 

Here's a fun version of this. Can you see how hard it must have been for these students to remember when to do their part? 

And here's a flashmob version of the Hallelujah Chorus. 

Here's a country-rock version. Listen to how low the bass singer can go!

 This is 1992 recording of Quincy Jones doing a soul/gospel version of Hallelujah , conducting a choir of well known singers. It's not a great recording, but you can see him conducting.

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, conductor, arranger, composer, television producer, film producer, instrumentalist, magazine founder, record company executive, humanitarian, and jazz trumpeter.

Here's a better quality sound recording, but with still images only. 

Here's another soul rock version called "Too Hot to Handel" Start at 6.55 to hear the chorus - or listen  all the way through.

And, as in most weeks' blog - an Andre Rieu version  

Here's one guy who sings every part of the chorus, and plays a timpany and the trumpet.

Here's a really fun Caribbean version with drums and dancers.  It also includes classical Indian dancers. Can you hear and see what makes this specifically Caribbean?  What parts are specifically Indian?

Air guitar time! Or you could try air guitar, air keyboards, or air violin - or just conduct. 

And another really fast and fun version by Reliant K.  It's quite short. 

Handbell version ...


And the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas play in time with the Handel's music. 

Have a go singing it yourself now. 

And, if you have time, here's the full version with an explanation at the beginning. 
And here's a Happy dog version of our much-loved Happy song. 

2014 Term 1, Week 10: Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Ludwig van Beethoven

 Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December 1770, in Bonn in Germany.
His exact birthday is not known but he was baptised on December 17th, 1770. 

Beethoven's  mother's name was Maria Magdalena Keverich. His father, Johann, was a musician  and singer who worked at the court of the Elector of Cologne, in Germany.  Beethoven had two brothers who survived to adulthood. His father taught him to play the violin and piano, but he was very cruel and would punish young Ludwig whenever he made mistakes. He wanted his son to be like Mozart and would make him practise  the piano for hours.   Young Beethoven struggled with spelling and mathematics at school  - and throughout his whole life - and said that music came to him much easier than words.  He left school at age ten to study music.  By the time young Beethoven was 12 he was earning money composing and playing the organ.

Beethoven at age 13

Like Mozart, Beethoven was a child prodigy - but he didn't travel until he was 17 and went to Vienna where he had a few music  lessons from Mozart. He returned to Bonn  to help look after his siblings when his mother died and his father became an alcoholic. He played the viola in the orchestra for court and started to compose music. He was a also a very clever pianist.

He moved to Vienna again in 1792 and stayed there for the rest of his life.  He became very popular with the wealthy and important people.

In 1801 he started to lose his hearing, and by 1817 he was completely deaf and could no longer play in concerts, but he continued to compose.  Some of his greatest works were composed after he became deaf.

Beethoven in 1803

He is one of the best known composers of all time, and he wrote music for the piano, orchestras, and other groups of instruments. He wrote symphonies, sonatas, concertos,  chamber and choral music, and an opera. Many people are familiar with much of his music - even if they don't know that he wrote it.

Beethoven's music was very different to music that had been composed and played before. It was so original that other composers and musicians were inspired to change the way that they composed.

Beethoven never married. He proposed many times but was turned down every time  - possibly because he was very bad tempered and scruffy, and because he was of 'low birth' status.

 One of his favourite foods was macaroni and cheese, and he loved strong coffee - with exactly 60 beans to one cup.

Beethoven's funeral procession

Beethoven's Grave in Vienna

 

He died on March 26th, 1827 - in Vienna - and many thousands of people  lined the streets to pay their respects.

This week we are looking at Beethoven's Symphony Number 5 in C Minor - the first movement.
This movement is written in a very common format in classical music called sonata form. Sonata form has roughly four sections.

The first section is called the Exposition. The main themes of the symphony are laid out. Then we move into the Development, where the themes are broken down and played around with (a bit like improvisation). Then we come to the Recapitulation where the main themes return again (slightly different, but mostly the same). Finally, there is a Coda, which is the ending where the whole movement is wrapped up.

 This is a live performance of  Beethoven's Symphony Number 5 - first movement.  This conductor is Gustavo Dudamel.  Watch for all the different ways he uses to get the orchestra to play louder or softer, stronger, smoothly,  or faster or slower.
- Can you hear a person in the audience coughing occasionally?
- Can you see how the orchestra and the conductor could find this distracting?  
- What sounds and patterns can you hear repeated?
- How does Beethoven make the repeated sounds different each time?

Here is a black and white video  of  the conductor Arturo Toscanini conducting Beethoven's fifth symphony - first movement. There is a commentary written along the bottom of the video explaining what is happening.


Look at pages 4 and 5 on this pdf to see a listening map for Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

Here's a bit more of a complicated listening guide with lots more music vocabulary and symbols.
And here's the answers to the questions in the listening guide. 


 Here is violinist David Garrett playing a modern arrangement of this - with dancers in the performance as well. How many instruments are there playing which would not have been around for Beethoven?

Here's another modern arrangement - Beethoven's 5th in salsa.

Here's the music - changed round a bit - with krumping / hip hop.  

Here's a fun version. Timon  is trying to conduct Beethoven's 5th, but Pumba keeps changing it to a different style. Watch how Timon conducts.

Here's another fun version where some musicians are using boomwhackers on plastic drums to beat out the rhythm of Beethoven's 5th.

Here some singers have made up a song about pumpkins  (called gourds here) to promote their churches Great Pumpkin Giveaway.

And this is just someone having a bit of fun making silly sounds into music.

Here's a group called Beethoven's Wig - and they've made up a song about Beethoven's wig. 

Here's Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) conducting an (invisible) orchestra. What makes it funny?

Air guitar time - to Metallica! These are just still photos, but you can see some pretty good moves to follow.

And here's Swedish guitarist and songwriter Yngwei Malmsteen with a classic guitar version - from 1985, so the video quality is not thaaat great.

This is quite a bit longer, but funny- especially if you understand anything about music and sport.  There are two commentators talking over the top of the music as if they were  the commentators at a sports event.

Here's a graphic score of Beethoven's Fifth. Can you see the patterns of the short, short, short, long?

Here's the score  of the beginning of the this music. Can you follow it?

Here's Walt Disney's Fanstasia version of Beetoven's 5th symphony.

This is a fast version - played, apparently, at the speed Beethoven intended it to be. the conductor is Benjamin Zander.

 This movement is written in a very common format in classical music called sonata form. Sonata form has roughly four sections.

The first section is called the Exposition. This is where the main themes of the symphony are laid out. Then we move into the Development, where the themes are broken down and played around with (a bit like improvisation). Then we come to the Recapitulation where the main themes return again (slightly different, but mostly the same). Finally, there is a Coda, which is the ending where the whole movement is wrapped up

2014 Term 1, Week 8: Hungarian Dance #5 by Johannes Brahms

A Hungarian Dance

Johannes Brahms was born in Germany in 1833 and died in Vienna in 1897 - two years before Johan Strauss II died.

Brahms in 1853

His father was a musician and played the double bass.  Johannes learned the piano  when he was young, and he was  a talented musician and composer.  When he was growing up in Hamburg, in Germany,  there were many Hungarian musicians in his home town. Brahms liked their folk music and it influenced a lot of his own compositions.

Brahms was close friends with many other famous musicians of the time: Franz Liszt , Robert Schumann and his wife Clara, and Johann Strauss II. (Brahms said that he wished that he had written The Blue Danube which was composed by Strauss.) He eventually moved to Vienna and lived there  until he died from cancer in 1897. Wagner, another famous German musician, also met Brahms in Vienna and did not like him, saying he was a bad conductor. Wagner was afraid that Brahms might compose better operas than his, but Brahms didn't write operas, anyway. It was true that Brahms was not a very good conductor, so he got someone else to conduct the music he composed.

Brahms and Johann Strauss II

Here's some more easy-to-read information on Brahms.

This lullaby is possibly his most well known music.

Brahms wrote 21 Hungarian dances, based on songs and music he heard by the Hungarian musicians in Hamburg. We are going to  learn about Hungarian Dance Number 5 - one of the most well known of them. It is based on a violin tune, with heavy brass in the background, percussion in the middle section and the finale goes back to the original violin theme.  We are also listening for changes in tempo (how fast or slow the music is playing) and dynamics (how loud or soft the music is).

  Look for the music map and see if you can follow it while we listen to the music.

Here's an orchestra playing Hungarian Dance Number 5 played by an orchestra.  Watch how the conductor get the orchestra to go louder or quieter, faster and slower. Can you see and hear the triangle in this?

Here are some different arrangements and version of Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 5. 
Here's something you can try at home  using every day glasses as a musical instrument - but ask permission first. 

this man has made up his own instrument - called a bellophone - and plays his version of Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 5 on it.

This is a version played on 3 guitars - backstage at a concert in NZ.  The lead guitarist is Tommy Emmanuel - a well known  Australian guitarist.

 This is what it looks like when it's played on the piano.  This is a duet. (Two players - four hands on the same piano.) And here's two boys actually playing it together on the piano.

Here's a funny version with a conductor  and Andre Rieu's orchestra. Notice how for this performance the audience are expected to participate - not just sit quietly. 

Here's a violinist having a bit of fun with the person who turns the pages of her music during her performance. 

Here's another violinist called David Garrett who plays a very fast version with an orchestra with some electric instruments accompanying him. What instruments can you identify?  

This is what it would look like if you tried to play it on the piano. Can you see where the music ascends and descends?

Here is one of the first movie stars - Charlie Chaplin - in a scene in a barber's  shop. Watch how he makes all his movements fit the music. 

Here's a Looney Tunes cartoon of the Three Little Pigs, using Brahms Hungarian Dances #5, #7, #6  and #17 in that order.  What changes do you think were made to make the music fit the story and soundtrack?

And should you eventually want to dance yourself to Hungarian Dance Number 5 - just follow these guys. Here's a class of students having a go at this dance.

Here's Brahms Hungarian Dance #6    Listen for the changes in tempo (speed) and for louder and quieter music.  Watch out for a few loud surprises.

2014 Term 1 Week 7: The March of the Toreadors by Georges Bizet

 This week's music is The March of the Toreadors from the Opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. He was born in Paris, France, in 1838 and died in 1875.

Both his parents were musicians and they wanted him to be a composer.  Young Georges loved music, but he also  loved reading and his parents even hid his books so that he would spend more time on his music.
 

He went to a special music school and won awards for composing and playing the piano.  He wrote one symphony but he is most well known for composing operas.

 His most famous opera is Carmen, but when it first opened in Paris  it received terrible reviews, saying there were no good tunes in it at all.  People believed the reviews and audiences stayed away.  Before the  season had finished, Georges died, aged only 36.

Four months later, the opera opened in Vienna, in Austria, and the audiences loved it. It became very popular and it is now one of the most well known and popular of all operas.

An image of the Opera Carmen by George Bizet

Map of Spain and France

Carmen is set in Seville, in the south of Spain.

Carmen is a gypsy girl  who works in a cigarette factory. She falls in love with a soldier called Don José, who loves her. However, he has already promised to marry somebody else. Later, he leaves the girl he was engaged to and the army for Carmen. Running away together, they are happy for a while until Carmen decides she loves a bullfighter called Escamillo. She leaves Don José. One day when Carmen is watching a bullfight, Don José waits for her and then tries to make her come back. She refuses, so he stabs her to death. Horrified at what he has done, he goes to jail. (From Simple English Wikipedia)

This video has excellent sound quality of The Toreadors conducted by Zubin Mehta who we also have a video conducting the Tritsch Tratsch polka last week. 

Air guitar version of The Procession of the Toreadors 

Here's a dance to the Toreador. 

Here's someone having a bit of fun pretending to conduct an orchestra playing the Toreadors. Listen
for the music getting faster and slower.  He also plays some of the instruments himself - and has a bit of fun with a bull.

This video gives you  a good view of the kettle drums being played. You also get to see another style of conducting.

And this one is just a very clever - and fun - way to play The Toreadors music.

The video below tells a story using the Toredors as background music. Watch how the movements and actions have been made to fit the story.  This music plays quite fast.






This video gives you a good view of the cymbals being played, as well as the kettle drums and the triangle. Watch for all the different moves the conductor uses to make the orchestra go louder or softer or stronger.


This conductor had a bit of fun with The Toreadors. How do his movements relate to the music?

Here's a very early Mickey Mouse Cartoon (1929). It's a funny version of the part of the opera Carmen. How much can you recognise?  There is some other well known music as well as the Toreadors in this. This was made in the days before colour movies.

Here's Andre Riue at an outdoor concert - where the audience are expected to cheer and clap along with the orchestra. You get to hear the brass section particularly well in this video.

And of  course, the piano keys playing the music with the graphic notation. Look for where the music is ascending and descending.

Here's a fun version called Bull in a China Shop  by a group called Beethoven's Wig

This video shows you an extract from the opera where the toreadors are marching. The singing is in French but the subtitles are in Spanish.

2014, Week 5: Flight of the Bumble Bee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Here is a Russian orchestra playing the Flight of the Bumblebee.
<
Here's a longer version of the Flight of the Bumble bee. It's from an outdoor concert.

Look and listen for: flutes and violins.

How does the composer make this music sound like a bee? 

Here's a very short extract from the Flight of the Bumblebee from the Muppets.  

This is one of my favourite fun versions of the Flight of the Bumblebee done in 1981 by Danny Kaye.  

Here's someone having a bit of fun with the Flight of the Bumblebee. It's a lot harder than it looks. Try it at home!

Here's the world's fastest violinist, David Garrett, playing Flight of the Bumblebee in record time.

Here's a graphic visualisation  of what it looks like to play this on the piano.


Here's another version of  graphic notation of the score.

And here's a great adaptation of the Flight of the Bumblebee  from 1948 called Bumble Boogie

Here's a worksheet you can print or just read it and find out a bit more about the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.


Here are some real bees. 

Here's some more information about bumblebees by David Attenborough 

Vocabulary:
ascending - going up
descending - going down
chromatic scale - playing all the keys in order -including black as well as white keys

Here's some real bees from the Huia 1 garden.