Term 2 Week 8: Matariki

Continuing our theme of  songs  and music for specific purposes, this week we are looking at the Maori festival of Matariki.

Here's some more information about Matariki. 

Here's a song to help you remember the names of the stars of Matariki.

Waiti

Waita

Waipuna -  a – rangi

Tupu – a – nuku

Tupu – a  -  rangi

Uru – a – rangi   te potiki

ko to ka hoe Matariki


Here's another version of the lyrics:

Waiti

Waita

Waipuna -  a – rangi

Tupu – a – nuku

Tupu – a  -  rangi

Ko Uru – a – rangi   te potiki

O te whanau Matariki

Term 2, Week 7: Ra Whanau - Happy Birthday in Maori

Continuing our  theme of songs that we all sing, here's  Happy Birthday in Maori .




And,  of course,  we always seem to be able to find a cat version of our weekly music theme.
 Cute cats sing Happy Birthday.


 Here's Beethoven's  sixth symphony, called Beethoven' Pastorale Symphony . This is an animated version from Walt Disney's Fantasia movie of 1940.

This is a link to Fantasia. 

Term 2, Week 6: The History of Happy BIrthday

 (Intermediate Music Options Groups: Here's the link to the site where you can make up your own tunes.)


Last term and  half of this term, we learnt about the NZ National Anthem,  and what the words mean, one line at a time, in Maori, English and NZ Sign Language.  
Here's a site to help you play chords on guitar or ukulele. 

Quiz: Match one of the words  from the National Anthem below with  one of the coloured words

thy              bonds              entreat              guard             triple   shafts          strife                praises             afar      



unfair treatment             distant         connections            request  

protect         three           your            trouble         congratulations    




This week's National Anthem fact:

 The words of the National Anthem were written by Thomas         Bracken. They were first published in 1876 as a poem  in  a              newspaper.  Thomas Bracken was born in Ireland and moved to        Australia as a young boy before moving to New Zealand as a young man.   





Happy Birthday:

Happy Birthday is a song that is sung to celebrate  the anniversay of a person’s birth.  It is the most recognised song in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of Records.  The song's lyrics have been translated into many languages. The melody comes from the song "Good Morning to All", which is believed to be composed by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill, in Kentucky, USA,  and was first published by them in 1893.  Patty was a kindergarten principal and Mildred was a pianist and a composer.  They used it as a song that young children would find easy to sing.

The first printed version of Happy Birthday was in 1912, but the song probably existed earlier.  Other people have claimed ownership of the lyrics and melody and registered the copyright in 1935. This means that it is actually illegal to perform the song publicly without paying royalties to Warner/Chappell  Music.  

Happy Birthday in the key of F

Here's Happy Birthday in a range of styles. Can you work out what style each one is? 

 Here's another collection of Happy Birthday in a range of orchestral styles.

Here's  someone's version of how they think some of the great composers would have performed Happy Birthday.

Term 2, Weeks 4 and 5: Rounds and Danny Kaye - The Little Fiddle Story

 (Intermediate Music Options Groups: Here's the link to the site where you can make up your own tunes.)

This term, we have been learning to sing rounds.

We have done:

Row, Row, Row your Boat
This is probably one of the best known rounds. The earliest-known version of  these lyrics in print was in 1852, although the tune was quite different. The  version we know was first recorded in print in 1881. It has even been sung by Captain Kirk, Dr McCoy and Mr Spock on Star Trek.

Here's a world record attempt of the largest amount of people to sing Row, Row, Row your Boat 
(Cut to three minutes to get to the round.)

Here's another version of  Row, Row, Row your Boat with Justin Timberlake.

From Wikipedia

Mrs O'Leary's Cow   We learnt about the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871.  Here's a photo of Mrs O'Leary's house.   Here's a panorama of the devastation caused by the Great Fire of Chicago.

The cow may not have been responsible for the Chicago Fire.

London's Burning: Here's a video about the Great Fire of London  made by young school children.

Link from this site 

Three Blind Mice:

.

Here's a video about the history of the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice

Here's a rock version of Three Blind Mice.

Baa Baa Black Sheep
This link takes you to a short video clip about the story behind Baa Baa Black Sheep. 

 

Link to web page This music includes the guitar or ukulele chords to play with Baa Baa Back Sheep.

Here's the story of The Little Fiddle told by Danny Kaye. Can you recognise any of the music that is played?

Term 2 Week 3: Beethoven Symphony No. 9: Ode to Joy

Here's the link to a site where you can make up your own music and learn about note values. If you are clever with working out things on the computer, you'll work out how to do this by yourself.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor op 125 (Choral Symphony) by Ludwig van Beethoven

This one of the most famous pieces of music ever written and one of the most frequently played symphonies in the world. Many people believe it is Beethoven's best work, and  one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.

A symphony is a piece of music for orchestra.

This was the  last symphony Beethoven wrote.  It is a very long symphony - over an hour - and is  unusual because the last movement also has singing in it: four soloists and a choir.

This symphony has four movements.  The last movement sets the words of a poem called Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy) written by  a German poet called Friedrich Schiller. The poem is about living in peace together. It was written at the time when these ideas were becoming very important in Europe.

Beethoven  started to write the symphony in  1817 and he finished it in 1824 when it was played for the first time - in Vienna.  It was the first time Beethoven had been on stage for twelve years, and it was the biggest orchestra he had ever used.  Beethoven conducted the performance but he couldn't hear the audience applaud because of his deafness. Someone made him turn round, and he saw that people were applauding enthusiastically.  It was customary at that time for the Imperial couple (Emperor and Empress)  to have three standing ovations when they entered a hall. When Beethoven  had five standing ovations, police tried to stop them because he was receiving more than the Emperor. People waved their handkerchiefs and hats in the air so Beethoven could see their enjoyment - because he couldn't hear them.

The main tune of the last movement is one of the best known tunes in the world. Many children like to play it on instruments because the first part of the tune only uses five notes (it can be played on C, D, E, F, G).


The Ode to Joy was adopted as Europe's “National anthem” in 1972.

The Symphony No. 9 - with the chorus - is traditionally performed throughout Japan during its New Year celebrations.  It was introduced to Japan by German soldiers held at a prisoner-of-war camp in World War 1, when Japan was an ally of Britain. Japanese orchestras started performing it and it became more popular in during World War II  when Germany was an ally of Japan.

When compact discs (CDs) were first being made,  different companies  had different ideas about what size they should make CDs.  Someone suggested that a compact disc ought to have the capacity to contain a complete performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony - about  65 to 74 minutes which requires a 12 cm diameter, the size of a CD.

Here's the Muppets version of  Ode to Joy

Here's David Beckham doing an advertisement using the music of Ode to Joy.

Here's a rock version of the  European Union Anthem of Ode to Joy

Air guitar and air drums version with Wes Borland (Ex-Limp Bizkit) and Richard Fortus (Guns n Roses)  and this version by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord of Deep Purple.

David Garrett starts a very serious Ode to Joy - but listen to how it ends. 

Here's a flash mob version. Watch the young girl.
Glass harp version of Ode to Joy.

Here's a girl doing a mix of classical and jazz singing of Ode to Joy.

Rowan Atkinson doing a humorous version. You may not understand all of the jokes, but you will get the idea.


Here's 10,000 Japanese performing  part of the Ninth Symphony.   You can see how impressive it is to get this many people to perform together.

Here's the full version of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with conductor Daniel Barenboim. 

Here's a version with English subtitles.

Here's the European Anthem version on karaoke German.

Here's a graphic representation of the orchestra playing Ode to Joy.

A cats' chorus of Ode to Joy.

Here's a colour-coded score for the music of Ode to Joy

Link

Here's a join-the-dots picture of Beethoven you can print and complete.

Here's a song based on the Ode to Joy tune, and written about the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. 

Here's a Horrible Histories meeting between Mozart and Beethoven...

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.