2018, Term 3, Week 9: Mozart Magic - opera The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute by Mozart is one of the most well known operas. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE MAGIC FLUTE
PRINCE TAMINO 👦 was being chased by a POISONOUS SNAKE 🐍. He faints😵 just as the SNAKE 🐍is about to unleash its deadly bite, but the creature is killed🗡 by THREE LADIES 👵👵👵 who  appear. They are the servants of the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT🌘 and they leave at once to tell her.

TAMINO 👦wakes up and sees a bird catcher, the feathered PAPAGENO🐦, who says that he killed the SNAKE 🐍. The THREE LADIES 👵👵👵 return in time to catch PAPAGENO 🐦 telling the lie, and they padlock 🔒his mouth 🤐to teach him a lesson. 

The THREE LADIES 👵👵👵show TAMINO 👦a portrait of PAMINA 👸, the daughter of the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT🌘. He  falls in love with her immediately💖💖💖.  PAMINA 👸is being held captive 🔑by the priest SARASTRO 👴in his palace. 🏰

THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘arrives and grants TAMINO 👦 permission to marry 💍💒 PAMINA 👸if he rescues her from SARASTRO👴.  TAMINO 👦agrees and sets off on the rescue mission, and PAPAGENO🐦 leaves ahead of him.

PAPAGENO 🐦arrives at SARASTRO's👴 palace 🏰.  A slave called MONOSTATOS👤 brings PAMINA 👸into the room. PAPAGENO🐦  tells PAMINA👸 that a prince 👦is coming to rescue her.

TAMINO 👦 arrives at the palace 🏰.  He believes the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘is evil and not SARASTRO👴, but he is determined to rescue PAMINA👸. He plays his MAGIC FLUTE🎵🎵 and PAPAGENO🐦, plays his pipes  and bells🎶🔔 so that they can find each other. 

But just as PAPAGENO 🐦and PAMINA 👸 are about to escape they find themselves face-to-face with SARASTRO 👴,who says he cannot grant her freedom, but that she will soon be freed by somebody else.  MONOSTATOS 👤and TAMINO 👦 both arrive, and it is the first time  TAMINO 👦and PAMINA👸 see each other💖💖💖. 

SARASTRO 👴sets challenges for TAMINO👦 and PAPAGENO🐦. If they succeed, he will give his crown 👑 to TAMINO👦 , and he will  find a wife for PAPAGENO 🐦For one trial, they must remain silent 🤐🤐.

Meanwhile, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘 gives PAMINA👸 a dagger🗡 and tells her she must kill SARASTRO👴 or she will no longer be her daughter. MONOSTATOS 👤 overhears this and tries to bribe PAMINA👸, threatening to reveal the plot, but SARASTRO 👴arrives, banishes MONOSTATOS👤 and forgives  PAMINA👸. 

 An OLD WOMAN👵 visits PAPAGENO 🐦and says he must commit his life to her, or be alone for the rest of his life.  He reluctantly agrees, and the OLD WOMAN 👵then transforms into the beautiful PAPAPGENA😍. PRIESTS arrive and chase her away with thunder and lightning⛈. 

PAMINA👸, not knowing about the trial of silence🤐, is broken hearted  💔when TAMINO 👦will not speak to her. She tries to kill herself with the dagger🗡, but is stopped by THREE SPIRITS.  For the final challenges, TAMINO 👦 must walk through fire🔥 and water🌊. PAMINA 👸stops him and insists they do this together👫. They complete the tasks safely, protected by his MAGIC FLUTE🎵🎵. 

PAPAGENO🐦 is so sad 😢💔because he has lost PAPAPGENA😍,  and he tries to take his own life🗡, but the THREE SPIRITS arrive and remind him of his magic bells🎶🔔. He rings them🎶🔔 and summons PAPAPGENA 😍and she returns 😢.

MONOSTATOS👤, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘, and THREE LADIES 👵👵👵, plot to destroy SARASTRO's👴 palace, but are stopped my magic forces and are banished into the night🌌.

SARASTRO👴 marries  TAMINO 👦 and PAMINA 👸and everyone cheers👏👏 🎉because they have overcome challenges to find true love💖💖💖.


Now that you have understood the synopsis of the story, here are  a few short videos of it. 
The Magic Flute (46.30 minutes - start about 2 minutes in) 
The Magic Flute  (3.04 minutes - animated plot summary)  

The following images are from books and  productions of The Magic Flute - Can you tell what part of the story each one represents: 

                                   

The opera was written in German, and is usually sung in the German language; however, sometimes versions are sung in English.  

The Queen of the Night Aria  is the most well known from the whole of the Magic Flute.  Mozart wrote it specifically for his sister-in-law as he knew she could sing the difficult notes. It's  considered to be one of the hardest for any soprano to sing.  It's also known as Der Holle Nacht  (the German title) or the Revenge Aria.

Here's a compilation of several sopranos singing the same aria - so you can see it done several different ways in different settings. 
 
And here is actress Meryl Streep portray Florence Foster Jenkins  singing Queen of the Night - very badly.  Florence was a wealthy woman in America who enjoyed singing and performing - in spite of bot being very good at it.

This is what the words are in English.

The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel
The pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore.
Disowned may you be forever,
Abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature,
If not through you
Sarastro becomes pale!
Hear, Gods of Revenge,
Hear a mother's oath!

Junior Songs: 
Chumbara
Sarasponda 
Ten in a bed ( all from this blog post)  

And a new song for roll call. 

2018, Term 3, Week 6: More Mozart - Rondo a la Turca

Maori Language week bonus songs: 
Juniors:
bilingual version of 10 Little Kiwi birds. 
Haere Mai song
Alphabet song
Days of the Week - in Maori 

Seniors: 
A song by Stan Walker for Maori Language Week 2104, called Aotearoa 

       

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27th 1756 and died on December 5th 1791, at age 35. He was born in Salzburg in Austria, where his father, Leopold, was also a musician and composer.

Wolfgang's family called him Wolferl. He was called a child prodigy which means he could do something extremely clever at a very young age. He composed his first piece of music when he was just 5 years old. He was 7 when his first music was published, and when he was 12 he had written his first opera. He was an accomplished violinist and pianist by the age of 6, and he and his sister Maria Anna (called Nanner by her family) travelled around Europe giving concerts and even performing for royalty. Nanner was a very clever musician and composer herself, but she stopped travelling and giving concerts once she reached marrying age.

When he was older, Mozart moved to Vienna to earn a living as a composer and pianist. He was used to being a famous child musician and having a great fuss of him, so it was difficult for him to settle to being an adult performer and not the centre of attention anymore - even though he was still a musical genius.

Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1782. They had six children, but only two survived past infancy. He earnt a lot of money in his life time but wasted it and ended up dying of kidney disease at 35 years old. He was buried in a common grave with no special ceremony.

Mozart composed an enormous amount of music in his short life. It would take over 8 days to play all his music without stopping. He also composed in a wide range of musical forms, such as operas, symphonies, concertos, masses, and chamber music.

This week's music is called: Turkish Rondo - or Rondo alla Turca  from Piano Sonata in A, K. 331. It's also known as Mozart's Turkish March of Rondo alla Turk.  Here is a version played on the piano.  You can find many other versions of it - from glass harps (glasses filled with water) to drum solos, heavy-metal guitars  to  full orchestras.  Chinese pianist Lang Lang is well known for a very fast performance of Rondo alla Turca.   And sometimes, because it's so well known, some musicians like to have a bit of fun and change the way they play it.  In these versions, listen carefully when themes are repeated, you will notice that the second time is usually a little different: often quieter, and sometimes with a rallentando (slowing down) in some places.

This is one person's idea of a listening map for Rondo alla Turca. Can you follow it and see why the images change when they do? Each picture represents a different theme in the music.  

See if you can follow this rhythm pattern for Rondo alla Turca.  This will introduce semiquavers to you.  

This is a five-year-old boy playing Rondo alla Turca. How long would it take you to learn how to play this? 

And this version is a really fast rap full of advice to children - set to Rondo alla Turca. Can you keep up?  

And here's a good reason to keep practising playing the recorder - see what can be done?

Here's something to watch for homework: It's a German animated cartoon series (dubbed in English) based on the life of Mozart as a child (called Amadeus here.) 

This is Part 1: Solo for Amadeus 


Songs: 
Juniors: Scroll down for songs from the past few weeks/ 

Baby Shark Dance has had over one billon views, so let's add another few views to that. 

Notation: 

Here's a song to help you learn the notes E, G, B, D, F on the treble clef. 

Scroll down to the last few blogs for some revision, and then try theses: 

1. Here's a notation game where you click on the note names to spell words. 

2. Now, use the guide  - or your own knowledge - to name the notes and spell the words. 

3.  And here's an interactive game where you can test yourself against the clock. Be careful, it;s easy to make mistakes at speed on this one. 

4. And the test: can you draw (need  data projector on white board)   or indicate where these notes go on the stave. 

2018, Term 3, Week 5: Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Dances
Choose from here. 
Scroll down to last week's blog for the lyrics for Dynamite and Can't stop the Feelin' 

Songs (Seniors): 
I knew You were Treble 
Ode to Treble Clef

Songs (Juniors): 
Chumbara
Sarasponda
Ten in the Bed 

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title means "a little serenade".  View some of this video of Eine Kleine Nacht Music - where the musicians are dressed in costumes of Mozart's era - then see if you can follow this listening chart.  

Listen for loud (forte)  and soft (piano) and fast and slow. Can you hear parts which are repeated?

Here's what it looks like if you were playing it on the piano. This is another way of showing what the notes look like as they are played. 

This is a funny version of Eine Klein Nachtmusik played by people using objects in an office. 

Here's another graphic representation of the music. You can see what the different sections of the orchestra are playing and how they work together to make the overall sound.  Can you name any of the notes? 

Notation: 
Let's learn and revise note names. This will be especially helpful to recorder and glockenspiel players. 

2018, Term 3, Week 3: Mozart's Requiem, Part 3 - Kyrie

Juniors
Dances: 
Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem (Creative) 
Freeze Game 
I like to move it 
I've been working on the railroad 
Rock around the Clock 
Songs:
Junior Songs (using the pentatonic scale):
Bought Me a Cat
Ten in the Bed
John Kanakanaka
Bickle Bockle (and game)

The Fox   (Scroll down to find lyrics) 

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly   (Scroll down to find lyrics) 

Seniors:
All You Gotta Do is Dance (You may not know this one but it has some interesting new dace moves) 
Banana Boat Song (Day O!)
Dynamite    
Can't stop the Feeling - watch the video and then have a go at making your 5 seconds of dance move. 
YMCA

Here's the lyrics to Can't Stop the Feeling 

I got this feeling inside my bones
It goes electric, wavy when I turn it on
All through my city, all through my home
We're flying up, no ceiling, when we're in our zone

I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops
I can't take my eyes up off it
Moving so phenomenally
Room on lock the way we rock it
So don't stop

And under the lights when everything goes
Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close
When we move, well, you already know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine

Nothing I can see but you
When you dance, dance, dance
Feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance
Come on
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving soon
So keep dancing

I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
Come on

Ooh, it's something magical
It's in the air, it's in my blood, it's rushing on
Don't need no reason, don't need control
I fly so high, no ceiling, when I'm in my zone

'Cause I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops
I can't take my eyes up off it
Moving so phenomenally
Room on lock the way we rock it
So don't stop

And under the lights when everything goes
Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close
When we move, well, you already know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine

Nothing I can see but you
When you dance, dance, dance
Feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance
Come on
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving soon
So keep dancing

I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So keep dancing, come on

I can't stop the—
I can't stop the—
I can't stop the—
I can't stop the—
I can't stop the feeling

Nothing I can see but you
When you dance, dance, dance
(I can't stop the feeling)
Feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance
Come on
(I can't stop the feeling)
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
(I can't stop the feeling)
And ain't nobody leaving soon
So keep dancing

Everybody sing
(I can't stop the feeling)
Got this feeling in my body
(I can't stop the feeling)
Got this feeling in my body
(I can't stop the feeling)
Wanna see you move your body
(I can't stop the feeling)
Got this feeling in my body

Break it down
Got this feeling in my body
Can't stop the feeling
Got this feeling in my body
Come on

Here's the lyrics to Dynamite:

Dynamite

I came to dance (4x)
I hit the floor cause that's my plans (4x)
I'm wearing all my favourite brands (x4)
Give me space for both my hands (x4)

Yeah, yeah
Cause it goes on and on and on
And it goes on and on and on
Yeah!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying "Ayo! Gotta let go!"
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying "Ayo! Baby, let's go!"

Cause we gonna rock this club
We gonna go all night
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!

I came to move (4x)
Get out the way me and my crew (x4)
I’m in the club so I’m gonna do (x4)
Just what the folk came here to do (x4)


Yeah, yeah
Cause it goes on and on and on
And it goes on and on and on
Yeah!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying "Ayo! Gotta let go!"
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying "Ayo! Baby, let's go!"

Cause we gonna rock this club
We gonna go all night
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!

I'm gonna take it all out
I'm gonna be the last one standing
I'm over it all and
I'm gonna be the last one landing
Cause I, I, I believe it
And I, I, I, I just want it all
I just want it all

I'm gonna put my hands in the air!
Hands, hands in the air!
Put your hands in the air!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying "Ayo! Gotta let go!"
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying "Ayo! Baby, let's go!"
Cause we gonna rock this club
We gonna go all night
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gonna light it up
Like it's dynamite!

Requiems tend to use the same words - all the composer needs to do is add music and their own style.    The words are often repeated.   A requiem is divided into several parts - called movements, each with a different meaning and style or feel, and tempo. 
In the Kyrie movement the only words are Kyrie, eleison! Christe, eleison! (Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy), but they are repeated many times  - and sung in many different ways. 

In this version, all four singing parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) sing the same music but start at different times, (called a fugue) then come together for extra impact. 

Here's how Mozart wrote it.

                                           
Here's a choir singing Kyrie. Watch how the conductor indicates to each group when it is time  for them to start singing.  Notice how the singers hold their music up high so they can follow it but still keep their eyes on the conductor. 

This version is a bit slower, but you see the conductor's movements and gestures very clearly.  Note that the singers must know this music by heart as they aren't holding music!

This video is excellent to show you how the conductor changes his gestures to indicate dynamics (volume) and the feel of the music.  Look for how he smoothly changes from giving signals to  different sections of the orchestra and then to different sections of the choir. Start at about 3:50 to see how he changes from one movement to the next. Note: You only see the conductor in this video - not the orchestra or choir. 

Here's what the score (music) looks like for the singers. Can you follow each part? Can you see when each part comes in and stops?  Try listening to it with your eyes closed - can you identify each of the four parts? 

And here's just one part - the alto part - at a slower speed so that singers can practise it to get it right before doing it faster with their choir. 

And an electric guitar version of all four parts. 

Do the maths!

The music is in 4/4 timing, which means every bar is equal to four crotchets - or one semibreve. 

Look at the snapshots  below and see if you can work out  how every bar is equivalent to 4 crotchets - or one semibreve. 

This is the very end of the movement, but it's an easier place to do the maths. 

There might be some tricky notes for you, but use the table below to help. 

                                         

2018, Term , Week 2: More Mozart

     FREE CONCERT 

3 pm, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 

at Vodafone Events Centre, 

MANUKAU 

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Background music  to visual presentations (movies / slideshows, and so on) can create a significant atmosphere and arouse a range of emotions depending. 

New Zealand film maker Peter Jackson restored rare film footage from Gallipoli to make this short tribute to the ANZAC soldiers. The film footage was rare because it was in the very early days of moving pictures, and it was incredibly difficult - and extremely dangerous - to film anything at all in the middle of a war zone, and then get it back to safety to be developed.

The background music is Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626). It was composed in Vienna in 1791. It was still unfinished at the time of Mozart's death on December 5. A requiem is a special church service (called a mass) with special music to remember people who have died.
View a bit of this movie filmed in Gallipoli in 1915, and turn the sound off.  Then watch it with the volume up, and listen to Mozart's Lacrimosa from his requiem. Do you notice a difference?  Did the music change how you felt about what you were seeing.  (Note: stop the video at 2:50). 

Most religious music was written in Latin. If you listen carefully, you can follow the words as they are sung. Can you hear where the words are repeated?

Lacrimosa
Lacrimosa dies illaQua resurget ex favillaJudicandus homo reus.Huic ergo parce, Deus:Pie Jesu Domine,Dona eis requiem. Amen.

(translated from Latin)
Full of tears shall be that dayOn which from ashes shall ariseThe guilty man to be judged;Therefore, O God, have mercy on him.Gentle Lord Jesus,grant them eternal rest. Amen.

Some questions to think about while listening:
- Why do you think Peter Jackson chose this particular music to go with the film?- What is it about the music that you like or dislike?
- What does Mozart do to make the music sound more interesting?- Can you hear the sopranos singing the very high parts?- Can you hear the basses sing the very lowest parts?- Can you hear parts where just one group (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) is singing, or different combinations of those groups?
- Where are the crescendos and decrescendos?

                                 

This is Mozart's own writing of part of the requiem.

On November 20,1791, Mozart was so ill he had to stay in bed. Even so, he still worked frantically on the requiem - right up until his final hours.

At 2pm on December 4, Mozart sang the alto parts of the requiem with his friends and family singing the other parts. They sang through to the Lacrimosa which was as far as Mozart had got composing the requiem. Apparently the last thing Mozart did was to imitate the kettledrums in his requiem.

Because his illness, Mozart’s body was very swollen, so a doctor cut him regularly so he would bleed ( it was thought to be help lessen the swelling in those days). Mozart died shortly afterwards at 1:00 am on December 5 1791.

An artist's impression of what it looked like while he was working on his requiem.              

Because they were very poor, he was buried in an unmarked paupers’ grave ( grave for poor people). When his wife went back with flowers a few days later, she could not find his grave, so it remains a mystery where one of the greatest composers is buried.

It is thought that Mozart’s wife, Constanza, got several people to help finish the requiem, using notes and drafts left by Mozart, so that she could still get paid the rest of the money from the mystery person who commissioned the requiem.

An artist's impression of Mozart and his wife Constanze as he wrote his requiem.                     

Here's a movie interpretation of Mozart's death and burial  from the movie Amadeus - with Lacrimosa playing as background music.