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. 

2014 Term 1, Week 11: Elgar's Variation IX - Nimrod. Preparation for Anzac Day

This week we will be looking at some of the music associated with Anzac Day, and practising some of the songs for our Anzac Assembly  next term.

The Last Post is played to commemorate the war dead - at funerals or other public commemorations. It is also played on Anzac Day before a two-minute silence.

This is a video of the Last Post being played at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park in London.

Here's a video of the Last Post being played at the Gallipoli Dawn Service. Can you see the flags of Australia, New Zealand and Turkey?

This is Reveille played at the 2011  Dawn Service at the National War Memorial in Wellington.
What do you think is the purpose of the drums?

This is a recording of the Maori Battalion marching song sung in Maori.
Here's Howard Morrison singing part of the the Maori Battalion marching song.

Here's the Australian National Anthem - which we should know because they are responsible for the A in Anzac... 

This is called Nimrod by Edward Elgar.  It's from a longer piece of music called Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra ("Enigma"), Op. 36, or the Enigma Variations for short. Nimrod is Variation 9.

Elgar was a British composer, who wrote this in the 1890s. It was not written about war at all, but it has come to be associated with Remembrance Day in Britain, and is often played at commemorative or solemn occasions.  Many people  have used this as background music when they create video memorials for loved ones lost in war.

The visual quality of this video is not that great, but you can really see the conductor (Daniel Barenboim) working to get the best feeling and sound out of the orchestra.It is a live recording so you can hear background noises.

Listen to  the music start softly and get louder and stronger.
Can you hear the themes in this music?
What instruments can you hear?
What instruments play for only some of the time? 
How does the conductor get the orchestra to play louder or softer?
Why do you think this piece of music became associated with commemorating those who died in war?

Vocabulary:

wreath -  an arrangement of flowers - often a circle - to place at the cenotaph in remembrance of thos who died in war
cenotaph - is an 'empty tomb' erected  in honour of people who are buried elsewhere - or  in unknown places
Last Post -  is music played by a bugle at military funerals or to commemorate those who have been killed in war
bugle - is a simple brass instrument, a bit like a trumpet, but it has no valves or buttons to press. The notes are played by moving the position of the lips. A bugle is usually used to play the Last Post and Reveille. Follow this link to read an article and see a video about a bugle that was used at Gallipoli by  New Zealand bugler and which will be used to play the Last Post and Reveille this Anzac Day.
The Ode - is a verse from a poem (For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon) which is said after the Last Post. One person usually says The Ode, then everyone repeats the last line, "We will remember them". After that there is silence of about one to two minutes.

Here's an interesting  link  called Last Post, First Light from the  Stuff  website.  It has lots of videos and articles relating to Anzac Day  and New Zealand's involvement in any conflicts from World War 1 onwards. It also includes interviews and videos of Anzac Day commemorations. It is updated any time a relevant article is added to the Stuff website.

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 9: Mozart's Turkish March - Rondo alla Turk

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 from Piano Sonata in A, K. 331. It's also known as Mozart's Turkish March of Rondo alla Turk.

Here's a version  of it on the  glass harp (glasses of water filled with water). This musician uses sticks instead of wet fingers to achieve his special sound. This piece uses an orchestral backing track.

Here's two people playing musical glasses with no accompaniment.

Here is an orchestra dressed in the clothes of Mozart's time. How many instruments can you name? 

This group is a Russian group called  Soprano 10 and they play violins as well as sing Rondo a la Turque.

This woman plays a jazz version on some of the 50 pianos around the streets of London during a festival.

Here's a jazz version played by a guitarist.

Air guitar time!

Here's the drumming video which we seem to be able to find for most of our music choices.  How many drums and cymbals can you count?

And here's David Garrett playing Rondo alla Turk with  a modern orchestral backing.

This is a clever - and fun - version of the music made by recording men singing different notes then using each note to represent a key on the piano. Which keys are used the most and which are hardly used at all?  At the end, you will hear the two makers of this video talking in Spanish.

Here's a music map of Rondo alla Turk. Can you see a pattern? 

Try this different listening map and see if you can follow it. It shows the rondo form of music. It comes from this teacher's music blog.

This is a powerpoint showing the rhythm pattern of the music in each theme of the rondo. Can you keep up while you are following it?  

This shows you what the music looks like if you were reading it while playing the piano.  

And this one is just a little crazy - and funny. No animals were harmed in the making of this video. 

Here is a video of a violinist and a pianist having a bit of fun with this piece of music at a concert in the Netherlands. The pianist wants to change the key from a minor key to a major key. 

Here are two people playing the this music on the one guitar at a concert in Poland.

Here's very fast song version of the rondo.

Here's the biggest piano keyboard you may have seen.

A 5-year-old boy plays this on the piano.

This is what it looks like when you are playing the piano. Look for the ascending and descending notes. 

And for the adults: This is the group called Beethoven's Wig singing a song to the tune of Ronda alla Turca. It's all about the Mozart effect - where children are supposed to  be smarter if they listen to a lot of Mozart. This is

Here's a game you can play while learning more about Mozart.

This is an interesting site where you can learn a lot more about Mozart.

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 6: Tritsch Tratsch Polka by Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II  (or Johann Strauss Junior) was born in Vienna in1825, and he died in Vienna in 1899. 

Johann Strauss II

He was an Austrian composer and the son of Johann Strauss Senior (or Johann Strauss I), who was also a very famous composer. 

Strauss Senior wanted his son to become a banker, but young Johann took violin lessons in secret. 

When he was 18, he got his own orchestra together and performed some of his own music as well as some of his father’s.  Young Johann became very famous for his waltzes – he became known as the king of waltzes and the most famous musician in Austria -  and soon became more famous than his father. 

The waltz was a daring new dance and,  at the time, many people were scandalised  that people held each other so close for the entire dance. 

After his father died, Johann joined both his own and his father’s orchestras together. He became very busy during the annual Venice carnival when there were lots of balls in Vienna, the capital of Austria.  

 He travelled around Europe and Russia and even conducted some of Tchaikovsky’s  music. 

Johann Strauss II wrote two operas: Die Fledermaus (The Bat) and Zigeunerbaron (Gypsy Baron).

His two brothers, Josef and Eduard, were also very musical and they joined Johann to compose and play some of this most popular  waltz music of all time.  

Europe at the time of the death of Strauss.

Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka  was written in 1858 after Strauss returned from a successful tour of Russia.  O There are several thoughts on what the title means, but it is most likely to mean the same as “chit-chat”  and refers to the name for gossip - which was abundant in those days in Vienna,  as everyone wanted to know everyone else’s business. 

 Here is the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing the Tritsch Tratsch Polka at an outdoor concert - in Vienna.

Here's the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra playing the Tritsch-Tratsch polka in 1984.  You can see all the different instruments that are played in this, and you can see one of the many different styles of conducting 

Here's an excellent quality video of an orchestra performing the Tritsch - Tratsch polka. How many instruments can you name? Listen for the triangle. Copy the conductor's movements and you be the conductor for this performance. 

Watch the cymbals player in this video clip.

Here's Andre Rieu's orchestra having a lot of fun playing this polka on a tram in Vienna.

 Here is the Hungarian National Ballet rehearsing to this music. Can you see the story that is being told by the dancers? 

This is an excellent quality video of the Fernsehballet (a ballet company from Germany) performing a very fast version of the Tritsch - Tratsch polka, with a few variations. 

In this video, a group of male dancers tell the story of a soccer game to the music of the Tritsch Tratsch polka.  The quality of the video isn't great, but you will still get the idea.

This is a slower version of the Tritsch-Tratsch polka because there is a group of people dancing a polka to it. Even so, they have to move pretty quickly. How many different kinds of dance moves and steps can you see?

Here's how it looks when you play it on the piano. Can you see where the notes are ascending and descending? 

Here' the Vienna Boys Choir singing the Tritsch Tratsch Polka (it's in German - I think.)

Here's a drummer  doing his version of the Tritsch-Tratsch polka  - with some pretty clever lighting effects, and captions which say Merry Christmas  in many languages - including a few fun ones at the end.

This is fun. It's a musicogram of the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, with drawings to represent the music. See if you can follow it.

This is one very clever young girl. See if you can do what she's doing.


Here's a fun cartoon version of part of this piece of music.

Here's another cartoon version - with Minnie Mouse.


Click on this link to see what the music looks like as it is being played by a piano.