2013 schools’ notes - d3o6fyjoj38fs0.cloudfront.net schools... · 2013 schools’ notes richard...

2013 SCHOOLS’ NOTES

RICHARD TOGNETTI PRESENTS ACO2

Australian Capital Territory

Image: © Christine Schneider

Australian Chamber Orchestra 2013 Schools’ Notes ACT Richard Tognetti presents ACO2

RICHARD TOGNETTI PRESENTS ACO2 Possible Topics/Areas of Study: Baroque Period, Vivaldi, Haydn, Concerto Grosso, Concerto, string instruments, Baroque instrumentation, musical imitation, texture. Repertoire: Cello Concerto RV531 (c.1720s) by Vivaldi Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 11 in A HWV329 (1739) by Handel

Vocabulary: Accompaniment, continuo, ostinato, chords, metre, melody, concerti grossi, ripieno, ritornello, continuo, bass, instrumentation, concerto da chiesa, concerto da camera, pizzicato, arco, tonality (minor and major), metre, texture, melodic contour, oratorio, rondo form, dotted rhythm, improvisation, variation, round, semiquavers, tempo, unison, range.

Common Ideas for Study: Baroque period, Vivaldi and Handel, Concerto and Concerto Grosso, origins of string music and formal structures.

Syllabus Alignment Ideas can be applied to cover years 7 to 12.

Background: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 11 in A HWV329 by Handel The Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 No. 11, forms a part of the Twelve Grand Concertos, HWV 319–330, which are 12 concerti grossi for 2 violins, cello and a ripieno four-part string orchestra with harpsichord continuo. They were written to be played during performances of Handel's oratorios and odes.

The concertos were largely composed of new material: they are amongst the finest examples in the genre of baroque concerto grosso, and draw influence from musical forms all over Europe at the time. However, this work was not original, but was rather a reworking of Handel’s Organ Concerto in A major, HWV 296. The material was varied from the original, but no greater a change is noticeable than the omission of the originally improvised organ solo with a fugal Allegro.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HWV


IDEA 1: BAROQUE ON!

A) Visit www.classicsforkids.com/shows/genre_baroque.asp or www.dsokids.com/games/timemachine Discuss Handel and the Baroque period. Discuss and research the following terminology:

Continuo

Concertino

Concerto Grosso

Ripieno

Concerto da Chiesa

Concerto da Camera

Oratorio

Corelli

Baroque composers and instruments B) Research and discuss what a figured bass is. Try websites such as www.thinkingmusic.ca/thinkingharmony/figuredbass/ or www.mymusictheory.com/grade6/lessons/a8-figured-bass.html Create, and then attempt to interpret and play a few examples of figured bass on keyboards. C) After discussing the outcomes of research into the different Baroque terms, divide the students into 3 groups. Label one group as concertino, one as ripieno and the other continuo. Ask the students to first identify their roles. Provide the students with the chord structure of I, IV, V, I in C Major. Have them further deliberate their roles.

Provide the concertino with a semiquaver rhythm, the ripieno with quavers and the continuo with crotchets and ask them to design their parts in accordance with the chord structure provided. Once completed, combine the parts for an attempted performance. Discuss the success of this first attempt at a Baroque composition style.

http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/genre_baroque.asp

http://www.dsokids.com/games/timemachine

http://www.thinkingmusic.ca/thinkingharmony/figuredbass/

http://www.mymusictheory.com/grade6/lessons/a8-figured-bass.html


IDEA 2: RITORNELLO RETURNS

Use the dotted rhythm of the ritornello as previously learnt as the basis of a rhythmic ritornello composition. Use this as the theme for a rondo form composition, where this is the returning theme. This would be best done with the rhythm being repeated to form a 4 bar ostinato, alternating with non-melodic 4 bar compositions. Divide the students into several groups and ask each group to create a rhythmic

composition or theme to be interspersed between playing of the theme by all. Perform the theme then Group 1, then theme then Group 2, theme then Group 3 and so on. Compare and contrast to a Baroque ritornello.

IDEA 2: RITORNELLO RETURNS A) Listen to the piece and discuss the Baroque features identifiable in this work in reference to those researched earlier. Identify and locate the ritornello and its returns. Create patterns or graphs to represent this formal structure. What is this form similar to in modern music? Discuss/debate the comment made by Basil Lam that this work is “a monument of sanity and undemonstrative sense.” B) Listen to the rhythm at the start of the work as played most noticeably by the violins. Note its dotted nature and its repetition. C) Play along with this rhythm using non-melodic instruments. Dictate this rhythm after listening to it. (Note that it is semiquaver rest, semiquaver, dotted quaver, semiquaver then 2 quavers). Practise this rhythm several times.


IDEA 3: BEG, BORROW OR STEAL

A) Listen to the piece again, and discuss with the students that Handel borrowed from himself and his earlier written Organ Concerto HWV 296. Listen to this work at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0ImWNcE78 and compare and contrast to the later written Concerto Grosso No. 6 No. 11 in A Major. Are there any similarities? What are the differences? B) Learn to play A Major scale on available melodic instruments. Divide the class into groups of 3. Play the scale in a Concerto Grosso style with the continuo playing the tonic as a long drone throughout, the ripieno playing each of the scale notes as crotchets, and the concertino playing a scale in thirds in quavers above i.e. A C#, B D, C# E, D F# etc. C) Remaining in groups of three, ask the students to find a very simple melody they all like. As a group they must arrange it in Concerto Grosso style as per the scale activity, with a continuo playing longer chordal notes, the ripieno shorter notes to fill in the harmonies, the concertino playing the melody.

IDEA 4: MUSICAL ROUNDABOUTS

A) Before the final Allegro is a Largo. Count the number of bars (6) and discuss the texture. Listen to the final Allegro movement. Identify the ritornello and note the change to the relative minor in the middle section. Identify the variation every time the ritornello returns. What happens each time in the slight variations? B. Listening to the final Allegro movement, clap along with the rhythm. Note the great usage of semiquavers in a repetitive fashion interspersed with dotted quavers or crotchets. These are presented in a fugal manner between the first and second violins. Perform a simple round such as Kookaburra Sits, which features semiquavers throughout. Notate this rhythm in semiquavers and perform as a rhythm only fugue, then notate as a fugue. C) Find a recording of a song that the students like, download it, and then open a couple of versions of it as an MP3 a few seconds apart. Experiment with making this recording an accidental fugue by doing so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0ImWNcE78


Background: Cello Concerto RV531 by Vivaldi Vivaldi wrote approximately 500 concertos, with 28 being for cello, strings and continuo (harpsichord), and one for 2 celli. Most of his cello concertos are short, consistently being about 10 minutes in duration. This double cello concerto was probably, like so many of his concertos, written for the all-girl orchestra of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. This is the orphanage that Vivaldi famously worked with for some 40 years. The piece has a dark and heavy timbre overall, due largely to the doubling of cellos as well as the minor key. The cellos are commonly in canon, as occurs at the start of the piece with a lively Allegro. Throughout the work they harmonize each other, particularly in the Largo, as well as returning to bursts of canon.

IDEA 5: THE RED PRIEST

A) Research Vivaldi and his place in the Baroque period by searching www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=61 or www.dsokids.com/listen/composerdetail.aspx?composerid=12 Why was he known as the Red Priest? Find out about his background with the all-girl orchestra at the orphanage of Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, and his interest in strings. Revise IDEA 1. Listen to the piece and focus upon the role of the continuo, ripieno and identifying the ritornellos. Discuss the tempo of each movement and the role of the bass part. B) Identify and listen to other famous works by Vivaldi, such as the Four Seasons. Play some of his melodies. Discuss his cello concerto output. Explore or play the cello using either real examples or at www.dsokids.com/listen/instrumentdetail.aspx?instrumentid=6 or watching Yo Yo Ma in action on YouTube. Describe the timbre of the instrument. Listen to the opening of Vivaldi’s work (RV531) and describe the mood. Replicate the timbre using electronic sounds such as a keyboard or sampler. C) Discuss the sombre sounds of the opening of the work. Use found sounds or instruments to create a similarly sombre sounding piece as a soundscape or mood composition.

http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=61

http://www.dsokids.com/listen/composerdetail.aspx?composerid=12

http://www.dsokids.com/listen/instrumentdetail.aspx?instrumentid=6


IDEA 6: SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS

A) Listen to the opening of the work and identify the use of a fugue or canon. B) Revise singing Kookaburra from Idea 4, then practice it as a rhythmic canon. Listen to and identify the rhythm of the cello in this concerto in the first 3 bars. Clap it with the recording. C) Using the rhythm identified from the start of the piece, practice clapping it in unison. Divide the class in half and have one group enter after 1 bar as the second cello does in the piece. Have another student maintain the beat underneath.

IDEA 7: MINOR MAYHEM

A) Listen again to the Allegro opening. Describe the tonality and discuss the effects of using a minor key in addition to double celli. Listen to the lyrical Largo and discuss the differences. What differences do the accompanying instruments create? B) Discuss why the piece is in ‘Sol’ Minor and what G Minor is. Discuss why the key

signature only has one flat (B) and no E, with Eb and F# being accidentals.

Learn to play G minor scale. Explore the theory behind the key signature. C) Play G minor scale on available melodic instruments. In small groups ask the students to create a short 4 bar melody in G minor, either with or without written notation. Once well-rehearsed, ask the students to attempt to do it as a round by experimenting with different entry points. Does it work? Why or why not?

Worksheets

Baroque Period 1600 - 1750

Part 1

Baroque means: very fancy, elaborate, over decorated, or ornamented.

Worksheets from: www2.informns.k12.mn.us/.../files/.../711416Baroque_Part_1a.ppt

History & Politics • Government

• Colonization

• Social Classes

• Fashion

• Religion

• Architecture

• Arts


“Super powers” at this time

in history were England,

France, and Spain. They

were ruled by kings and

queens, also known as

monarchs.

The rest of western Europe

was made up of many

smaller kingdoms. These

monarchs were often at war

amongst themselves and

with the super powers over

boundaries.


England, France,

Spain, Portugal,

and Holland

established colonies

in America.


Three Social Classes


The Nobility lived in amazing wealth! • This is one of the 1000

rooms in King Louis XIV’s palace.

• People of the Nobility were also called Royalty or Monarchs.

• They received most of the wealth that came back from colonies in the New World, and trade in foreign lands.


The New Middle Class Peasants did all the work!

• Some of the wealth held exclusively by Royalty began to trickle to the

commoners, and a new Middle Class emerged. The Middle Class

wanted lavish homes and servants, just like Royalty.

• The peasants did all the work! Most of them served the upper classes

by working their land or waiting on them in their homes.


Fashions of Royalty


The clothing worn by royalty was often brightly colored, made of silk or velvet, and trimmed with lace, ribbon, or braid.

In your notes, sketch one the sleeves worn by one

of these people.

What type of activities might a person be able to do in this style of clothing?


Here is King Louis XIV

of France. He lived at

Chateau de Versailles,

near Paris.

In addition to the clothing,

what clues do you see that let

you know Louis XIV’s

portrait was painted during

the Baroque period? Write

your ideas in your notes.


Fashions of the Emerging Middle Class


If this image was in color, you would be able to see that the Middle Class wore cotton or wool fabrics, in colors that are drab or black.

In your notes, write two ways you can tell this clothing is representative of the Baroque period.

Write two ways you can tell by their clothing these people are not as wealthy as the Royalty.


Fashions of the Peasants


Peasants were the working

people of the Baroque

period.

In your notes, write two

ways you can tell these are

working people by the style

of their clothing.


During the Baroque period, children dressed and behaved as miniature

adults.

What class do you suppose these children belonged to? What clues do

you get from their clothing?


Hair Styles in the Baroque period

were very fancy, too. Louis XIV started the fashion

trend of wigs for men because

he was going bald.

Women wore spectacular wigs,

powdered, starched, and piled

high in curls.


Johann Sebastian Bach • J.S. Bach worked at different times for

nobility and the church. He never moved far from his birthplace, Leipzig, Germany.

• He composed about 1000 pieces, mainly religious oratorios and pieces for organ or harpsichord.

• Bach was a master of the fugue.

• Bach’s music represents the musical trend of the Baroque period. It was “cutting edge” for his time.

• Today he is known as the greatest composer of the Baroque period. During his lifetime, he was known for his skill as an organist but not as a composer.

• Four of his sons are also well-known composers.

Worksheets from: www2.informns.k12.mn.us/.../files/.../711420Baroque_Part_2b.ppt

Listen to excerpts from each piece.

In your notes, make a line drawing that represents

the harmony created in each.

• Little Fugue in G - fugue

• Toccata and Fugue in d minor - fugue

• Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring - chorale

Many hymns of today began as chorales from some of Bach’s larger works.


In your notes, write one way the music, architecture, fashion

and art of the Baroque Period are similar.


Beat: steady pulse

Tempo: the speed of the beat

• The music seems to be moving forward with a sense of purpose or urgency, a sense of “rhythmic drive.”

• The beat or pulse of Baroque music is usually very steady.

• The tempo of Baroque music can be any speed. The tempo stays the same through the entire composition.


Listen to an excerpt from each piece, and focus on the beat,

the “rhythmic drive,” and the tempo.

• Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach

• Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by J.S. Bach

• “Autumn” from The Four Seasons by A. Vivaldi

These pieces were composed as music to listen to. Where do you think these pieces were originally performed, and who was there to listen?

Would this be good music to listen to if you are working on homework? In an office? Why or why not?


Dynamics: the loudness or softness (quietness) of music.

During the Baroque period, how loud or soft the music is

depends on the number of musicians playing. Instruments are

fairly crude and not easy to control.

1 bassoon = softer more bassoons = louder


Composers began to write dynamic markings in their

music during the 17th century (1600s). It wasn’t long

before piano and forte are written in new Italian

music. Similar markings are added to music by

composers in other European countries.

Why do you think little or no orchestra music was

composed in the New World at this time?

When 3 bassoons play, then 2, then 1, the change from loud to softer to soft is more like steps than a gradual change. This effect is called terraced dynamics.


Oratorio: musical drama based on a religious

subject.

• The oratorio tells a story through music.

• Similar to an opera, there are no speaking parts.

• Different from an opera, the singers stand in place.

– No special costumes

– No scenery

– No acting on stage

– Sung in English.


George Frideric Handel • Handel was born in Germany.

He traveled a lot and eventually settled in England.

• He was a court musician, and paid very well!

• Handel was a popular composer during his life time. He wrote in many different genres/styles of music including oratorios, orchestral works, chamber music, and operas.

In your notes, write three details of Handel’s clothing that make you think he lives during the Baroque Period.


Handel composed 25 oratorios. His most famous

oratorio, Messiah, is still performed often. • Messiah was written in 23 days for a charity performance in Dublin, Ireland.

• Handel composed this work so it could be performed by most singers and

accompanied by a small orchestra. Since the charity performance was done

outside of London, Handel did not expect to have as many fine musicians in

the orchestra and chorus as he did in the big city.

• The beauty and simplicity of Messiah have made it one of the most well-

known and most frequently performed works ever.

• King George II was in the audience of the first

performance in London. During the section called

“Hallelujah Chorus,” King George II was so

enthusiastic he stood! No one can remain seated

when the king is standing, so everyone in the audience

stood, too. Since that day, everyone stands for the “Hallelujah Chorus.”


• Listen to excerpts from two of Handel’s

oratorios:

– “Hallelujah Amen” from Judas Maccabaeus

– “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah.

Why do you suppose people have continued to

enjoy Handel’s (and Bach’s) music for more

than 250 years?


Concerto: a piece for instruments usually based on

contrasting textures, moods, timbres, and tempos.

• As instruments improved, composers placed greater demands on the performers.

• The concerto grosso has a small solo group of instruments (concertino) play against the full orchestra.

• One example of a concerto grosso is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by J.S. Bach. Listen to the excerpt.

In your notes, name the instruments of the concertino.


Antonio Vivaldi

• Vivaldi entered the priesthood, but could not ignore his love of music.

• He taught violin and conducted an orchestra at an orphanage for girls in Venice. The orphanage was famous for its many accomplished musicians.

Why would conducting an orchestra at an orphanage for girls be unusual around 1700?


Solo Concerto: piece for solo instrument with orchestra

accompaniment. During his lifetime, Antonio Vivaldi

composed about 500 concertos.

• Vivaldi’s concertos are very difficult to play. A virtuoso, or highly skilled performer, is required for the soloist.

• The Four Seasons is a set of concertos for violin.

• Listen to an excerpt from “Autumn.”

Describe the mood or feeling you get from

this movement. Predict the moods of

“Spring,” “Summer,” and “Winter.” What

tempo or dynamics might to help convey the different mood or feeling?


Review of Music in the Baroque 1. Where was music performed during this time?

2. What are some of the duties expected of a composer if he was employed by Royalty or the Church?

3. Is there a something undesirable about the patronage system?

4. What instruments were part of the orchestras during this time?


Review of Music in the Baroque 5. Performers were expected to sing or play the

melody of a piece exactly as the composer wrote it. True or False, and why?

6. How is harmony created in a fugue?

7. If you wanted a group of instruments to play loud, then a little softer, then soft, why would the dynamics be terraced and not gradual?

8. How is music of the Baroque like the art, architecture, and fashions of the time?


Review of Music in the Baroque 9. I composed more than 500 concertos, each requiring a

virtuoso soloist. I also conducted an orchestra at an orphanage for girls. Who am I?

10. I was a popular composer of my time, and traveled a lot to conduct my works. One of my most famous pieces is an oratorio. Who am I?

11. I was a master of the fugue, but known more for my virtuoso skills as an organist. Today many people think of me as the greatest composer of the Baroque Period. Who am I?

12. When someone talks about the “Baroque” Period, what years does that cover?


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