2015/16 junior/intermediate level—science @ the symphony
TRANSCRIPT
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Student Concertsare generously supported by Mrs. Gert Wharton and an
anonymous donor.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges Sarah Greenfield for preparing the lesson plans for the Junior/Intermediate Student Concert Study Guide.
Science @ the SymphonyOntario Science Centre, concert partner
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1) Concert Overview & Repertoire Page 3
2) Composer Biographies and Programme Notes Page 4 - 11 3) Unit Overview & Lesson Plans Page 12 - 23
4) Lesson Plan Answer Key Page 24 - 30
5) Artist Biographies Page 32 - 34 6) Musical Terms Glossary Page 35 - 36 7) Instruments in the Orchestra Page 37 - 45 8) Orchestra Seating Chart Page 46 9) Musicians of the TSO Page 47
10) Concert Preparation Page 48 11) Evaluation Forms (teacher and student) Page 49 - 50
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra wishes to thank its generous sponsors:
SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR OFFICIAL AIRLINE
The TSO has created a free podcast to help you prepare your students for the Science @ the Symphony Student Concerts. This podcast includes excerpts from pieces
featured on the programme, as well as information about the instruments featured in each selection. It is intended for use either in the classroom, or to be assigned as homework.
To download the TSO Junior/Intermediate Student Concert podcast please visit www.tso.ca/studentconcerts, and follow the links on the top bar to Junior/Intermediate.
SEASON PATRON
The Renette and David Berman Family Foundation
Junior/Intermediate Level: Suitable for students in grades 4-8
Evan Mitchell conductorAmir Safavi, violin
Ontario Science Centre, concert partnerHeidi Breier, host
Sean Lee Ying, hostDonna Francis, host and researcher
Science: Fiction or Fact? The TSO and the Ontario Science Centre present an intriguing exploration of sound, technology, space, and mind-blowing science
experiments! All budding scientists are encouraged to bring their curious minds and be prepared to be a part of this interactive concert experience.
Programme to include excerpts from*:Jonathan Newman Blow it Up, Start Again Evan Mitchell Awesome Orchestra Fucik Entrance of the Gladiators John Williams Excerpt from Theme from Jurassic ParkVivaldi Mvt. 1 from “Winter”, No. 4 from The Four Seasons for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 8Ryan Trew Excerpt from StarlikeHolst Excerpt from “Jupiter” from The PlanetsLiz Gilpatrick, arr. Mitch Clarke The Water Song (RECORDER/SING-ALONG)J. Strauss Thunder and Lightning Polka, Op. 324Stravinsky Excerpt from Finale from The Firebird
*Programme subject to change
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Science @ the Symphony
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
BiographyJonathan Newman studied composition and conducting at Boston University’s School for the Arts and The Juilliard School. A recipient of the Charles Ives Scholarship, Newman has studied with notable composers such as John Corgiliano, David Del Tredici and and Lucas Foss. He is a founding mem-ber of the composer consortium BCM International which consists of four composers (including Eric Whitacre!) dedi-cated to enriching repertoire with exciting new works that are not limited by traditional approaches. Many of his works are scored for wind ensemble and incorporate many diverse styles of pop, blues, jazz, folk and funk into his composi-tions. For more information check out Jonathan Newman’s website here: http://jonathannewman.com/biography.php
This piece was originally commissioned in 2011 by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Described as “riotously funky” by the Chicago Tribune, Blow It Up, Start Again highlights the unique capabilities of string instruments with glissandos, octave leaps, staccatos, tremolos and sustained chords. This piece is a musical depiction of the infamous Gunpowder Plot as suggested by Mr. Newman’s single program note - “If the system isn’t working anymore, then do what Guy Fawkes tried and go anarchist: Blow it all up, and start again.”
About Blow It Up, Start Again
Jonathan Newman
Life: b. 1972Nationality: AmericanPiece to Study: Blow It Up, Start Again
Listen on Jonathan’s website!
http://jonathannewman.com/music.php?id=044
Did you know?
The Gunpowder Plot: A failed conspiracy in 1605 to blow up the English Parliament
and return it to Catholic rule.
Gunpowder Plot conspirator Guy Fawkes (1570 - 1606) attempts to plant gunpowder in the cellar. 4
Antonio Vivaldi Life: 1831-1881Nationality: ItalianPiece to Study: Mvt. 1 from “Winter” from The Four Seasons for Violin and Orchestra
Antonio Vivaldi was a Venetian priest, virtuoso violinist and Ba-roque composer. Ordained as a priest in 1703, Vivaldi was nick-named “The Red Priest” because of his wild red hair. Vivaldi suffered from a respiratory illness (believed to be asthma or angina) which greatly influenced his personal and professional life. Often unable to perform mass due to his condition, he soon left the church to pursue a musical career as a performer, conductor and composer. He began teaching at the Ospedale della Pietà, an institution where orphans received instruction in trades and music. He composed most of his major works in this position over three decades. An innovator of form and pattern, Vivaldi is most well known for his Baroque con-certos and his operas Argippo and Bajazet.
The Four Seasons was inspired by a set of four sonnets, which many historians believe Vivaldi wrote him-self, that describe a typical scene from each season. Vivaldi uses different techniques in the violins to cre-ate vivid images which come directly from the sonnets. If you listen carefully to “Winter”, you will hear the violins portraying icy rain using pizzicato notes from the high strings and the smooth surface of ice portrayed by a solo cello playing one note sustained. For this reason, The Four Seasons is often referred to as “programmatic music”, music which is clearly connected to a story, person or idea.
Biography
About Mvt. 1 from “Winter” from The Four Seasons for Violin and Orchestra
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
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Did you know?
Best known for his violin concertos, Vivaldi composed over 400 of them! After his death, many of his works
were lost but musicians and scholars revived Vivaldi’s mu-sic in the early 20th century. Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Julie Fischer, violinisthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1qNOfdMyGA
The 1st movement is inspired by the four lines below.
To shiver, frozen, amid icy snowin the bitter blast of a horrible wind;
to run, constantly stamping one’s feet;and to feel one’s teeth chatter on account of the excessive cold;
Ryan TrewLife: Born 1979Nationality: CanadianPiece to Study: Starlike
BiographyA native of Barrie Ontario, Ryan Trew is a composer, percussionist and music theory pedagog. His compositions focus on rhythmic, harmonic and timbral relationships, and incorporate elements from popular and classical music. Ryan received his Bachelor of Music in Composition and Theory from Wilfred Laurier University, his Master’s degree from the University of Toronto and a Doctoral degree from the Uni-versity of British Columbia. Ryan has studied with notable Canadian composers such as Christos Hatzis, Peter Hatch, Glenn Buhr and Dorothy Chang. Ryan’s work has been com-missioned and performed by numerous orchestras in Canada including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Prince George Symphony Orchestra, the National Academy Orchestra, and
the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
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About StarlikeLush and ethereal, Starlike was commissioned by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2010 Olympic Commissioning Project. Inspired by the stars and universes beyond, Starlike is a meditation on the “twinkling points of light” in the sky that serve as a source of inspiration and explanation of the human experience.
For more information, check out Ryan Trew’s website: https://ryantrew.wordpress.com/
Listen on Ryan’s website!
https://ryantrew.wordpress.com/sound-media/
Image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows infant stars “hatching” in the head of the hunter constellation, Orion.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Laboratorio de Astrofísica Espacial y Física Fundamental
Life: 1872-1916Nationality: CzechPiece to Study: Entrance of the Gladiators
Julius Fucík
ˇ
BiographyJulius Fucík was a prolific Czech composer and conductor of military bands. Often known as the “Bohemian Sousa”, he composed over 300 marches, polkas and waltzes (“Sousa” is a reference to John Philip Sousa, nicknamed “The March King”, who was one of the most popular and prolific American march composers). After successfully conducting a number of military bands, Fucík later moved to Berlin in order ot start his own band and music publishing company. Today his marches are still performed in the Czech Republic; however his most well known work is his piece Entrance of the Gladiators.
About Entrance of the GladiatorsThe piece was first titled Grande Marche Chromatique because of the heavy use of chromatic scales, but was later changed because of Fucík’s interest in the Roman Empire. Composed in 1897 for orches-tra it was originally conceived as a light symphonic march. However in 1910, it was arranged for band under the title Thunder and Blazes and became immensely popular in North America as a screamer march (see definition below). Today the piece is mainly known by this wind band connection and is played at frantic speeds.
Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Teatro Massimo Orchestrahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vo6Vbzpmo
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Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
Did you know?A screamer march is a descriptive name for a circus march, in particular, an upbeat march intended to stir up the audience
during the show.
Chromolithograph by Gibson & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, copyrighted 1874
Fun Fact:You can hear this piece in the film
Madagascar! It might remind you of a circus.
Taking inspiration from astrology, Holst composed his most well-known work The Planets between 1914 and 1916. The suite is comprised of seven movements and depicts the astrological characters of the seven planets in our solar system (Earth was excluded and Pluto had yet to be discovered!).The influence of Stravinsky and Schoenberg is very prominent in The Planets. Although Holst had criticized the stranger as-pects of modern music earlier in his career, the new music of Stravinsky and Schoenberg influenced Holst’s work on The Planets. From its premiere to the present day, the suite has been enduringly popular, widely performed, and the subject of numerous recordings. “Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity” is perhaps one of the most well-known and popular of all the movements. Written in the traditional English folk dance style, it conveys an overall feeling of joy and exhilaration. In between the opening and closing driving dance sec-tions, rests a glorious ballad middle section that has inspired many patriotic hymns in England.
Gustav Holst Life: Born 1874-1934Nationality: EnglishPiece to Study: “Jupiter” from The Planets
Biography
About “Jupiter” from The Planets
Gustav Holst was a renowned 20th century classical composer. He is most well known for his piece The Planets and his association with the English folk song revival. Born into a musical family, he played violin and piano, and began composing when he was 12 years old. Holst began playing the trombone when the neuritis in his right hand made playing the keyboard too difficult, and he thrived as an orchestral musician. He then decided to study composition at the Royal College of Music in London where he met his life-long friend who became a major influence on his music, fel-low composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Initially, Holst made his living as a freelance musician but soon turned to teaching in order to better fi-nancially support his family. Considered a gifted and supportive teacher, Holst worked as the music master at St. Paul’s Girls School (a position he held till his death!) and as the Director of Music at Morley College. Holst composed in a variety of genres and drew inspiration from a wide range of sources such as English folk-song, the Apocrypha, Sanskrit literatures and works from writers such as John Keats and Walt Whitman.
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
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Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Berlin Philharmonic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwNwG1V2KF8
Did you know?
Due to his teaching commitments, Holst composed only on weekends, school holidays and in the summer.
Igor Stravinsky Life: 1882-1971Nationality: RussianPiece to Study: Finale from The Firebird
Biography
About Finale from The Firebird
Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes took Parisian audiences by storm with its début season in 1909. For the next year’s production, Diaghilev envisioned a lavishly mounted new ballet, its plot adapted from Russian fairy tales. Diaghilev offered the virtually unknown, 27-year-old Stravinsky a tentative commission for The Firebird. The première on June 25, 1910 achieved a glittering triumph, launching him into the front rank of contemporary composers. Stravinsky arranged three orchestral suites from the full score of The Firebird.
Igor Stravinsky was raised in St. Petersburg by his father, a bass singer, and his mother, a talented pianist. Encouraged to follow another career path, Stravinsky enrolled in law school and began taking private com-position lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov. Stravinsky ultimately decided to pursue a career as a composer. In 1909, Stravinsky was introduced to Sergi Diaghilev, the founder of Ballet Russes, who invited him to orchestrate some piano works by Chopin for the ballet Les Sylphides. His early commissions of the ballets The Firebird (1910), Petrouchka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913) established his place as a leading composer of the early twentieth century. Stravinsky employed many harmonic effects such as dissonance and multiple tonalities, along with innovative uses of rhythmic motifs with changing meters and shifts in accents. Stravinsky has a large body of work with than 100 compo-sitions including symphonies, operas, concertos, sonatas and ballets.
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
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Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WsqK1mCGeY
Reconstruction of the choreography and design from the world premiere of The Firebird. Showen at Salzburg’s Whitson Festival in
2013 by Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Listen For:• The melody introduced by the solo horn after the climax - listen as the melody is taken on by instruments throughout the orchestra.• Listen and feel for the syncopations and accents which help create an atmosphere of excitement and uncertainty.
John Williams
Biography
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
About Theme from Jurassic ParkJurassic Park is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. The film tells the story of a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists who create a wildlife park full of cloned dinosaurs. This film was the 12th project that John Williams worked on with Steven Spielberg. A box office hit with ground-breaking special effects, Jurassic Park grossed over $900 million worldwide in its original run. Theme from Jurassic Park is a majestic, contemplative piece. There are two main recurring themes which help convey the sense of awe and wonder. The main melody is based largely on a simple three-note motive. The relatively slow tempo paired with the use of dotted rhythms helps create a sense of magnificence and wonder.
John Williams is one of the most successful composers of music for both film and the concert stage of the modern day. Raised in New York City, he moved with his family to Los Angeles to attend UCLA and study composition privately with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Williams later moved back to New York City to attend the Julliard School. While in New York, he worked as a jazz pianist and a studio musician before ul-timately starting to compose for television and film. He’s created some of the most unforgettable film scores of all time including Jaws, ET, Star Wars, Superman, Jurassic Park, the first three Harry Potter Films, and Indiana Jones.
He has received five Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, seven BAF-TAs and 21 Grammys. From 1980 to 1993, Williams served as conductor
of the Boston Pops Orchestra and now holds the title of Laureate Conductor. In addition to film scores, Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concer-tos commissioned by several of the world’s leading orchestras.
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Life: Born 1932Nationality: AmericanPiece to Study: Theme from Jurassic Park
Did you know?
John Williams doesn’t own a computer and composes using pencil and paper!
Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Boston Pops Orchestrahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZh88vz8b8
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Biography
Composer Biographies and Programme Notes
About Thunder and Lightning PolkaA fast polka in 2/4 time, this piece was written in 1868 for Jo-hann Strauss Orchestra’s European tour. It is a variant of the tradi-tional polka dance called the schnell (fast) polka and is sometimes referred to as explosion polka. The structure of the piece is stan-dard dance form an ABA with a short coda. Strauss uses timpani rolls and cymbal crashes to depict the sound of thunder and light-ning. Unlike other musical depictions of thunderstorms, however, this piece is an upbeat and celebratory dance. This exciting, fast-
paced piece is a wonderful example of the way that music can paint pictures of the world around us.
One of the most famous and successful composers of Viennese dance music in the 19th century, Johann Strauss Jr. was known as “The Waltz King”. The Strauss family held the musical dynasty in Vienna and
while his composer father didn’t want him to go into music (he wanted him to be a banker!), Johann Jr. was determined to follow his passion. He was the big dance music star of his day (much like a pop star of today), and successfully developed popular dances like the waltz, polka, and quadrille to the point that they were just as commonly heard in the concert hall as they were on the dance floor. The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Woods, Die Fledermaus and The Gypsy Baron are just a few of his more than 250 works.
Life: 1825-1889Nationality: AustrianPiece to Study: Thunder and Lightning Polka
Did you know?
Johann Strauss, Jr. came from a very musical family? His father and younger brothers were also composers!
Watch & Listen on Youtube!
Vienna Philharmonichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15p4k88uvJI
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Unit Overview and Lesson Plans
Lesson Objectives a) To build an instrument, a Shoe Box Harp, to investigate the concepts of vibration, frequency, and pitch.b) To use the scientific method of inquiry to investigate and solve a problem.c) To perform using the instrument to showcase understanding of the concepts.
Possible Connec-tions to: “The
Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Science
& Technology”
Gr. 4 - Light and Sound2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 2.7, 3.5, 3.4, 3.5, 3.8
Concert Connections
Song 1 - Blow it up and Start Again - Jonathan NewmanThe piece highlights the unique capabilities of the string instruments. The Harp is a member of the String Family and has 47 strings that are plucked rather than bowed like most String Family instruments. (See pg. 21-23 for further information on the String Family)
Materials Handout (Lesson 1: Investigating Pitch and Vibration)Shoe Box, pencil, scissors, 6 rubber bands of the same type
Build Students will work in partners to read and comprehend the instructions before building their harps.Use: Lesson 1- PART 1: BUILD and PLAY IT!Teachers may find it useful to show the class the video: YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Iug6cMAq8
Minds On Students will work in partners to investigate the lesson’s question: How does the pitch change if we change the frequency of the elastic bands’ vibration? Use: Lesson 1- PART 2: Observing and analyzing the notes of our harp
Action Students will now take the knowledge they have learned throughout the investiga-tion and become composers and performers.Use: Lesson 1 PART 3- Creating music with frequency and pitch
To inspire the student composers, teachers may:a) Have students try to play a song they have heard many times before like Mary had a little Lamb. This requires three notes on their harps.b) Show a classical harp being played (YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlpeUsFdsY c) Encourage two groups to work together so that they can create more complex melodies with two harps working together.
Lesson 1 - Build, Learn and Make Music!
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Unit Overview and Lesson Plans
Investigating Pitch and Vibration
Main Ideas for this investigation
Vibration: • Describes the movement of the elastic band moving back and forth• Faster vibrations have a faster frequency of moving back and forth• Slower vibrations have a slower frequency of moving back and forth
Frequency: • The number of back and forth movements every second• How slowly or quickly the elastic band vibrates back and forth
Pitch: • Created by the frequency of the back and forth motion of the elastic band • Makes a sound heard as a high note or a low note in our ear
Figure 1: Vibration
a) Pluck a string b) Watch it VIBRATE!
Figure 2: Frequency
a) High frequency b) Low frequency- String is moving back and forth quickly - String is moving back and forth more slowly - It becomes blurry to our eyes! - Our eyes can see it move!
Unit Overview and Lesson Plans
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Part 1: BUILD and PLAY IT!(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Iug6cMAq8)
Figure 1: Shoebox harp
Question: How does the pitch of the note change if we change the frequency of the elastic bands’ vibration?
Instructions: Answer the question of the investigation gradually by completing the question below. Read carefully and answer as you try.
Materials: Shoe box, pencil, scissors, 6 rubber bands of the same type, ruler.
Step 1: Building the body of the harp
a) Place your shoebox so that the longest side faces you and look at the top. Find the centre of the box, mark that spot and then use your pencil to punch a hole in the box. b) Draw a medium sized oval around that hole. Use your scissors to cut the hole out. Start at the hole you punched and follow the oval line you drew. Use Figure 1 to help.
Step 2: Place your ‘strings’ onto your harp
a) Stretch your 6 elastic bands around the box. Be careful! Elastic bands can snap if stretched too far and you will want to keep them away from your eyes.b) Adjust your strings by sliding the elastic bands so they are spaced evenly out across the hole. Use Figure 1 to help.
Step 3: Tuning your harp
a) On the far side of the hole, lift each elastic band and place the numbers 1-6 under each. You’ve now labeled your six strings. These will create the six notes of your harp!b) On the closest side of the harp, create the ‘bridge’ of your harp by sliding your pencil under the elastic bands. The tip should be at number 1 and the eraser at number 6.c) Now place the pencil on a diagonal by pushing the tip up so it is closest to the hole and sliding the eraser end away. Your harp should look similar to Figure 1.
Step 4: Play your harp by gently plucking the elastic bands!
Hint: The diagonal line of the bridge is IMPORTANT! Move the bridge until you have a variety of notes. Check with your teacher before moving to Part 2.
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Part 2: Observing and analyzing the notes of our harp
The QUESTION of this investigation is:How does the pitch of the note change if we change the frequency of the elastic bands’ vibration?
A: Observing and analyzing Vibration and Frequency
Vibration: describes the movement of the elastic band back and forth.Frequency: how slowly or quickly the elastic band vibrates back and forth.
1. Pluck each of the elastic bands one at a time. Observe, with your eyes, how quickly each band vibrates.
a) Which band moves the fastest? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
b) Which band moves the slowest? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
c) Compete two sentences below.
We observed that elastic band number _________ has the fastest vibration.
Therefore, we think that elastic band number __________ has the (highest/lowest) frequency.
B: Observing and analyzing Pitch & Musical Notes
Pitch: created by the frequency of the back and forth motion of the elastic band; how high or low a note sounds to our ear.
2. Pluck each of the elastic bands one at a time. Observe, with your ears, the different pitch of each band.
a) Which band has the highest pitch? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
b) Which band has the lowest pitch? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
c) Which band has the pitch that falls in the middle? 1 2 3 4 5 6
d) Compete the following two sentence below using your own words.
We observe that elastic band number __________has the lowest pitch.
Therefore, we think that elastic band number ________ creates the (highest/lowest) pitch for our instrument.
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C: Making conclusions
Instructions:Think carefully about what you’ve learned by analyzing the vibration, frequency and pitch of your harp in parts A and B above.
Now answer the question of this investigation: How does the pitch of the note change if we change the frequency of the elastic bands’ vibration?
3. Complete the sentences below to answer the question.
We know that... If the elastic band vibrates quickly then the pitch of the musical note is ___________________. (Describe the musical note)
We know that...If the elastic band vibrates slowly then the pitch of the musical note is ____________________. (Describe the musical note)
4. Create your own music by plucking your elastic bands in a pattern that creates a melody pleasing to your ear.
a) Compose your own music by recording the order of the notes you pluck. Use the number of each string to write out your composition.
b) Finally, perform your music by playing your composition to the class!
Part 3: Creating music with frequency and pitch
Lesson Objectives a) To build an understanding of biodiversity of ecosystems through comparison between the sounds of the symphony and ecosystems.b) To use sound and music to:- Review key terms of the ecosystem. (ex: individual, population, community) - Develop an understanding of foodchains, foodwebs, ecosystems and biodi-versity.- Showcase the impact of disease and humans on different ecosystems.c) To use the scientific method of inquiry to investigate and solve a problem.c) To develop students’ observation skills of listening and appreciating sound and music.
Possible Connections to: “The Ontario Cur-riculum Grades 1-8:
Science & Technology”
Gr. 4 Habitats & CommunitiesGr. 6 BiodiversityGr. 7 Interactions in the EnvironmentGr. 8 Systems in Action
Concert Connections
1. Julius Fucik’s Entrance of the Gladiators- Two different performances of the same piece creates a comparison to an ecosystem’s biodiversity.2. Igor Stravinsky’s Finale from The Firebird. - A melody played by the solo horn is picked up by each Family of the orches-tra. This example allows for a comparison of the impact of human interfer-ence through an ecosystem.
Materials 1. Handout (Lesson 2: The Symphony of Nature’s Ecosystems)2. Entrance of the Gladiators by Julius Fucika) Performed by the Teatro Massimo Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vo6Vbzpmob) Performed by only the Brass Family – BrassWorks Quintet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HINZMdisR943. Grassland Soundtrackc) YouTube: Sounds of the Grasslands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6rHzFVU19Q4. Finale of The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky as performed by Vienna Philhar-monic Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WsqK1mCGeY5. Recording Device (iPhone or iPad) if availableSee: Teacher’s Notes for further explanation and suggested answers.
Observe 1. Students will draw similarities between a musical system (an orchestra) and an ecosystem. Use: Handout- Part 1: Introducing the Systems2. Students will use an excerpt from the orchestral version of Fucik’s Entrance of the Gladiators, and then listen to the brass quintet version of the same piece to hear what occurs when a system is changed.Use: Handout- Part 2: Changing the System-Looking at Biodiversity-Part A3. Students will then listen to the nature sounds tracks and make different observations of abiotic, biotic, producers, consumers etc...Use: Handout- Part 2: Changing the System
Lesson 2 - The Symphony of Nature’s Ecosystems
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Minds On Students will then:a) Draw comparisons between the two versions of the same piece to intro-duce the concept of diversity.b) Make connections between diversity and biodiversity.Use: Handout- Part 2: Changing the System-Part Ac)Sort the observed sounds into levels of the food chain.d) Discuss the biodiversity of the forest ecosystem. Use: Handout- Part 2: Changing the System-Part Be) Think about the diversity of a farmer’s field and the impact of pesticides or herbicides on biodiversity.Use: Handout - Part 3: Changing the System- How do Humans impact an ecosystem?
ExtensionListen to the final two minutes of Stravinsky’s Finale from The Firebird as performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WsqK1mCGeYThe solo horn starts a melody and then it spreads throughout the orchestra. Discuss the following question:How is the movement of the melody through the orchestra similar to the impact of humans on ecosystems and their biodiversity?
Action Students can be challenged to create their own Nature’s Symphony by:a) Using their voices to create a biodiverse ecosystem of their choice.b) Using recording devices to record sounds from their community.c) Use pre-recorded sound effects to make a biodiverse ecosystem.
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The Symphony of Nature’s Ecosystems
Part 1: Introducing the Systems
a) Focus on SYMPHONY
The origin of the word symphony is ‘syn-’ meaning together and ‘-phone’ – mean-ing voice or sound. A symphony is a large orchestra where sounds come together.
The symphony is made up of individual instruments (refer to pg. 21-29 for more information) played by talented musicians. Similarly designed instruments make up the orchestra’s different Families of instruments. The families working together to create a whole can also be described as a musical system.
b) Focus on ECO-SYSTEM The word ecosystem derives from the Greek oikos, meaning “home,” and systema, or “system.”An ecosystem can be defined as: different populations living together and interacting with the abiotic factors of the environment.
c) Focus on comparing the SYSTEMS
If we compare the two systems - they both have many parts working together to create a whole.
Levels of Organization A Symphony An Ecosystem
1 - One An instrument (ex. trumpet) An individual (ex. a deer)
2 - A group of An Instrument FamilyA group of similarly designed instruments (ex. The Brass Family)
A population A group of similar individuals (ex. A herd of deer)
3- A group of groups existing together
The SYMPHONY(ex. brass family, strings fam-ily, woodwind family etc...)
A forest community (ex. deers, wolves, trees, etc...)
4- Groups living together with other impacting factors
The SYMPHONY with its conductor
The Community affected by abiotic factors = ECO-SYSTEM
Table 1: CREATING A COMMUNITY
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Part 2: Changing the System - Looking at biodiversity
Diversity: a descriptor word suggesting a great deal of variety
A) SYMPHONY DIVERSITYObserve the complex sounds of a musical system by listening to a short excerpt of Julius Fucik’s Entrance of the Gladiators as performed by the Teatro Massimo Orchestra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vo6Vbzpmo
It may be familiar from the movie Madagascar 3 where the character Marty wears his rainbow afro wig! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ3A7P3k8mI
a) Describe the musical system you just listened to.
b) An orchestra is a diverse musical system. What did you hear to support this suggestion of diversity?
Make a prediction - What do you think will happen to the sound of this excerpt from Entrance of the Gladiators if one or more of the musical families are removed?
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Listen again - This time, Entrance of the Gladiators is performed by the BrassWorks-Quintet. It is a performance using only the Brass Family - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HINZMdisR94
Analyze and Discuss - Work with a partner and answer the following question. How were the two different performances of the Entrance of the Gladiators similar and different?
Think carefully - Create three connections between the diversity heard in the two musical system performances and the concept of biodiversity in an ecosystem
B) ECOSYSTEM BIODIVERSITYObserve the complex sounds of an ecological system by listening carefully to a 3 minute performance of a forest ecosystem. Carefully record what you hear in the chart below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgU9mvSiZg
Observation Table 1: The Sounds of the Grasslands
Abiotic Sounds
Biotic Sounds
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Discuss in small groups or partners. Record your answers in the space provided below.• Were there any parts of the food chain missing in the recording you heard?• Do you think the ecosystem could continue to function if all the levels (or parts of the system) were not present in the food chain? Why or why not?• How could you increase the biodiversity of the ecosystem you just listened to?Record your discussion ideas below:
Work with a partner to analyze your observations. First, talk with your partner and share your observations. Add to your Table 1 observations.
Analyze your sounds Beside each sound identified in Table 1 put the name of the thing that made it. ex: quack = duck
Continue your analysis by working with a partner to sort the biotic sounds into the differ-ent levels of a grassland food chain. Use Table 2 to help.
Table 2: Analyzing your ecosystem sound observations
Levels of the food chain Examples
Producers
Primary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
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Part 3: Changing the System – How do Humans impact an ecosystem?
Humans are often responsible for changes that occur in ecosystems. Sometimes the changes are made on purpose and sometimes by mistake.
One example is how we change ecosystems to grow our food. We change very biodiverse forests and grasslands into very simple ecosystems by clearing them to create fields for farming. We want the ecosystem to grow only what we dictate. For example: large crops of wheat, corn, soy or food for our animals like hay.
In small groups or partners, answer the following questions.Why do you think a farmer’s field of wheat is considered to be low biodiversity ecosystem?
In our need to grow as much food as possible - we further change the farmer’s field ecosystem by using pesticides or herbicides to kill things that threaten our crops.
Grasshoppers eat wheat. Farmer’s may spray pesticide to remove them from their fields. Look closely at Figure 2. If the grasshoppers were killed, what would hap-pen to the following (circle your answers):
dandelion clover wheat
Figure 2: A Possible Farmer’s field
i) Number of mice? increase or decreaseWHY?
ii) Amount of frogs and snakes? increase or decreaseWHY?
ii) Number of owls? increase or decrease WHY?
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Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
Teacher’s note: • The bridge (or pencil) creates the variation in the elastic bands’ tension (our manipulated variable).
• By pushing the tip of the pencil closest to the hole in the box, elastic band 1 is stretched most tightly over the harp’s hole. As a result, Band 6 is stretched the least tightly over the hole.
• The steeper the angle of the pencil, the more variation in the tension of the elastic bands’ stretch.
• Discuss with students the need pluck each band in the same style. This controls another variable, and the students are more likely to get similar and correct observation of their vibration and frequen-cy.
How does it work? Energy and Anatomy• The energy from the student’s pluck is eventually the same energy that our brain registers as sound. The student’s energy starts out as mechanical energy. When they pluck the elastic band, the energy is transferred into the kinetic energy in the movement or vibration of the elastic band.
• As the kinetic energy vibrates through the elastic band, a very small sound is created. This is because it only causes a small amount of air to vibrate.
• The rest of the kinetic energy is transferred to the bridge (pencil) and then to the cardboard of the box itself. The inside of the box acts as a sound chamber and amplifies the sound. The energy is now transferred into sound energy which travels as waves to our ear. Some of the sound waves reach our external ear where it is collected, and then focused as it travels down the ear canal to our ear drum (tympanic membrane).
• The ear drum now vibrates at the same frequency as the elastic band. The sound energy is now back in mechanical energy form.
• The eardrum vibrates the small bones of the middle ear, called the ossicles (hammer, anvil and stir-rup), which tap on the oval window of the inner ear’s cochlea. The inner ear is filled with fluid and holds the sensors that generate nerve impulses which travel through a nerve to the brain’s hearing centre. As the fluid moves against these sensors, they trigger an electric signal to our brains. Mechani-cal energy is transferred to electrical energy. • Our brain processes this electrical signals and interprets them as the sound or the pitch that was played.
Enrichment: Have students remove the bridge and note how the vibration, frequency and pitch of the strings change. Have them hypothesize about how the bridge does its job.
Part 1: BUILD and PLAY IT!
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A: Observing and analyzing Vibration and Frequency
Vibration: describes the movement of the elastic band back and forth.Frequency: how slowly or quickly the elastic band vibrates back and forth.
1. Pluck each of the elastic bands one at a time. Observe, with your eyes, how quickly each band vibrates.
a) Which band moves the fastest? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
b) Which band moves the slowest? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
c) Compete two sentences below.
We observed that elastic band number 1 or 2 has the fastest vibration.
Therefore, we think that elastic band number 1 or 2 has the (highest/lowest) frequency.
B: Observing and analyzing Pitch & Musical Notes
Pitch: created by the frequency of the back and forth motion of the elastic band; how high or low a note sounds to our ear
2. Pluck each of the elastic bands one at a time. Observe, with your ears, the different pitch of each band.
a) Which band has the highest pitch? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
b) Which band has the lowest pitch? (circle your answer) 1 2 3 4 5 6
c) Which band has the pitch that falls in the middle? 1 2 3 4 5 6
d) Compete the following two sentence below using your own words.
We observe that elastic band number 5 or 6 has the lowest pitch.
Therefore, we think that elastic band number 5 or 6 creates the (highest/lowest) pitch for our instrument.
Part 2: Observing and analyzing the notes of our harp
Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
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C: Making conclusions
3. Complete the sentences below to answer the question.
We know that... If the elastic band vibrates quickly then the pitch of the musical note is HIGH.
We know that...If the elastic band vibrates slowly then the pitch of the musical note is LOW or DEEP.
Part 3: Creating music with frequency and pitch
4. Create your own music by plucking your elastic bands in a pattern that creates a melody pleasing to your ear.
a) Compose your own music by recording the order of the notes you pluck. Use the number of each string to write out your composition.
b) Finally, perform your music by playing your composition to the class!
Teacher’s Note: An example of a composition could be Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb, her fleece was white as snow. 23 4 3 22 2, 33 3, 21 1, 23 4 3 22 2, 2 3 3 2 3 4
Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
The Symphony of Nature’s Ecosystems
Part 2: Changing the System - Looking at biodiversity
A) SYMPHONY DIVERSITYa) Describe the musical system you just listened to. Teacher’s Note: Some answers may include: rich sounding, complex, many different parts, fast, repetitive melody, circus-like, exciting.
b) An orchestra is a diverse musical system. What did you hear to support this suggestion of diversity? Teacher’s Note: Many instruments of different types or musical families were heard. A wide variety of sounds were heard.
Make a prediction - What do you think will happen to the sound of this excerpt from Entrance of the Gladiators if one or more of the musical families are removed? Teacher’s Note: Some answers may include: flat, limited, lacking in variety, boring, quiet, less exciting.
Analyze and Discuss - Work with a partner and answer the following question. How were the two different performances of the Entrance of the Gladiators similar and different? Teacher’s Note: Some answers may include: The performances sound similar because of the melody. The differences were the quintet performance was not as complex; more repetitive as different fami-lies did not enter to repeat the melody Although the system was less complex it still had different parts working together (5 different types of brass instruments) to create the whole.
Think carefully - Create three connections between the diversity heard in the two musical system performances and the concept of biodiversity in an ecosystem. Teacher’s Note: It may be helpful to review the definition of biodiversity with the students first. Definition of: biodiversity refers to the variety of life present in an ecosystem.
Some answers may include: 1. The performance by the orchestra is like a hugely biodiverse ecosystem with lots of variety within each level of the food chain. The organisms are connected in a large food web - Ex: A natural forest.2. The quintet performance is like a simple ecosystem that functions but lacks in variety; there would be limited variety in each level of the food chain and the food web would not be complex - Ex: farmer’s field.3. The more biodiverse the ecosystem the more complex the system will be. This is similar to how the complete orchestra’s performance sounded more complex .4. It would not likely be noticed if one member of the orchestra was ill, as there are enough musi-cians that one instruments voice would not be noticed in the performance. This is similar to a bio-diverse ecosystem where the loss of one population would not be enough to stop the ecosystem.However, if a member of the quintet was ill, only 4 players would remain. This would definitely cause the performance to suffer. Similarly, if one population is lost in an ecosystem lacking in diversity the whole system suffers.
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Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
B) ECOSYSTEM BIODIVERSITYObserve the complex sounds of an ecological system by listening carefully to a three minute performance of a forest ecosystem. Carefully record what you hear in the chart below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgU9mvSiZg
Observation Table 1: The Sounds of the Grasslands
Abiotic Sounds whooshing = wind or water fall
Biotic Sounds
whooshing = movement of leaves by windchirp = song birdsbuzzing or whining = mosquito or insect like a bee
Work with a partner to analyze your observations. First, talk with your partner and share your observations. Add to your Table 1 observations.
Analyze your sounds Beside each sound identified in Table 1 put the name of the thing that made it. ex: quack = duck
Continue your analysis by working with a partner to sort the biotic sounds into the different levels of a grassland food chain. Use Table 2 to help.
Table 2: Analyzing your ecosystem sound observations
Levels of the food chain Examples
Producers trees
Primary Consumerssong birdsbee because they eat the nectar of the flower
Secondary Consumersmosquitoes because they eat the blood of the primary consumer
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Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
Discuss in small groups or partners. Record your answers in the space provided below and on the next page. • Were there any parts of the food chain were missing in the recording you heard?• Do you think the ecosystem could continue to function IF all the levels (or parts of the system) were not present in the food chain? Why or why not?• How could you increase the biodiversity of the ecosystem you just listened to?
Record your discussion ideas below:Teacher’s Note - Some answers may include:• Students may not connect the whooshing sound to wind moving leaves. However, we cannot hear the wind unless it causes something to vibrate and create a frequency and sound wave that our ears and brain can interpret. So a good argument can be made that it is the leaves moving.• Unlike a musical system, an ecosystem cannot function without all levels of the biotic system present. The food chain represents this system. Any missing piece breaks the chain and it collapses. Ex: If the producers (ex: trees) were not present, the primary pro-ducers would starve and die off. This then causes the secondary consumers to starve and die. This pattern continues through each level of the system.• Increase the biodiversity by introducing a greater number of organisms at each level of the biotic system (or food chain). Many organisms may be present but could not be heard in the sound recording. Ex: Bushes, trees and grass for producers song birds, squirrels, deers and rabbits for primary consumers owls, fox and coyotes for secondary consumers• A greater variety of organisms at each level of the food chain creates a food web which is a more complex and adds diversity to the overall system.
Part 3: Changing the System - How do Humans impact an ecosystem?
In small groups or partners, answer the following questions.1. Why do you think a farmer’s field of wheat is considered to be low biodiversity ecosys-tem? Teacher’s Note: Diversity means variety. A field with only one type of producer present has very little variety. One type of producer (wheat) limits the primary consumers that are attracted to the farmer’s field. This causes another level of biodiversity to be reduced. The food web would be very simple and fragile. If the producer was not healthy, the rest of the web would suffer.
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In our need to grow as much food as possible - we further change the farmer’s field eco-system by using of pesticides or herbicides to kill things that threaten our crops.
b) Grasshoppers eat wheat. Farmer’s may spray pesticide to remove them from their fields. Look closely at Figure 2. If the grasshoppers were killed, what would happen to the (circle your answers):
i) Number of mice?
increase or decrease
Teacher’s Note: The mice would no longer have to share their food with the grasshopper so their population would increase due to more food present.
ii) Amount of frogs and snakes?
increase or decrease
Teacher’s Note: Frogs eat grasshoppers. Without them their food supply decreases and their population size decreases. Snakes eat frogs so if the frog population decreases so does the snake population.
iii) Number of owls? increase or decrease
Teacher’s Note: The change in the owl population size is hard to see. The owls will lack a food source due to the snake population decrease but they will have more food due to the increase in the mouse population. However, the mice populations will benefit from the lack of snakes. More mice again means more food for the owls.
Extension:Teacher’s Note: If the horn melody is made to represent the “human impact” then as the melody is repeated by each of the orchestra’s different families it suggests that human impact is felt throughout the system and across its diversity.
dandelion clover wheat
Figure 2: A Possible Farmer’s field
Lesson Plan Answer Keys for Teachers
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Biographies
Toronto Symphony Orchestra Formed in 1922, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) celebrates over nine decades of great music-making in the 2015/2016 season. Consisting of over 90 musicians, the TSO is one of the largest musical ensembles in Canada, and one of the top orchestras in the world. Led by TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian and other internationally renowned guest conductors, the TSO plays a broad range of music, performing with guest artists from all over the world. Besides performing many different concert series each year in Roy Thomson Hall, the TSO offers a variety of education programmes, which take place in schools as well as in the concert hall. Reaching over 60,000 young people annually, the TSO has one of the largest education programmes for a performing arts organization in all of North America.
In addition to Student Concerts (curriculum-based full orchestra concerts), other major programmes include the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and Young People’s Concerts (a family concert series featuring dancers, actors and story-telling in a symphonic setting).
Ontario Science Centre, concert partnerHeidi Breier, hostSean Lee Ying, hostDonna Francis, host and researcher
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The Ontario Science Centre delights, informs and challenges our communities, offering hands-on experiences and engagement with science of local, national and global relevance. The Science Centre has welcomed more than 50 million visitors since it opened in 1969, implementing an interactive approach adapted by science centres around the world. It is the public centre for innovative thinking and the prime venue for public dialogue about science, technology and society. The Ontario Science Centre is an agency of the Government of Ontario funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. As a publicly assisted organization, the Science Centre relies on generous individuals, corporations and foundations who share a commitment to science and education for additional operating support. For more information about the Ontario Science Centre, please visit www.OntarioScienceCentre.ca.
Biographies
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Evan Mitchell, conductor
Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most inno-vative and sought-after young conductors. Having recently finished hugely successful residencies as Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orches-tras, Mr. Mitchell has assumed the post of Music Director with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. He has garnered significant critical success as well as consistent praise for his approach, execution and musical results.
During his residencies, Mr. Mitchell conducted over 200 concerts, acted as a Canadian ambassador during an historic two week tour of China, Korea and Macau, and served as an official consultant to the Vancouver Olympic Committee and Assistant Producer for the recording of the medal ceremony national anthems. Over the course of his career, Mr. Mitchell
has brought the magic of orchestral music to over three hundred and fifty thousand students and children, many of whom experienced this incredible music for the very first time.
In addition to his musical achievements, Mr. Mitchell has been profiled extensively for his com-mitment to concert initiatives. He has been personally responsible for the writing, recording and production of behind-the-scenes concert video series, podcasts aimed at the layperson, and visual enhancements during concerts in order to give a richer, more informed experience to concert-goers. His videos have been widely featured abroad for both publicity and educational purposes, and his initiative using smartphones as a “silent tour guide” during live concerts in real-time was hailed as the best technological innovation in the symphony concert hall of 2014 by the CBC.
Recent career highlights include Principal Conductorship of the World Harp Congress in which Mr. Mitchell conducted eight harp concerti with some of the world’s best harpists. He has also conducted a hugely successful gala concert with violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn, owner of the Mendelssohn Stradi-varius “Red Violin”. After this concert, Mr. Mitchell was offered Music Directorship of the Prince George Symphony. His first season with the Kingston Symphony as Music Director was met with consistently sold-out houses and universally positive critical reviews.
Mr. Mitchell made his conducting debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the 2011/2012 season after a last-minute cancellation and has subsequently been re-engaged by the Toronto Symphony for several concert series.
Biographies
Amir Safavi, violinViolinist Amir Safavi has performed across North America as a soloist and chamber musician. Amir has received numerous honours and awards including Columbia University’s Richard and Brooke Kamin Rapaport Fellowship, the Robert E. Dolan Prize which facilitated private studies with faculty of the Juil-liard School, and the Royal Conservatory of Music’s ARCT Gold Medal.
Amir has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Guelph Symphony, Cathedral Bluffs Symphony, Scarborough Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hart House, Toronto Sin-
fonietta, Columbia University Bach Society and Koffler Chamber Orchestra and has given solo per-formances at venues including Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall), Bruno Walter Auditorium (Lincoln Center), Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, and Koerner Hall.
A passionate chamber musician, Amir has performed with Menahem Pressler, the Vienna Piano Trio and the Daedalus Quartet and was a fellow of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Amir’s collabora-tive performances have been praised as “an extraordinary demonstration of cross-generational togeth-erness” (National Post) and for “combining superb musicianship with great camaraderie” (Columbia Spectator). Amir has coached with members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets.
As concertmaster, Amir has led the Columbia University Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Youth Orches-tra, and the Academy Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with conductors and soloists such as Stéphane Denève, Jaime Laredo, André Watts and Shalom Bard, and was praised for his “refined play-ing” (New York Times) as a principal player in the New York String Orchestra. In 2016, Amir will serve as guest concertmaster of Orchestra Toronto.
A graduate of Columbia University and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Amir has studied with Vic-tor Danchenko, Paul Kantor, Daniel Phillips, Catherine Cho and Jacques Israelievitch. Additionally, he has worked with Pinchas Zukerman and Mauricio Fuks through studies at the NAC Young Artists Program and the Toronto Summer Music Academy. Presently, Amir is a graduate student at the Insti-tute of Medical Science (University of Toronto) where he conducts sarcoma research.
Amir is performing this concert on a 1782 Guadagnini on kind and generous loan from Gabrielle Israelievitch.
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Musical Terms Glossary
A cappella: music sung without instrumental accompaniment. In Italian, a cappella means “in the style of the chapel.”
Accented Beats: these are the beats in a rhythm pattern that are stronger because they are emphasized or stressed. Accented notes are indicated using a “>” symbol which goes above or below the note to indicate that that note should be stressed or accented.
Amplify: to make a sound stronger or louder. The hollow body of an instrument amplifies its sound.
Arco: to play a stringed instrument using a bow.
Bar: another name for a measure
Bar line: a vertical line on a musical staff that divides the beats into small groups or bars.
Baton: a small stick used by the conductor to beat time. A stick helps to make the motion more easily visible to the members of the orchestra.
Beat: a beat is a regular pulsation. It is a basic unit of length in musical time.
Clef: a sign at the beginning of the staff to fix the position of one note. The most common are the treble and bass clefs.
Chord: a series of notes, usually three or more, that are sung or played together to create harmony.
Col legno: Italian for “hit with the wood”, this is a bowing technique where players strike the string with the stick of the bow, rather than by drawing the hair of the bow across the strings.
Composer: a person who writes music.
Concertmaster: the leader of the first violin section who tunes the orchestra and works closely with the conductor.
Conductor: leader of the orchestra who makes decisions about how the music will be played with respect to tempo and dynamics, and keeps the musicians together during a performance.
Crescendo: gradually increasing in loudness.
Decrescendo: gradually decreasing in loudness
Double-stop: a technique on string instruments in which two notes are played simulaneously. Triple stops and quadruple stops can also be played, in which three and four (respectively) notes are played simultaneously.
Dynamics: the intensity, or loudness and softness, of music.
Embouchure: the way the mouth is held to play a woodwind or brass instrument.
Fingerboard: the strips of wood on a stringed instrument’s neck over which the strings are stretched and fingered to change the pitch.
Harmony: the sound created when two or more notes are played at the same time.
Improvise: to make up music as you go, without using scores or musical notation that is written down. Many jazz musicians incorporate improvisation into their performance.
Legato: notes played smoothly and in a connected manner, without any noticeable break or articulation between them.
Lietmotif: a phrase or melodic cell that signifies a character, place, plot element, mood, idea, relationship or other specific part of an opera of symphonic work.
Measure: the notes and rests between two bar lines.
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Musical Terms Glossary
Melody: a sequence of musical notes that make up a tune.
Movement: a section of music which contains certain musical ideas, much like a chapter in a book.
Notes: representation of musical tones using written symbols.
Octave: the distance between one tone of a scale and the next higher or lower tone of the same pitch; for example, middle C and C above middle C are an octave apart.
Pitch: the highness or lowness of a sound.
Pizzicato: to play a stringed instrument by plucking the strings with the fingers.
Pluck: to pull up or down on a string with your finger, thumb or a pick.
Podium: the raised platform in front of the orchestra on which the conductor stands.
Reed: a thin piece of cane or other material, attached to an instrument at one end and free to vibrate at the other. Found on oboes, clarinets, saxophones and bassoons.
Resonator: the part of an instrument, usually the body, that amplifies the sound caused by vibrating strings or air column.
Rests: a pause or interval of silence between two tones.
Rhythm: patterns of sound and silence in a piece of music.
Scale: music arranged in ascending or descending pitches. The C major scale consists of the notes c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c.
Score: music in written form with all the parts set down in relation to each other.
Sound Wave: when something vibrates, or moves quickly back and forth, it causes molecules in the air to move, creating sounds that move in waves in your ear.
Spiccato: a bowing technique that uses a semi-off-the-string style to produce a light “bouncing” sound. Watching the musicians it looks like the bow is bouncing up off the string the second it makes contact. Spiccato is usually performed at the balance portion of the bow. The balance portion of the bow refers to the area of the bow where weight is distributed evenly on both sides, allowing for maximum control.
Staff: five parallel horizontal lines, on which notes are written in the spaces, on the lines, or above and below the staff using ledger lines.
Strum: to play long strokes across all the strings of a string instrument, one after another very quickly using your thumb, fingers or a pick.
Symphony Orchestra: a large group of musicians, led by a conductor, who perform together on string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
Tempo: the speed at which a piece of music is played.
Time Signature: appears at the beginning of the staff. The lower figure shows the kind of notes taken as the unit of measure, while the upper figure shows the number of these notes that can fit in a measure.
Tone: the tone is the quality of musical sound, such as rich, mellow, harsh, brilliant, etc.
Tremolo: a rapidly repeated note.
Unison: two or more instruments sounding the same note.
Valves: the mechanisms on some brass instruments that make it possible for the musician to change pitches and play all the notes of the scale.
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Violin ViolaViolin The String Family
1) The violin is the smallest member of the string family and has the highest voice.
2) Like all stringed instruments, the violin has 4 strings and is played with a bow.
3) Usually plays the melody in orchestral pieces.
4) There are more violins in the orchestra than any other instrument.
Viola The String Family
1) The viola looks like a violin but slightly larger and has a lower, darker sound.
2) Violas sometimes play the melody, but also play the inner voices.
3) Stringed instruments — including the viola — are usually played with a bow. A bow is a slightly curved piece of wood, which is strung with either horsehair or synthetic materials. Most professional musicians will have bows made of horsehair.
4) Rosin is rubbed on the horsehair to help it vibrate and produce sound; rosin is the sticky gum or sap from a pine tree.
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Instruments in the Orchestra
Cello The String Family
1) The cello is like a very large violin which must be held between the musician’s knees while it is being played, instead of being held under the chin. A metal end peg protrudes from the bottom of the instrument’s body, sticking into the floor to help keep the instrument steady.
2) Spelled “cello” but pronounced “chello”.
3) The cello often plays the bass line but can also play beautiful solos.
4) The most famous cellist in the world is Yo-Yo Ma.
Double Bass The String Family
1) The double bass is the largest and lowest voice of all stringed instruments.
2) This instrument is so big that a player must stand or sit on a high stool in order to play it.
3) Like the cello, the double bass also has a metal spike (or end pin) at the bottom, which allows it to rest on the floor.
4) This instrument is often heard in jazz groups. When playing jazz, the bassist does not use a bow but plucks the strings with his/her fingers.
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HarpThe String Family
1) The harp is one of the oldest of all instruments, dating back to prehistoric times, however, it has only been used in the symphony orchestra for about 175 years.
2) The concert harp stands about two metres tall and covers a range of over 6 ½ octaves.
3) The harp has 47 strings and seven foot pedals. It is played by strumming or plucking the strings with both hands, and by pressing the pedals with your feet. The pedals are used to add accidentals (sharps and flats) so that the harp can play in different keys.
4) The harp is usually considered part of the String Family because the strings create the sound. However, it is very different from all other stringed instruments and isn’t played with a bow, so it can be classified in a separate category all on its own.
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Flute The Woodwind Family
1) AThe flute is a high-pitched silver woodwind instrument that is held sideways and to the right of the musician’s mouth.
2) The musician blows across a hole in the flute, called the embouchure hole, which is similar to blowing across the top of a pop bottle.
3) The musician presses keys to open and close the holes in the instrument, which change the pitch.
4) The flute’s baby sister is the piccolo. It is 30.5 cm long (half the size of a flute) and the highest-pitched of all instruments.
Oboe The Woodwind Family
1) The oboe is the first instrument you hear at an orchestral concert. It plays a single note (an “A”), and all other instruments tune their instruments to the oboe’s pitch.
2) The musician blows through two pieces of paper-thin cane, called a double reed, which is attached to the body of the instrument. The vibration of the double reed helps to create the sound.
3) Double reed instruments require a lot of extra work since the musicians must carve their own reeds with a sharp knife. Reeds break or wear out, so this is a constant process.
4) The English horn is related to the oboe, but is slightly larger, uses a slightly bigger reed, and has a deeper sound.
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Clarinet The Woodwind Family
1) The clarinet is a single reed instrument; oboes and bassoons have double reeds. The reed is attached to the mouthpiece.
2) Clarinets are made of wood or molded plastic, and have a smooth, mellow tone.
3) Clarinets are frequently used in jazz ensembles and marching bands, as well as orchestras.
4) The saxophone is a close relative of the clarinet because it also uses a single reed, even though it’s made of brass and looks quite different.
Bassoon The Woodwind Family
1) The bassoon is a woodwind instrument that uses a double reed (like the oboe). The musician blows through two pieces of cane, which are attached to the body of the instrument.
2)Reed instruments require a lot of extra work since the musicians must carve their own reeds with a sharp knife. Reeds break or wear out, so this is a constant process.
3) The bassoon is the largest woodwind instrument except for the contrabassoon, which has the lowest voice in the orchestra. If you laid the different sections end to end, the bassoon would be 2 ½ metres long and the contrabassoon would be 5 metres long!
4) Most woodwind instruments don’t require much use of the thumb, however, the bassoon is unique in that it has 13 keys which are only played by the thumb.
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French Horn The Brass Family
1) The very first horns were made from the horns of animals and were used to send signals to people beyond calling distance.
2)The hunting horn is the French horn’s ancestor and was designed so that the tubing wrapped around in a circle, making it easier to carry over the hunter’s shoulder.
3) Valves were added to the instrument in the 1800s, allowing many more notes to be played.
4) The musician uses the left hand to press the valves, and inserts the right hand into the bell of the instrument to modify the sound.
TrumpetThe Brass Family
1) Thetrumpet is the highest pitched member of the brass family.
2)Three valves were added to the instrument in the 1800s, creating a wider range of available notes.
3) As with all brass instruments, the trumpeter produces sound by buzzing his/her lips against the mouthpiece, which is inserted into the instrument. The musician changes the pressure and shape of his/her lips to change the sound and pitch.
4) The trumpet is frequently used in the performance of jazz music.
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TromboneThe Brass Family
1) The trombone was invented in the 1400s and formerly called a “sackbut.”
2) This instrument was first heard in orchestral repertoire when Beethoven wrote a part for it in the finale of his Fifth Symphony, in 1808.
3) Unlike the trumpet, French horn and tuba, which all have valves, the trombone uses a slide to change notes or pitches.
4) When brass players blow into their instruments, their warm breathe condenses, forming drops of water inside the instrument. This creates an unclear sound, so the musician must remove the water, either by taking the instrument apart, or by draining the condensation using a special water key or “spit valve”. The water is not spit, but condensation from the player’s breath.
TubaThe Brass Family
1) The tuba is the biggest and lowest pitched instrument of the brass family.
2) Invented by a bandmaster in 1835, the tuba is the youngest member of the brass family!
3) If you stretched the tuba out into one long piece, it would measure about 5 ½ metres.
4) Related to the euphonium (a smaller, high-pitched tuba) and the sousaphone (an instrument invented by John Philip Sousa, and used a lot in marching bands).
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TimpaniThe Percussion Family
1) The timpani are sometimes called “kettledrums”. These large, pitched drums are used frequently in orchestral music.
2) Looks like a large copper bowl with a skin or sheet of high-quality plastic stretched tightly across the top.
3) The pitch of each timpani depends on the size of the bowl, as well as the tension of the drum head; the tighter the skin, the higher the note.
4) Timpani are tuned with a foot pedal and can cover a range of about two octaves.
Xylophone The Percussion Family
1) The xylophone is a pitched percussion instrument consisting of tuned wooden bars mounted on a frame and struck with hard mallets.
2) The shorter the wooden bar, the higher the pitch; the longer the bar, the lower the pitch.
3) The xylophone produces a bright “wooden” and dry sound, without lasting resonance.
4) Nobody knows where the xylophone originated, but similar instruments were known in West Africa and Indonesia, dating back to the 1300s.
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Cymbals & Triangle The Percussion Family
Cymbals1) Cymbals are two slightly curved brass plates, which are held with leather straps. When hit together they produce a resounding ring.
2) A single cymbal can also be suspended from a stand and tapped with a drumstick or brushed with a wire brush.
Triangle1) A triangle is a piece of metal shaped like a triangle and struck with a metal beater. It produces a shimmering, tinkling sound.
2) The cymbals and triangle are unpitched instruments, which means they cannot produce specific notes or tones.
Bass & Snare DrumThe Percussion Family
Bass Drum1) The bass drum is the largest drum in the orchestra and has a low, deep sound.
2) Both the snare and bass drums were originally used in the military before they became members of the orchestra’s percussion section.
Snare Drum1) The snare drum has a metal or wood frame with a drumhead on each end, and strings of wire or gut stretched across the bottom head.
2) The drum is played with two wooden sticks. The snares are loosened for softer notes and tightened for a crisper or sharper tone.
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TSO Musicians
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STRINGS
VIOLINSJonathan Crow, CONCERTMASTERMark Skazinetsky, ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTERMarc-André Savoie, ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTEREtsuko Kimura, ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTERPaul Meyer, PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLINSWendy Rose, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLINSEri Kosaka ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLINSIvan AlexanderAtis BankasSydney ChunCarol Lynn FujinoAmanda GoodburnTerry HolowachBridget HuntAmalia Joanou-CanzoneriMi Hyon KimShane KimLeslie Dawn KnowlesSergei NikonovHyung-Sun PaikYoung-Dae ParkSemyon PertsovskyPeter SeminovsJennifer ThompsonAngelique ToewsJames WallenbergVirginia Chen WellsArkady Yanivker
VIOLASTeng Li, PRINCIPALEric Nowlin, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
Theresa Rudolph ASSISTANT PRINCIPALDaniel BlackmanGary LabovitzDiane LeungCharmain LouisMary Carol NugentChristopher RedfieldKent Teeple
CELLOSJoseph Johnson, PRINCIPALEmmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALWinona Zelenka, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALIgor GefterMarie GélinasRoberta JanzenBritton RileyKirk Worthington
DOUBLE BASSESJeffrey Beecher, PRINCIPALKristen Bruya, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALTheodore ChanTimothy DawsonCharles ElliottDavid LongeneckerPaul Rogers
WOODWINDS
FLUTESNora Shulman, PRINCIPALJulie Ranti, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALLeonie WallCamille Watts
PICCOLOCamille Watts
OBOESSarah Jeffrey, PRINCIPALKeith Atkinson, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALCary EbliSarah Lewis
ENGLISH HORNCary Ebli
CLARINETSJoaquin Valdepeñas, PRINCIPALYaoGuang Zhai, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALJoseph Orlowski
E FLAT CLARINETYaoGuang Zhai
BASS CLARINETAmy Zoloto
BASSOONSMichael Sweeney, PRINCIPALCatherine Chen, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALSamuel BanksFraser Jackson
CONTRABASSOONFraser Jackson
BRASS
HORNSNeil Deland, PRINCIPALChristopher Gongos, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALRichard CohenAudrey GoodGabriel Radford
TRUMPETSAndrew McCandless, PRINCIPAL
Steven Woomert, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPALJames GardinerJames Spragg
TROMBONESGordon Wolfe, PRINCIPALVanessa Fralick ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
BASS TROMBONEJeffrey Hall
TUBAMark Tetreault, PRINCIPAL
PERCUSSION
TIMPANIDavid Kent, PRINCIPALGeorgi Videnov ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
PERCUSSIONJohn Rudolph, PRINCIPALPatricia KruegerGeorgi Videnov
KEYBOARDPatricia Krueger, PRINCIPAL
HARPHeidi Van Hoesen Gorton, PRINCIPAL
LIBRARIANSGary Corrin, PRINCIPALKim Gilmore
PERSONNELDavid Kent, PERSONNELMANAGER
CONCERT PREPARATION
The Concert ExperienceAttending a Student Concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is an exciting experience for students of all grade levels. For some students this is their first experience listening to and seeing an orchestra. In order for students to benefit from the concert, teachers should use this guide to prepare for this special event. When students arrive knowing what to look and listen for, they become a receptive audience and the trip will be an important learning experience.
Entering the Hall• Concerts begin promptly at the scheduled start time. It is recommended that your group arrive at
the auditorium at least 20 minutes before the start of the concert to allow sufficient time for seating, washroom visits, etc. Groups arriving late must wait for a suitable break in the performance before being admitted into the hall.
• Food, drinks and gum are not allowed in the hall.• Please have your group turn off all cell phones when entering the hall.• The use of cameras, video cameras or recording devices is strictly prohibited.• Please remind your students that a restroom break should only be taken during the concert if
it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. People coming and going from the auditorium disrupts the performance for the rest of the audience. Students should be encouraged to visit the restroom prior to the start of the concert.
Seating Arrangements• Ushers will meet your school group at the door and escort you to your seats. • Students are to remain seated with their feet on the floor during the entire performance.• Chaperones should be dispersed throughout the group and should actively supervise students
during the performance. It is suggested that there be one chaperone for every 20 students at the Intermediate/Senior level.
Concert Details• The concert is one hour long.• To signal the beginning of the concert, the lights will dim. The concertmaster will appear onstage
and will signal the oboe player to sound an “A” so the orchestra can tune. The conductor then appears onstage.
• Applause is the only appropriate and recognized form of appreciation. Watch the conductor for an indication of when to applaud.
• At the end of the concert the conductor leaves the stage followed by the musicians. • Students should wait for their teachers to indicate that they are ready to leave the auditorium.
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Student Concert Evaluation Form (Student) Date you attended: __________________________________________
Name of school (optional): __________________________________________
1. What was your favourite part of the concert and why?
2. What was your least favourite part of the concert and why?
3. Describe how you felt during one of the pieces on the programme. Why do you think you felt that way?
4. Was there anything that surprised you during the concert?
5. If you were given the task of putting together a concert for the TSO, what two pieces would you recommend and why?
Other comments ...
PLEASE RETURN TO: STUDENT CONCERTS(mail, or email) TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 212 King Street West, 6th Floor Toronto, M5H 1K5 EMAIL: [email protected]
Student Concerts
Student Concert Evaluation Form (Teacher)
Date you attended: __________________________________________
Name of school (optional): __________________________________________
1. Please circle the appropriate rating:
Audience Response Excellent Very Good Good Fair PoorEducational Value Excellent Very Good Good Fair PoorConductor’s Rapport with the Students Excellent Very Good Good Fair PoorTeachers’ Study Guide Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
2. Was this the first time you brought a group to the TSO Student Concerts ? Yes NoIf not, how long have you been bringing students to the TSO Student Concerts ?
3. What did your students like most?
4. Did you use the Teachers’ Study Guide? Yes No If so, which section did you find most useful?
5. Did you use the podcast? Yes No If so, did you find it useful?
6. Is there anything you’d like to share with the generous donors who support the TSO Student Concerts?
Other comments ...
PLEASE RETURN TO: STUDENT CONCERTS(mail, or email) TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 212 King Street West, 6th Floor Toronto, M5H 1K5 EMAIL: [email protected]
Student Concerts