Music Notes: End of November 2013

Music Notes

End of November 2013

  

Greetings from the Lannoye music room!

We are currently deep in our winter concert preparations here in the music room. As a reminder, our winter concert will be held on Monday, December 16, with performances at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. All grades, K-5, will be performing. I will send out a reminder email to all parents closer to the event.

Speaking of performances, I would like to congratulate the 5th graders on their spectacular performance in the first-ever district-wide Kaleidoscope Concert last Thursday, November 14! They were excellent performers and audience members, and judging from the reflection surveys I received, they enjoyed it a lot! I was very proud of them for all of the work they put into the concert. Thank you, 5^th grade parents, for bringing them to the dress rehearsal and the concert. We all appreciate it!

December is a time of plenty of performances. Whenever your child goes to any concert (band, choir, etc.) outside of the school day, if s/he brings back a program with a sentence written on it stating one thing s/he liked about the concert and why, s/he will receive a DRUM card. I encourage everyone to explore the musical performances in the area. Here’s a list of upcoming concerts in Pulaski that may interest your family:

            Tuesday, December 10           6:30 – 8:30 pm            PCMS Choir Concert/Bake Sale
                                                                                                PCMS Auditorium

            Saturday, December 14          7 – 8:30 pm                 PHS Sounds of the Season Concert
                                                                                                Peace Lutheran Church

            Tuesday, December 17           7 – 8:30 pm                 PHS Band and Choir Winter Concert
                                                                                                PHS Ripley PAC

            Thursday, December 19          6:30 – 7:30 pm            Community Band Christmas Collage
                                                                                                PHS Ripley PAC

Again, attending these concerts is not required, but it is a great way to explore the musical happenings in the community (and a way for your child to earn a DRUM card). J

In other recent news, the 4^th and 5^th graders attended a Civic Symphony of Green Bay concert last Friday, November 15. I was very pleased by how attentive they were and by the excitement on their faces as they got to see and hear the instruments in full ensemble action! They had a great time, and it was a wonderful way to culminate our instrument unit.

The 3^rd graders are gaining multicultural experience in music class. One of their songs for the winter concert is a traditional Russian Christmas song. The students learned about the years that Christmas was outlawed, and how the Russian people found a loophole to sing this song. (Ask your 3^rd grader what s/he learned about Russia and the USSR! If a memory trigger is necessary, their Russian history lesson is posted on the music blog.)

Kindergarten, 1^st grade, and 2^nd grade have all been continuing to reinforce topics that we learned about in October while learning our winter music. Notably, the 1^st graders have now learned the proper names for ta (quarter note), ti-ti (two eighth notes), and rest (quarter rest), and can even draw them! (Ask your 1^st grader why dogs and puppies are important to remember…)

Throughout our adventure of concert preparations thus far, I’ve been warmed by your children’s love for music and singing. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on December 16 for our winter concert!

As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Also, please check out the blog! I updated the template so you can sign up for email updates along the right side of the home page.

Ms. Corinne Galligan
(920) 822-0433
cmgalligan@pulaskischools.org
lannoyemusic.blogspot.com

Kaleidoscope Concert

Congratulations to the 5th graders who performed in the Kaleidoscope concert tonight! Everyone did a fantastic job, and you made us all proud.

"Music Alone Shall Live" (music starts at 0:52)

"An American Celebration" (music starts at 2:00)

I got pretty excited when I heard that the high school percussionists were going to do a small feature using rhythms from Riverdance. Fun fact: I, Ms. Galligan, was an Irish dancer for 6 years throughout middle school and high school.

Here's the dance where they got the rhythm:

Another fun fact: Michael Flatley (the solo dancer in the video) toured with Riverdance for a short time before creating his own show, Lord of the Dance. His legs are insured for $40,000,000. Yes, that is the right number of zeros. By the way, he also plays the flute!

3rd Grade: "Yolochka"

The 3rd graders are learning a Russian Christmas song, "Yolochka," for the winter concert.

A Russian cartoon, Masha and the Bear, using the song "Yolochka"

There's another cartoon at the end of this post that shows the story of the tree as the song is sung.

The song is about the life of a Christmas tree (or fir tree) growing in a forest.

Photo courtesy of High Country Christmas Trees

This song has an interesting history behind it. It was first published in Russia in 1903. Russia is a country in the continent of Asia, and it's really big!

Image from mapsofworld.com 

Russia is the largest country in the world - it's almost twice the size of the United States. The map below shows an outline of Russia placed over the United States so you can compare the sizes of the two countries. 

Image from mapfrappe.blogspot.com

In 1917, a civil war started in Russia. It ended in 1922, but with a new government in place, and with larger borders. Russia combined with some other countries to form the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). 

The new government was very strict, and they had harsh punishments for people who did not follow their laws. People were no longer allowed to celebrate Christmas! Instead, the people of the USSR moved a bunch of their Christmas traditions (like decorating a fir tree and exchanging gifts) to New Year's, which they were allowed to celebrate. Since "Yolochka" is about a tree, they were still allowed to sing that song. 

The USSR dissolved (broke apart) in 1991, and now the people can celebrate Christmas again. New Year's is still a big holiday, though, after celebrating it as such for so many years.

The lyrics (or words) of the first verse look like this in Russian (which uses a different alphabet than English):

В лесу родилась елочка,

В лесу она росла.

Зимой и летом стройная,

Зеленая была.

 This is what that sounds like in English:

Vlayzoo rodeelas Yolochka
Vlayzoo ohna rosla
Zeemoy ee lee-ehtome stroynaya
Zelyonaya bilah 

And finally, here are all five verses in English:

1. The forest raised a Christmas tree,

‘Twas silent and serene

In winter and in summer

It was slender and so green.

2. The wind sang it a lullaby:

Sleep Christmas tree, sleep tight!

The snow was making clothes for it:

It was a pretty sight!

3. A trembling bunny put himself

Beneath its arms so wide;

The hungry wolf just passed him by -

A lovely place to hide!

4. Some sleigh bells rang throughout the woods,

The snow was crisp and clean,

A horsey brought a forester

To hew that tree so green.

5. And now it comes to visit us,

With lights and garlands bright,

While all the children dance and sing

To greet it with delight!

The Piano Guys (just a few of their awesome videos...)

The Piano Guys have a channel on YouTube that I definitely recommend if you are able to access it. Their story is neat - click on the first link above to check it out. Fun facts: The Piano Guys started in Utah. The cellist has ADHD and is super creative. A bunch of this group met by completely random happenstance.

Star Wars fans: Check out "Cello Wars" - The creative ideas in the video are great (light saber cello bows? Jedi versus Sith? Darth Vader plays a...what?). You'll never guess what Darth Vader plays...

"Mission Impossible" - This one is funnier when you remember that cellists have to sit down to play. Poor Steve is running around with a folding chair, and Lindsey Stirling, who guest stars in this video, is too fast for him to set up.

"Paradise" (originally by Coldplay) - Yes, the piano is actually up there. The Piano Guys have an operations manager who doubles as a "Piano Stunt Coordinator" because he's a fearless piano mover (as evidenced by where the piano is in this video).

"Rockelbel's Canon" (arrangement of Pachelbel's "Canon in D") - The cello part for this song is...repetitive...to say the least. The poor cellist plays the same 8 notes in the same order, in the same rhythm, for the whole piece. This can be bad when the cellist you hire for your wedding comes to the job sleepy...

Rock Meets Rachmaninoff - Check out the piano videos in the string family post - one of them is a Rachmaninoff piece. Here's a rocking arrangement of another Rachmaninoff piece, "Prelude in C# Minor."

I encourage you to check out more of their videos!

If it's hammered, plucked, or bowed, then it is a string, you know!

And finally...the string family.

First, an amusing quartet made up of two violins, a cello, and a piano.

Piano

The piano's strings are hammered, which is how the sound is created.

A cute older couple (married for 62 years when this video was taken in 2008!) playing the piano at the Mayo Clinic

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), a famous piano composer, plays the first movement from his Piano Concerto No. 2 

This is a recording of him doing it in 1929, and the recording is set to pictures of him. The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977), a famous conductor.

This video shows some ways that contemporary (modern) composers and pianists achieve different sounds on the piano.

The Piano Guys playing an interesting arrangement of One Direction's hit "That's What Makes You Beautiful."

Harpsichord

Remember, the harpsichord's strings are actually plucked!

This is a video of a trio made up of a violin, a cello, and a harpsichord. See if you can pick out the different instruments' sounds.

This is a video of someone's homemade Lego harpsichord and how it works.

Harp

A harp cover of Owl City's song "Fireflies"

Marcel Grandjany's Rhapsodie, performed by Sivan Magen

Guitar

Guitar quartet

Slash (originally from the band Guns N' Roses, later started Velvet Revolver, also has solo career) plays some rhythm and lead guitar parts

Bass Guitar (Electric Bass)

Victor Wooten playing a bass guitar solo in a Dave Matthews Band concert

Laying down a bass line over a drum set

Violin

Joshua Bell playing "Ave Maria"

Pentatonix and Lindsey Stirling (violin) perform "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons

Viola

Nobuko Imai

Yuri Bashmet

Cello

Yo-Yo Ma playing the prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1

Steven Sharp Nelson (from The Piano Guys) playing electric cello with himself, thanks to technology and video editing

Double bass

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings played by double bass quartet

Jazz  bassist Christian McBride

Esperanza Spalding, bassist and singer

Conductors

What do conductors do, anyway? Do they just stand at the podium and keep a beat?

Nope!

Conductors use their faces, hands, and body language to convey (show):

• Tempo (speed)
• Dynamics (volume)
• Time signature (is the piece in 4/4? 3/4? 6/8? etc)
• Mood (is it a bouncy, happy piece, or a slow, mournful (sad) piece?)
• Articulation (is it a light staccato or more of a weighted staccato?)
• Cues (do different instruments play at different times? is there a soloist?)

The conductor also has to study the score (all of the musicians' parts on the same page, usually many, many pages long - for example, the link on the word "score" is for the band version of "Strange Humors" by John Mackey - it's 24 pages long, and it has 36 people's parts on it!) very closely and know what each musician is doing at all points in the piece of music. It's hard to make eye contact if you're staring at the music the whole time, so conductors can express the qualities listed above the best when they have the score memorized.

The video below is an interview with Marin Alsop, Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony. 

(If you'd like, start at 2:00 to skip the not-as-relevant-to-what-we're-learning stuff.) 

(This is the video we watched in class where Katie Couric, the newscaster, tried to conduct an ensemble.)

This video is a CBS This Morning segment featuring Wynton Marsalis (famous jazz and classical trumpet player) explaining the similarities between quarterbacks and orchestra conductors. In it, he interviews New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and New York Philharmonic conductor Alan Gilbert. Football players/fans and sports fans, I think you'll appreciate this one!

The last video shows a lot of Gustavo Dudamel's conducting from the orchestra's perspective. He says that the conductor's instrument is not just the baton - it is the whole body. (He definitely embodies that statement!) The orchestra is playing Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez. The camera angles are great - you can see a lot of the instruments we've talked about! (Sorry, no saxophone or euphonium, though.)