Today, we celebrate the 161st anniversary of John Philip Sousa's birth!
John Philip Sousa was a very famous American conductor and composer who is known as the March King since he wrote so many marches. One of his marches, "Stars and Stripes Forever," was voted by the United States Congress to be the official national march of the United States of America! He also led his own band, wrote 136 marches and 10 operas, wrote 3 novels and an autobiography, and conducted about 14,000 (yes, that's 14 thousand) concerts throughout his life!
I'll leave you with this video of The President's Own performing "Stars and Stripes Forever."
If you're interested in hearing more of John Philip Sousa's marches, do a YouTube search for him or check out the collections that The President's Own is compiling on their website. Click here to access videos, scores, and parts of 17 of his marches. Click on the one you'd like to hear, and it will bring you to a page for that piece. You can click to download the track (in mp3 format, if you want to put it on your phone/iPod/iPad/etc.), download the score and parts (see what the conductor sees or what the individual musicians see), or scroll down a little further to listen to it via embedded video. What's neat about the video is that they also have the score so you can try to follow along as the music plays! It's very small, though, even when you click the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner to be able to open it via YouTube and make it full screen. If you're struggling to read it, you can download the score separately. If you'd like me to listen to it with you so I can point out where we are in the music, I'd be more than happy to do so!
DRUM CARD OPPORTUNITY: Email me and tell me your favorite Sousa march other than "Stars and Stripes Forever." I don't expect you to listen to all 135 other ones, but you can tell me about one or two that you listened to. :)
On Tuesday, February 3, the 5th graders at Lannoye will be heading to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestrato see a performance in the MSO Youth Concert series (and visit Discovery World in the afternoon). This is a belated culmination to the students' instrument unit from the end of September through the middle of November. They took a break from instruments for our holiday musical (which will be posted in the coming weeks). Since returning to school after Christmas break, the students have been learning about the MSO and the pieces (and their composers) on the program.
TIPS FOR ACTIVE LISTENING
"To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also." (Igor Stravinsky, composer)
Try to pick out specific instrument sounds
Remember facts from class
See if you can predict what will happen musically - watch the conductor for hints
Listen for melodies and see if you can remember one you can hum later. Can you remember 2? 3? More?
If the music were the soundtrack to a movie, what would the setting be? What kind of story line would it have?
Pick your favorite moment in the music to tell your family about later (but keep your thoughts to yourself during the concert - let your friends listen in their own ways)
ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY (from MSO.org) The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Edo de Waart, is among the finest orchestras in the nation. Now in his sixth season with the MSO, Maestro de Waart has led sold-out concerts, elicited critical acclaim, and conducted a celebrated performance at Carnegie Hall on May 11, 2012. The MSO’s full-time professional musicians perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. Since its inception in 1959, the MSO has found innovative ways to give music a home in the region, develop music appreciation and talent among area youth, and raise the national reputation of Milwaukee.
The MSO is a pioneer among American orchestras. The orchestra has performed world and American premieres of works by John Adams, Roberto Sierra, Phillip Glass, Geoffrey Gordon, Marc Neikrug, and Matthias Pintscher. In 2005, the MSO gained national recognition as the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes. This initiative follows a 44-year nationally syndicated radio broadcast series, the longest consecutive-running series of any United States orchestra, which is heard annually by 3.8 million listeners on 183 subscriber stations in 38 of the top 100 markets.
The MSO's standard of excellence extends beyond the concert hall and into the community, reaching more than 40,000 children and their families through its Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, Youth and Teen concerts, Meet the Music pre-concert talks, and Friday Evening Post-Concert Talkbacks. Celebrating its 25th year, the nationally-recognized ACE program integrates arts education into state-required curricula, providing opportunities for students when budget cuts may eliminate arts programming. The program provides lesson plans and supporting materials, classroom visits from MSO musician ensembles and artists from local organizations, and an MSO concert tailored to each grade level. This season, more than 7,600 students and 500 teachers and faculty in 25 Southeastern Wisconsin schools will participate in ACE. - See more at: http://www.mso.org/about_mso/mission_history#sthash.wOotmbTu.dpuf ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR (from MSO.org)
Lecce-Chong.com
American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong, currently associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, is active with the orchestral and operatic repertories on the international stage. In his role with the MSO, Mr. Lecce-Chong works closely with renowned Music Director Edo de Waart and is directly responsible for leading over forty subscription, tour, education, and community concert performances annually. During the MSO’s 2012.13 season, Mr. Lecce-Chong took the podium for an acclaimed gala concert with Itzhak Perlman, led the orchestra through its statewide tour of Wisconsin, and conducted a special three-week series at Milwaukee’s Basilica of St. Josaphat. A list of Mr. Lecce-Chong’s international appearances include leading the Hong Kong (China), Pitesti (Romania), and Ruse (Bulgaria) philharmonics and the Sofia Festival Orchestra (Italy). Equally at ease in the opera house, Mr. Lecce-Chong has served as principal conductor for the Brooklyn Repertory Opera and as staff conductor and pianist for the Santa Fe Opera. He has earned a growing reputation and critical acclaim for dynamic, forceful performances that have garnered national distinction. Mr. Lecce-Chong is a 2012 recipient of The Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award and The Presser Foundation Presser Music Award. He is also the recipient of the N.T. Milani Memorial Conducting Fellowship and the George and Elizabeth Gregory Award for Excellence in Performance. As a trained pianist and composer, Mr. Lecce-Chong embraces innovative programming, champions the work of new composers and, by example, supports arts education. His 2012.13 season presentations included two MSO-commissioned works, two United States premieres, and twelve works by composers actively working worldwide. He brings the excitement of new music to audiences of all ages through special presentations embodying diverse program repertoire and the use of unconventional performance spaces. Mr. Lecce-Chong also provides artistic leadership for the MSO’s nationally-lauded Arts in Community Education (ACE) program – one of the largest arts integration programs in the country. Mr. Lecce-Chong is a native of Boulder, Colorado, where he began conducting at the age of sixteen. He is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree with honors in piano and orchestral conducting. Mr. Lecce-Chong also holds a diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied as a Martin and Sarah Taylor Fellow with renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller. He currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Follow his blog, Finding Exhilaration, at www.lecce-chong.com. - See more at: http://www.mso.org/about_mso/meet_the_orchestra/musician_roster/musician_detail?name=FRANCESCO%20LECCE-CHONG&instrument=Directors#sthash.BiVDhePU.dpuf
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE Stafford Smith Star-Spangled Banner Copland "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo Gershwin An American in Paris (excerpts) Mozart Concerto in C major for Oboe and Orchestra, K. 314 I. Allegro aperto featuring Julia Simpson Traditional Yankee Doodle (singalong) Joplin Overture to Treemonisha Copland Lincoln Portrait (excerpts) featuring Chief Flynn from the Milwaukee Police Department
STAFFORD SMITH - Star-Spangled Banner
The program will open with "The Star-Spangled Banner."To prepare, we reviewed what we already learned in September and practiced our SSB etiquette. link to video with lyrics COPLAND - "Hoe Down" from Rodeo
Wikimedia
Aaron Copland
1900 - 1990
Born in Brooklyn, NY
His older sister taught him piano; father wasn't musical, mother played piano
Went to as many performances as he could
At 15 years old, knew he wanted to be a composer
At 21, moved to Paris to study composition; returned to America 4 years later
Had a distinctive style and became known for modern composition techniques with American folk tunes, cowboy songs, church hymns, etc.
Also taught composition students
In the mid-1970s, started becoming quite forgetful. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's. By mid-1980s, lived at home with round-the-clock nursing care. Died of pneumonia shortly after his 90th birthday.
Although he started late, Copland really liked conducting. "It's fun. It's well-paying. And you get applauded at the end. The orchestra does all the work and you turn around and take a bow. If you want to be nice, you ask the musicians to stand up, too, the poor dears."
Rodeo
1942
"In the 1940s, Agnes de Mille asked Copland to write a cowboy piece for her and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The result was the wildly successful ballet, Rodeo. The story takes place on a ranch and follows a cowgirl trying to impress the self-centered head wrangler. To attract his attention, she dresses like a cowboy and shows off her roping and riding skills. He still doesn't notice her. Finally, she catches his eye when she puts on a red dress and goes to the evening square dance, where she falls in love with a sweet and kind-hearted cowboy.
"The final scene is a lively square dance with the famous "Hoe-Down." This piece, one of the best known works by any American composer, has been featured in movies and ads. This movement captures the excitement of spirited country dance and fiddle music. Listen for the strings in the introduction - it sounds like the fiddlers tuning the instruments! Two main themes come from classic square dance tunes. The first is Bonyparte, played by the violins and violas. Next is Miss McLeod's Reel, played by the trumpets" (from the MSO's Teacher Resource Guide).
You might recognize "Hoe-Down" from the American Beef Council's commercials.
Famous for writing Rhapsody in Blue (remember that clarinet excerpt?)
While growing up in Brooklyn, NY, was very athletic and assumed music was something girls did. At 10, figured out music was awesome.
Left school at 15 to work 10 hours/day in music stores, practicing, writing, and trying to get published
Became rich and famous at 19 - had a 14-room apartment with a piano in the gym, owned every music book of the time, was a major art collector, drove a Mercedes Benz
Big ego, but somehow it charmed people instead of repelling them - "Great, isn't it?"
"When I am in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers."
Died of a brain tumor
Photo is my own, taken in summer 2008
An American in Paris
1928
Inspired by Gershwin's 1928 trip to Europe (he was originally from Brooklyn, NY)
Wanted to become a better classical composer, so traveled to Paris
Later that year, the NY Philharmonic commissioned a new work from Gershwin
An American in Paris is a symphonic poem
Copland said, "My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere."
Some themes are repeated throughout the piece, depicting different moods
“The opening gay section is followed by a rich blues with a strong rhythmic undercurrent. Our American… perhaps after strolling into a café and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness. The harmony here is both more intense and simpler than in the preceding pages. This blues rises to a climax, followed by a coda in which the spirit of the music returns to the vivacity and bubbling exuberance of the opening part with its impression of Paris. Apparently the homesick American, having left the café and reached the open air, has disowned his spell of the blues and once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life. At the conclusion, the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant.” (Copland's program notes about the piece, found on the LA Philharmonic's website)
MOZART - Oboe Concerto in C major, Op. 314, movement I (Allegro aperto)
Wikimedia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756 - 1791
Born in Salzburg, Austria
Father was a famous violinist
1 of 7 kids; only he and his sister made it to adulthood
While sister was learning harpsichord, Mozart would play the pieces she was learning without practicing
Father took the 2 on a concert tour through Europe 1762-1771
Worked as a court musician and freelance composer. Very popular, but didn't make a lot of $. Never had a steady job.
Got sick and died young, but wrote over 600 works
Oboe Concerto in C major, Op. 314
1777
Written in 1777 for an Italian oboist
Rewritten one step higher for flute in 1778 for a Dutch flutist
The Dutch flutist had commissioned 4 flute quartets and 3 flute concertos. Instead of writing a new 3rd concerto, Mozart just rearranged the oboe concerto...as a result, the flutist didn't pay him for that piece.
Fun fact: Mozart didn't like the flute and didn't trust flutists.
Some detective work was required to figure out that this solo originated as an oboe piece.
Cadenza at the end
Julia Simpson
Featured soloist
Junior at Oconomowoc High School
Won the 2014 MSO Stars of Tomorrow competition, so she got to perform the 1st movement of the Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto with the MSO last spring
Won the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band Concerto Competition
Will be guest soloist in February with the Wisconsin Philharmonic, performing Mozart's Oboe Concerto
Enjoys reading, studying, spending time with friends, and being a marching band drum major
Originally started during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), when British and American soldiers fought side by side
The well-dressed Brits made fun of their rag-tag American counterparts. Dr. Richard Schuckburgh, a British surgeon, wrote verses ridiculing them, and set the words to an old English folk tune.
The Americans embraced the song as a proud colonist anthem.
Definitions:
Yankee: rash or lacking judgment
Doodle: fool or simpleton
JOPLIN - Overture to Treemonisha
Wikimedia
Scott Joplin
1867 - 1917
Believed to have been born in Texas between June 1867 and January 1868; moved to MO
Played piano and cornet (like trumpet, but a conical bore instead of a straight bore)
Gigged for over a decade before going to college, then focused on composing
Considered to be one of the best ragtime composers
Ragtime: popular style of music in late 1800s that started in St. Louis (MO) and New Orleans (LA). Known for syncopated or "ragged" rhythm in the melody, steady rhythm in the bass. Predecessor to jazz.
People who didn't like ragtime music said it was an addictive poison that caused permanent brain damage and ruined people's morals.
Opera (all text is sung) - finished in 1910. Joplin wrote the libretto (text) and music.
Similar music to standard European operas (so, not a ragtime opera). Some ragtime style used to show "racial character." Like many French operas, includes a short ballet.
Tried to get it professionally published, but ended up having to publish it himself in May 1911.
Tried to have it performed numerous times, but a full production wasn't successfully staged until 1972 (>50 years after death)
Story takes place in rural black Arkansas in September 1884
Main character is Treemonisha, the only educated person in her community
She leads her townspeople away from others who prey on ignorance and superstition. She gets kidnapped and almost thrown into a wasp nest. Her friend rescues her.
The community then realizes the value of education.
Joplin believed education was the key to equality for African Americans.
Copland's biographical information is listed towards the beginning of this post.
Lincoln Portrait
1942
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, conductor André Kostelanetz commissioned orchestral works that would present "a musical portrait gallery of great Americans." Copland said, "The choice of Lincoln as my subject seemed inevitable."
Copland used quotes from Lincoln, along with themes from folk song "Springfield Mountain" and Stephen Foster's "Camptown Races."
3 sections of Lincoln Portrait
Part 1: "I wanted to suggest something of the mysterious sense of fatality that surrounds Lincoln's personality. Also, near the end of that section, something of his gentleness and simplicity of spirit." Main theme ("Springfield Mountain") in the clarinet
No break before Part 2. Brighter tone and tempo to depict the place and time in which Lincoln lived. Main theme is "Camptown Races"
No break before Part 3, where Copland combines the melodies and moods of the first 2 sections with narration
The narration contains quotes from and about Abraham Lincoln. The piece has had many famous narrators throughout its existence, including Neil Armstrong, Bill Clinton, Aaron Copland, Al Gore, Tom Hanks, Katharine Hepburn, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Barack Obama, and Margaret Thatcher.
Last month, the 2nd graders at Lannoye went to see highlights from act II of The Nutcracker at the Meyer Theatre. Before the trip, they learned that a ballet is a dance that tells a story. They also learned about the original story of The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman. In the story, Clara, a young girl, gets a nutcracker for Christmas. He comes to life and is attacked by the evil Mouse King (or Queen, depending on the version of the story). Clara helps him defeat the Mouse King and finds out that her nutcracker is actually a prince! Her prince takes her to his home in the Land of the Sweets, where she meets several sweets...before she wakes up from her dream.
Photo from TallahasseeGrapevine.com
After the students learned about the author of the story, they learned more about the Russian composer of the music for the ballet, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky was a musical child, constantly drumming on windowpanes (to the point that he broke the glass once and cut his hand!). When he was seven, he begged for piano lessons after hearing Mozart's Don Giovanni on a music box. Playing the piano made him too excited to sleep, though. Sadly, his father didn't think music was a "real" career, so Tchaikovsky became a law clerk instead. After his mother died, he started writing music, which became the thing in his life that gave him purpose. While he composed, he often forgot to eat. One of his quirks that the students really enjoyed was his irrational fear that his head would fall off while he was conducting an orchestra. As a result, he would hold onto his head with his left hand while conducting with his right. In addition to The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky is also widely known for 1812 Overture (you know, the one with the cannons) and the ballet Swan Lake. (Information from Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull)
Photo from Biography.com
After an introduction to what choreographers do as well, the students got to hear the story with some videos of the act II dances they'd see on our field trip.
As we watched these videos (and after we attended the performance), we talked about the strength, musicality, flexibility, balance, and physical control that ballet requires. One of the students brought up that it's similar to ice dancing. Several students had seen some of the figure skating at last year's Olympic Winter Games, including pairs ice dancing. I showed them a couple of videos of the gold medal winning pair, Charlie White and Meryl Davis, from Michigan.
2014 US Nationals Short Program: I Could Have Danced All Night," "With a Little Bit of Luck," and "Get Me to the Church On Time," all from the musical My Fair Lady
John Philip Sousa was a very famous American composer who is known as the March King since he wrote so many marches. One of his marches, "Stars and Stripes Forever," was voted by the United States Congress to be the official national march of the United States of America! He also led his own band, and he conducted about 14,000 (yes, that's 14 thousand) concerts throughout his life!
His father played trombone in the United States Marine Band, so Sousa was surrounded by music as a child. He began learning several different instruments at a young age. When he was 13, he tried running away to join a circus band. After that, his dad signed him up as a band helper for the U.S. Marine Band. He stayed with the Marine Band until he was 20, then came back at the age of 25 to conduct The President's Own (the premier military band in the country, as well as the oldest continually active professional musical organization in America since they began in 1798). Throughout his 12 years with The President's Own, Sousa continued to compose, took the group on a couple tours, and recorded with the group. Phonographs were a relatively new invention, and Colombia Phonograph Company wanted to record a military band and sell the recordings. Between 1890 and 1897, The President's Own recorded more than 400 pieces of music.
In 1892, Sousa resigned and started his own band. They toured the world from 1900 to 1910. After World War I (1914-1918), the Sousa Band continued touring and championing the right of music education for all children (PBS). Sousa wasn't only a skilled musician, though - he kept busy in other ways as well. In addition to the 136 marches and 10 operas that he composed, he also wrote 3 novels and an autobiography.
For more information about John Philip Sousa, check out PBS's page on him. You can also check out this public radio article (with audio interview with the director of the New Sousa Band).
In the meantime, I'll leave you with this video of The President's Own performing "Stars and Stripes Forever."
DRUM CARD OPPORTUNITY: Using your own words, email me the most interesting thing you learned from this blog post or the links within it. (Don't just copy and paste.)
