Hofnote Newsletter

February 2010

Hello and welcome back into the New Year. The first newsletter of this year begins by looking at endings!

In this newsletter we want to thank Jenny who asked the question, "What is a coda" 

As ever we wish everyone well who is sitting an exam. Why do they call it sitting when you stand to play many instruments?

Music and me

Hi, my name is Heidi and music plays a large part of my life. I have played the violin for about ten years now, and I still find it a relaxing way of filling in time. I have also met many new friends through music, and am part of several different music groups. These groups play a wide range of different music and involve musicians of different abilities. I have found that the stereotype that orchestras only play classical music is certainly not true, for example at the grammar school string group in which I play, we played an arrangement of one of Metallica’s hits. Playing in orchestras has opened my eyes to different techniques which I would otherwise not have come across.

Dance music

Dance music can be some of the most fun music to play. Right from grade 1 you may well play dance music, perhaps a minuet, or maybe a gavotte. By grade 4 you may be asked to recognise different styles as part of the aural, which might include common dances. Dances have different origins, and perhaps the biggest difference is between those which developed in courtly and formal society (courante, allemande etc.) and those which developed in folk culture (waltz, flamenco or modern dances such as the tango or rhumba which may come up at grade 5). Dances can also be in different time signatures. The minuet and the waltz are both in 3/4 time. Other dances can be in 4/4 such as a Tango, Rhumba, Cha-Cha or Gavotte. The time signature alone will not be enough to identify the style. The various dances each have their own rhythm and character. While the waltz and minuet are both in 3/4 time they are quite different to each other. The minuet developed in the 17th century in the Baroque period. Its origins are mainly in France where it was known in the court of Louis XIV (in French it is known as the menuet). It may have been a development of a dance called the courante. It was a dignified dance with very specific steps which took a long time to learn. The name comes from the style which involved taking very small steps with a lot of grace and control, but it could still be quite spirited. Usually only one couple would dance at a time. If you would like to see what was involved have a look at ... /www.colonialmusic.org/Resource/howtoMIN.htm, The minuet survived into the Classical era, and became part of larger works. It became the tird movement of four movement symphonies and sonatas. It also developed into another form known as a scherzo which was used in the music of composers such as Beethoven. The scherzo was a fast movement. The word scherzo actually means 'a joke.' The waltz on the other hand developed in areas we now know as Germany and Austria in the 18th century. It comes from the word to spin around and involved the man twirling the lady around. It grew out of folk dances and particularly one called the “landler.” Of course courtly society was quite scandalised by it to begin with but Prince Albert included waltzes at one of his functions and it started to become acceptable. The Strauss family also popularised the waltz with their wonderful and lively compositions such as the Blue Danube and Tales from the Vienna Woods. To many people the waltz represents an sumptuous ballroom full of dancers twirling around in their beautiful full gowns. Interestingly enough though, the verb ‘to waltz’ does not mean to dance the waltz but to twirl around and so the Australian song Waltzing Matilda is not a waltz at all but is in 4/4 time! To read a bit more about the waltz and hear some of the waltzes by Johann Strauss Junior visit ... //www.bobjanuary.com/waltz.htm, There are other forms of dance also including folk dances which you may enjpy but are not included in classical repertoire including Jigs and Reels from folk culture or Flamenco from Spain.

A bit more detail about the aural at grades 4 and 5 (ABRSM)

In this article, I’m going to suggest some ways in which teachers and students alike can get to grips with one of the more demanding aspects of the aural. That is the C test, in which you are asked to say something about the character of a piece, or, at Grade 5, about its form, style or period. Firstly, finding the words to say something about the character of a piece at Grade 4 can be quite difficult. There are the obvious things like fast and lively, and slow and sad. These have the advantage that you can use the Italian terms – allegro, or possibly vivace; and lento e mesto. A piece may be dance-like, or it may resemble a funeral march. It may even be a lively march. In any event, it’s a good idea in the exam to use Italian terms if you possibly can. If a piece is obviously descriptive, or evokes some feeling, you can mention that. It is a good idea to be able to relate the example played to something similar that you have played yourself. At the lower grades, students tend to play short pieces. Some of these may be descriptive, for example Kabalevsky’s At Night on the River, (Op 27)or Schumann’s Wild Horseman. Something could be said about the atmosphere these evoke. Other short pieces may be minuets or waltzes or marches. The minuet, while being essentially a slowish, stately dance movement, can be reasonably quick. During the Baroque and Classical periods, the minuet was stylised and tended to be played quicker when it wasn’t intended for dancing. Keyboard minuets by Bach, Handel and Scarlatti are examples of these. Classical minuets for piano can be found by Haydn and Mozart. Waltzes, while still in triple time, are characterised by somewhat more emphasis on the first beat and equal but lighter second and third beats. They often have a chordal accompaniment. The waltz developed from the Austrian 'Laendler' and was initially considered vulgar in court circles especially as the dancers came into close contact and the ladies were twirled around very fast. Interestingly enough, while the waltz and the minuet share the same time signature, the rhythm of each is distinctively different, and recognisable for what it is. On the Hofnote website, when you are faced with a multiple-choice question which includes the answers “Like a minuet”, “Like a waltz”, and “Like a dance”, the answer will be obvious if the music clip presents you with a minuet or a waltz, as these are distinctive in their own right. While you won't be asked to express any knowledge of historical periods and the forms and styles associated with them up to and including Grade 4, it is a good idea to have some idea about them right from Grade 1. The careful teacher will, of course, give enough background information to the student. The more a student knows about the historical and technical background to a piece, the more informed and coherent the performance. This will make for easy recognition of style by the time he or she gets to Grade 4. At Grade 5, this exercise is rather more specific and questions may relate to form, style and period. The student’s knowledge ideally will have been building up from the beginning, so that these questions don’t come as a nasty shock. At this level, questions about form will not be complex – usually whether a piece is in binary or ternary form. By this time, a student will have been playing not only pieces in those forms, but Sonatinas in which sonata form will be evident, as well as variations and rondo. The best way to recognise form is to be aware of it in the pieces you are playing at any one time. This will make for a much more informed performance as well as developing your understanding and listening skills. The things I mentioned about the character of a piece at Grade 4 also hold good for comments about style at Grade 5. Questions of form, style and period are, of course, closesly bound together, and it is difficult to separate them. Binary and ternary form, of course span all the periods of history. You only have to look through such selections as the early books of the Classics to Moderns series to see this. While this series is quite old, it does give a useful overview of period from Baroque to 20th Century music.

Composer of the month

Tchaikovsky

Peter Tchaikovsky was Russian Composer of the Romantic period. He was born in 1840 in Votkinsk and lived until 1893. His music was influenced by Russian folk melodies, but he did absorb influences from abroad. He has been described as a ‘sensitive’ and seems to have been a person whose mind jumped around from idea to idea. This seems to be reflected in his music. He himself said, “Such hindrances are inevitable: hence the joins, patches, inequalities, and discrepancies. I cannot complain of lack of inventive power, but I have always suffered from want of skill in the management of form.” Tchaikovsky first started composing when he was just a child though his father was a mining engineer. When he had graduated he taught composition and history of music but found it a strain and had a nervous breakdown. He later took up orchestral conducting which was very brave as he got terrible stage fright. He even thought his head would drop of while conducting and held his chin to keep it on! He was fortunate in that a wealthy widow took an interest in his music and supported him financially. They wrote over 1,200 letters to each other but only met by accident and then didn’t speak to each other. More about him as a person can be found at www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/greatcomposers/tchaikovsky.html" or at geocities.com/Vienna/5648/Tchaikovsky.htm" Tchaikovsky wrote many well-known works. His 1812 Overture commemorates the Napoleonic Wars and includes cannon fire in the score. It has become a popular piece for performing out of doors because it is so energetic and fiery. It also includes a French tune called La Marseillaise. Tchaikovsky used it as the French National Anthem in the piece although at the time the French did not have one. It wasn't until much later in the 19th century that La Marseillaise was adopted as the French National Anthem. Tchaikovsky is also known for his Ballet music including Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Suite. In fact he is often recognised as the first major composer to give serious attention to ballet music. **Tchaikovsky Snippets...** The music from the 1812 Overture has been featured twice in The Simpsons. I found it was not a good piece for me to listen to when I was driving as I was tempted to drive too fast!! The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy comes from the Nutcracker Suite and featured in the film Fantasia. The Marche from the same work was made into a pop version called Nut Rocker and recorded by several artists including The Shadows and Emerson Lake and Palmer. Duke Ellington adapted the Nutcracker Suite into a jazz verion of where the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy became the dance of the Sugar Rum Cherry! www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/nov/11-25-98/arts/arts3.html" He was very self conscious about his ability to write music but what I like about him was that he still worked to improve and finally in his last piece he is reported to have gone home after hearing it played saying that it had left him feeling completely content when he heard it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky"

Dances wordsearch

Can you find 12 diferent dances in this wordsearch?

All the dances in the search are mentioned in this newsletter. To print the word search follow these instructions. Right click on the word seach, save it to where you want it on your computer. You will then be able to resize it and print it off. Enjoy!!

Scheherazade and the tale of a thousand and one Arabian Nights

I came across this site which tells the story of Scheherazade and the tale of a thousand and one Arabian nights. www.kusc.org/kids/ If you click on Scheherazade Interactive at the bottom of the page it takes you to a site where you can click on "play game". This tells you the story with music and games to do along the way. It is set to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite. and includes some great games. The last one is quite hard and really stretches your musical memory. Do have a go and let me know how you get on.

Describing music

Form, Style and Period Getting stuck with the C test at Grade 5? Some background information and a little knowledge of music history can go a long way in getting you through. For this part of the aural, you are expected to know a bit about form, style and period. All these things are linked, but there are some things that can be said about each of them. Go to this blog to glean some background information o help you. auraltraining.wordpress.com"

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