Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 4 in f minor, Op. 36 third movement
Tchaikovsky was one of the greatest composers of 19th-century Russia. He was an extremely emotional person and at times suffered from lack of self-confidence and depression. As a result, he often misjudged the quality of his own music. Tchaikovsky was a master orchestrator, using instrumental color to highlight moods and emotions. He would have been great at writing musical soundtracks for film. He made use of Russian folk music in his classical pieces.
1. Questions and activities for students: This movement features special sound characteristics of the strings, woodwinds and brass. Can you identify which instruments are playing in each section?
a. Scherzo: plucked strings (pizzicato)
b. Trio I & II: High woodwinds & What instrument has been added in the second example? (flute and piccolo)
c. Trio III: Low brass
2. While the music is playing, take a pencil and/or crayons and draw how the music sounds using a different color for each section. (Teachers can look for connected and disconnected lines for staccato and legato; talk about the colors the children choose for each section. Is there a consensus about the colors for each section? Why or why not?)
3. Writing exercise: In this selection, the sections of the orchestra seem to be having a conversation. Each one states its own ideas, and at the end everyone “starts talking at once.” Based on the nature of the music for each section, imagine and write what they might be “talking about.”
Igor Stravinsky
1882-1971
Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird: Infernal Dance of King Kastchei, Berceuse & Lullaby & Finale
Stravinsky was born in Russia in 1882, but he spent most of his life in France and the United States. His first important works were three ballets composed for Paris, all based on Russian themes. In addition to The Firebird, Stravinsky composed The Rite of Spring, a ballet attempting to recreate the pre-historic religious rituals of pagan Russia. The harmonies, rhythms and the ballet movements were so different from what the audience was used to that there was a riot at the first performance.
During his long career, Stravinsky was constantly changing his style, but the early ballets are still his most popular pieces.
The story of The Firebird: (Teacher’s note: children may do exercise 1. a. before hearing the story so that they can make up their own story to the music.)
The ballet, taking its plot from bits of numerous Russian folk tales, tells the story of the heroic prince, the Tsarevich Ivan who, while wandering in an enchanted forest, encounters the magic firebird picking golden fruit from a silver tree. He traps the bird but, as a token of goodwill, frees it again. As a reward, the bird gives Ivan a flaming magic feather. At dawn, the Tsarevich finds himself in a park near the ancient castle of the evil magician Kashchey. Thirteen beautiful maidens, captives of Kashchey, come out of the castle to play in the garden but one of them in particular, the beautiful Tsarevna, captures his heart. As the sun rises, the maidens have to return to their prison and the Tsarevna warns Ivan not to come near the castle lest he fall under the magician’s spell as well. In spite of the warning, the Tsarevich follows and opens the gate of the castle. With a huge crash Kashchey and his grotesque monsters erupt from the castle in a wild dance. With the help of the magic feather the Tsarevich calls the Firebird who overcomes Kashchey and tames the grotesque monsters by lulling them to sleep. In the end, the captives are freed from the spell and the Tsarevich Ivan and the Tsarevna are married in a grand ceremony culminating in an apotheosis of the Firebird.
1. Questions and Activities
a. This piece is from a ballet of a fairy tale; before you hear the story, make up one to fit the music. (Teachers discuss how we know whether music is scary or happy. Don’t forget how the sound of the instruments contributes to the mood.)
i. What instruments does Stravinsky use the most? Why? (Brasses are loud, threatening)
ii. What instruments does Stravinsky add here? (trumpet, xylophone)
iii. Describe what makes the music ugly or scary? (Choice of instruments, dynamics, rhythm)
iv. Can you name which percussion instruments he uses? (xylophone, timpani, bass drum, triangle)
v. Are there melodies in this music? What are they like? How do they differ from songs that you can sing? (difficult intervals, or chromaticism; difficult rhythm)
b. Syncopation: Try to clap regular beats in time to the music. What happens?
i. How do you think syncopation adds to the scary effect? (surprise, the unexpected shrieks)
c. Lullaby (optional):
i. What groups of instruments are featured in this section? In what order do they enter? (woodwinds and strings)
ii. Name the solo instruments featured in this section (bassoon, oboe, viola)
iii. Can you hear any folk-like elements in this lullaby?
d. How does the music for the Finale differ from the Infernal Dance? (Instrumentation with bell-like motive; more harmonious, tuneful; major versus minor mode.)
i. What instruments are featured in the opening? In what order do they appear? (horn, harp, strings, flute)
(Teachers note that the melody is repeated continually with new instrumentation and increase in tempo to build up excitement.)
Antonin Dvořák
1841-1904
Antonin Dvořák
Serenade in E major, Op. 22, first movement
Dvořák was from Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). The son of a butcher, he was unable to break through social barriers and be recognized until he was in his 30s, but he still composed numerous orchestral works and even operas before he was discovered.
After he had become famous throughout Europe, he was invited to the United States in 1892 to become the director of a new music academy in New York City. During the summers, he rented a house in the middle of Iowa in a Czech/American community. He was fascinated with the music of African Americans and Native Americans, incorporating some of the music into his own compositions, especially his Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.”
1. Questions and Activities:
a. The word serenade has a couple of meanings in music. For hundreds of years when dates were unheard of, a young man used to stand below his girlfriend’s window and sing a love song to her playing a guitar or lute. If he was wealthy enough, he might even hire a small band. The serenade was also an easy-listening instrumental piece to accompany a dinner or a party.
b. How does this piece make you feel? (Teachers help children discover the subtle mood changes, as in dreamy, dancing, relaxing)
i. Identify the different string instruments.
ii. In the Dvořák Serenade the music changes in the middle. Can you tell where it changes? Are there some things that seem to be the same as the first part?
iii. What are some of the differences between the two sections? (smooth and flowing versus choppy and staccato; new melody.)
iv. Bring to class a popular song you like that has the same form as this serenade: two similar parts surrounding a contrasting part. (Teacher can give examples of how many songs follow ABA form)
Carlos Chávez
1899-1978
Carlos Chávez
Xochipilli, an Imaginary Aztec Music
Historical and Cultural Background
History of the Aztecs
The Aztecs were a great civilization in Mexico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. They had huge cities with wide paved streets and enormous temples and pyramids where they worshipped gods who demanded human sacrifice. The Aztec Empire controlled much of present-day Mexico. Their major city was Teotihuacán, today Mexico City.
The Aztecs were conquered by Hernán de Cortéz and a small army of Spanish soldiers. Cortez could never have defeated the Aztecs by force, but the Aztec king Montezuma mistook him for the white-faced god Quetzaquatl. Cortez quickly caught on and played on Montezuma’s error. The Spanish brought in more troops to defeat the natives but millions died of diseases brought from Europe, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had never been exposed.
About Carlos Chávez:
Carlos Chávez was born in 1899 in Popotla, near Mexico City. He studied piano and classical composition but was especially interested in the native music of Mexico. He became Mexico’s best-known composer and a major conductor. He died in 1978.
2. Xochipilli, an Imaginary Aztec Music
Chávez composed Xochipilli, an Imaginary Aztec Music in 1940 for an exhibition of Mexican Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He had one serious problem: while we know what many Aztec musical instruments looked like, we do not know what the music actually sounded like. That is why he subtitled it an Imaginary Aztec Music.
Xochipilli is a complicated piece that sounds simple. Teponaxites, ornichicahuazitas, raspadors, huéhuetls, hawksbells in copper deer hooves – the intimidating instrumentation list reads like an archeological adventure tale from the ancient pyramids of Mexico. Joined by a quartet of wind instruments, the percussion sounds evoke a dream-world of the Aztecs before the Spanish conquest.
Chávez uses the styles of European classical music combined with traditional sounds from Mexico’s native population to create a musical image of the New World civilization from an old world point of view.
Musical questions
a. Can you find a drama or story in this music?
i. Encourage students to imagine different scenes of Aztec life based on the background they have received.
b. The following example of musical texture is called counterpoint. Based on what you hear, how would you define “counterpoint?” (Two or more melodies playing at the same time so that they sound well together)
i. What are the two modern instruments playing the melodies? (clarinet and piccolo)
c. What are the ways in which instruments can imitate each other?
i. Instruments can play the same melody; play in the same range; play the same rhythm; follow the leader (imitation and canon)
d. How can a non-pitched instrument play a canon with a pitched one?
i. Rhythm is the key. (Piccolo and wood block canon in third piece).
e. The Aztecs use to send signals by blowing conch shells. Can you find where Chávez imitates the conch calls? (End of third piece) What modern instrument do you think imitates the conch? (trumpet)
i. Can you find any sounds that remind you of things outside the world of music, as in nature? What instruments do you think made those sounds? (Bird calls in opening of first piece)
