To Sail Around The Sun: A World Premiere Kennedy Center Co-Commission with Company | E

CUESHEET PERFORMANCE GUIDE

A World Premiere Kennedy Center Co-Commission with Company | E

To Sail Around the Sun

Directed by Paul Gordon Emerson Featuring NSO Musicians Glenn Donnellan and Wanzhen Li, violins; Tsuna Sakamoto, viola; and Eugena Chang, cello

Presenting Sponsor of Performances for Young Audiences

David and Alice Rubenstein are the 1 Presenting Underwriters of the NSO.

The Music and Movement of the Seasons About the Performance

The Sounds of the Seasons

Music by the Strings

The music you’ll hear is called (no surprise!) The

Moving with the Sun and Earth

Picture the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Next, add live music and dance. Now get

Four Seasons. The man who wrote it, Antonio Vivaldi

one cello—create all the music during the performance.

ready for an incredible journey through the year as the

(pronounced vi-VAHL-dee), got his ideas from paintings

We know from science that the earth circles around

Earth sails around the sun. In this brand new show—

and poems. Almost 300 years ago in the 1720s, he

performed for the first time ever—four musicians from

composed short concert pieces for each season,

the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and dancers

starting with spring, followed by summer, fall, and

from Company | E will bring the four seasons to life right

winter. The music surprised audiences because of how

before your eyes and ears.

well it described nature and poetry. Music like this,

Pack your bags and join a young girl as she travels to faraway lands to capture the colors of the seasons.

music. The Four Seasons is so popular that you’ve probably already heard parts of it in commercials, television shows, and even movies—most recently in

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Sing and The Secret Life of Pets.

Dancing the Seasons

SP

R

I

which tells a story without words, is called program

Just as Vivaldi got ideas from paintings and poetry to

the sun. It takes 365 days (that’s one whole year) for our planet to sail all the way around. Even though we don’t feel the motion and also don’t notice that the earth is tilted (leans to one side), we see the effects in our weather. Because of the earth’s tilt, some parts of the planet receive more sunlight than others at different times of the year—and that’s how we get seasons. So,

Just four string instruments—two violins, one viola, and When four string musicians play together it is called a string quartet. Although these instruments look similar—they are each made of wood, have four strings, and are played with a bow—they are different in size and can make very different sounds. If you close your eyes, you might think you are hearing many more musicians on stage.

for example, in Washington, D.C., when we receive fewer hours of sunlight, it’s winter. By the way, when we have less sunlight, somewhere else has more, so our winter is Australia’s summer!

Green, Blue, Red, and White: Catch the Colors of the Seasons Around the World—All in One Day

write music, the choreographer (person who creates dances) of Company | E got dance ideas from Vivaldi’s melodies or tunes. He planned many different kinds of dance movements, and you’ll even see the musicians

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Australia SPRING

NT

M

ER

Argentina SUMMER

FA

LL

WI

SU

M

move in ways that help you imagine the seasons.

Japan FALL

Kazakhstan WINTER

A Few More Things Listen for…

Don’t Miss…

n how the music for each season has three parts at

Please plan to join us at the next National Symphony

different tempos (speeds)—a fast beginning (though

Orchestra Family Concert, performed by the full NSO:

some fast sections have slow parts), a slower second

May 21, 2017—Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood

part, and then a fast third part. n how the dynamics (how loud or soft the music is) change and how that changes the feeling. n musical sounds that remind you of thunder and lightning, shivering, and birds singing.

Remember…

A good audience stays seated, stays quiet, watches and listens carefully, and claps. Have fun!

Watch for… n a young girl capturing the colors of the seasons. n how the musicians move and play their instruments at the same time. n how the movements of the dancers and musicians help tell the story of the music. n how big pictures and lighting help show the seasons.

Think about…

Many people love The Four Seasons because of how the music helps them imagine nature. Think about the music you enjoyed the most from the performance and either draw a picture of what it made you think of or create some dance movements to show some of the ideas.

Share your work with family and friends and see whether

Explore More!

Go to KC Connections on ARTSEDGE artsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/kc-connections

they can guess the season.

David M. Rubenstein Chairman Deborah F. Rutter President Mario R. Rossero Senior Vice President Education

Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided by The Clark Charitable Foundation; the Kimsey Endowment; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.

Funding for Access and Accommodation Programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

The contents of this Cuesheet have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Christoph Eschenbach Music Director National Symphony Orchestra 4

© 2017 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

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