BrightSparks teachers' resource pack 21-10-10

Resource Pack BrightSparks Concerts for KS2

21 October 2010 Royal Festival Hall Bizet March of the Toreadors and Habanera from ‘Carmen’ Debussy (arr. Osborn) La Cathédrale engloutie Chadwick Song: Celebrate Britten Storm from ‘Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes’ Shostakovich Festive Overture David Angus conductor Andrew Barclay presenter

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About this Resource Pack We are delighted that you are going to join us for our KS2 concerts at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 October. The programme starts with music from Bizet, Debussy and Britten – taking us from the bullfights and dances of Spain, to the mystery and folklore of the French and British coasts. We will then have a chance to let our hair down when we Celebrate with Stephen Chadwick’s fantastic song before ending on Shostakovich’s rousing Festive Overture.

This Resource Pack is an introduction to the composers and music you and your pupils will hear at the concert. It is designed to complement the Resources for Teachers section of our website. You will find fewer lesson plans compared to previous years and we hope you will find it focused and easy to use when preparing for the concert.

If you are only able to do one activity prior to the concert, we would suggest that you focus on using the CD and the Resource Pack to learn the participation piece, Stephen Chadwick’s Celebrate. After that, visit the website and listen to some of the other music you will hear and, in conjunction with the Resource Pack, work out which of the lesson plans may best benefit your class.

Recordings Your class will need to listen to recordings of both Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Bizet’s Carmen: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in order to take part in the activities in the lessons. If you have a computer with internet access in your classroom you can play all the relevant recordings via the resources section of our site. If not, you may wish to purchase a recording of both of these pieces.

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How to use the CD and Online Resources for Teachers The CD The CD enclosed with your tickets contains a recording of the participation piece, Stephen Chadwick’s Celebrate. You can either play it on an ordinary CD player or on a computer.

This recording is divided into the following tracks: 1.

2.

3.

4 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Whole Song Introduction Chorus – lines 1-16 Chorus – lines 17-22 Fanfare 1 Chorus Fanfare 2 Chorus Fanfare 3 Accompaniment A Accompaniment B Accompaniment C Karaoke

If you put the CD into a computer, you will find that it also contains a PDF file, which will allow you to display the resource pack on a computer or interactive whiteboard. You may print out extra copies if required.

Online Resources for Teachers Visit www.lpo.org.uk/brightsparks and follow the link to the Resources for Teachers section of the site, where you will need to enter the user name ‘bs211010’ and the password ‘ravel’.

This will take you through to a page where you can access recordings of the different pieces (including the participation piece) and an electronic version of the Resources Pack. You will find full instructions of how to use each on the site.

If you have problems with any of the above resources, please contact Alec Haylor, Education and Community Assistant, Tel: 020 7840 4231, Email: alec.haylor@lpo.org.uk.

Naxos Our grateful thanks to Naxos for providing access to the Naxos Music Library website where you can listen to recordings of some of the works to be performed at the concert. For more details of the Naxos Music Library see page 31.

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Resource Pack Contents Page 5

London Philharmonic Orchestra Education

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Georges Bizet – Carmen Lesson 1

13

Claude Debussy – La Cathédrale engloutie

14 15 16

Stephen Chadwick – Song: Celebrate Lesson 2 Lesson 3

26

Benjamin Britten – Storm from ‘Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes’

27 29 30

Dmitri Shostakovich – Festive Overture Lesson 4 Lesson 5

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Naxos Music Library

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

The material in this Resource Pack was written and devised by Denise Barber and Stephen Chadwick. The Pack was produced by the London Philharmonic Orchestra Education Department, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP. Tel: 020 7840 4200. Fax: 020 7840 4201. Box Office: 020 7840 4242.

Website: www.lpo.org.uk © September 2010

Denise Barber Denise Barber is a Music Education Consultant currently managing schools’ programmes for Southwark Music Service and writing and advising on schools’ work for the Education Department of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She has experience in teaching music to children from under nursery school age to KS4 including work in special schools. She is a member of the advisory group to the National Singing Programme ‘Sing Up’ and also works as an evaluation partner to music services around the country.

Stephen Chadwick See page 14 for details on Stephen Chadwick.

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London Philharmonic Orchestra Education and Community Department The London Philharmonic Orchestra has a thriving Education and Community Department opening doors for everyone to all sorts of music-making.

Each year primary and secondary school pupils enjoy our ConcertLink workshops with visiting London Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and specialist workshop leaders.

Thousands of children and adults experience live orchestral music for the first time at our BrightSparks Concerts for schools and FUNharmonics Family Concerts.

For information on all these projects and much more, please visit the website: www.lpo.org.uk/education; or email: education@lpo.org.uk; or call Alec Haylor at 020 7840 4231.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Education and Community Department would like to thank Deutsche Bank whose generosity has enabled all tickets for these concerts to be distributed free of charge to schools.

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

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Royal College of Music, London

Georges Bizet was born in Paris in 1838. Both his parents were musical and they encouraged their son’s musical talent. Bizet was only nine years old when he went to the Paris Conservatoire to study the piano and composition.

In 1857 Bizet won a famous music competition called the ‘Prix de Rome’. This was a very special award and meant that he was able to go to Rome for three years to study music and improve his composition skills. Other famous French composers to win this award were Hector Berlioz in 1830 and Claude Debussy in 1884. Maurice Ravel (the composer of Boléro) tried five times to win the award and never succeeded. While Bizet was in Rome he wrote his first symphony – he was only 17 years old.

When Bizet returned to France he was in poor health and this was made worse when he had to become a soldier and fight in a war between France and Germany.

In 1875 Bizet composed the opera Carmen.

Despite praise from fellow composers SaintGeorges Bizet Saëns, Tchaikovsky and Debussy, the opera was not immediately popular because some people disapproved of its story. This upset Bizet very much as he thought it was his masterpiece and he became very depressed. He died of a heart attack later that year. He was only 37 years old.

The Story of Carmen In the concert you will hear extracts from Bizet’s opera Carmen. An opera is a play set to music. The version you will hear is an instrumental arrangement for orchestra.

The original story of Carmen was written by the French author Prosper Mérimée.

He got the idea for the story when he was travelling through Spain in 1830 and overheard people talking about a gypsy woman who had been killed by her jealous boyfriend. This idea captured his imagination and stayed in his mind for 15 years. He finally wrote his book Carmen in 1845.

The story is set in Seville, Spain, and features Carmen, who is a very attractive Spanish gypsy woman. She is in trouble with the police for attacking one of her fellow workers when they were at work. Carmen is arrested but manages to persuade a soldier called Don José to help her escape by making him fall in love with her.

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Georges Bizet Don José, however, is caught and sent to prison for allowing her to escape.

When he comes out he ignores his girlfriend Micaela and goes to find Carmen.

They live together for a while but Carmen soon gets fed up with Don José as he is very possessive and doesn’t allow her to be free. She leaves Don José and goes out with Escamillo instead. Escamillo is a famous bullfighter and very much admired in Spain.

Don José can’t bear Carmen to be with someone else so he goes to find her at the bullring. He asks her to return to him but when she refuses he stabs and kills her. The opera ends with Don José being arrested and taken away whilst the crowds at the bullfight cheer Escamillo who has won his fight.

Useful Resources These websites give further information about Bizet and Carmen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizet http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/bizet.html http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/CarmenStory.html

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Lesson 1 - Carmen Suite No. 2 – Habanera In the opera, the Habanera is sung and danced to by Carmen. All the men listen to her and find her very attractive. The following lesson is based on the rhythm that is played throughout the piece in the orchestral version of the music.

• Listen to the Habanera via the online Resources for Teachers or a recording and learn the rhythm. If you have access to either of these in the classroom, play it to the children and ask if they can spot a rhythm being repeated on the low instruments throughout the piece.

• Get the children to clap this rhythm.

• Now listen to the recording again and check you have the correct rhythm.

• Show children the notation sheet BIZET – Habanera Rhythm (page 10) and explain that this is the way musicians would read the rhythm. Point out that the dot makes the note longer and the tail makes the note shorter.

• Make up a word phrase that fits the rhythm such as: You, you are so Cool, you go to School, you are so Cool.

(Strong beat in bold) • Now get into a standing circle and start walking on the spot to a steady beat.

Say and tap the rhythm over the beat. Do this until the rhythm is secure, noticing the children who can do it easily.

• Now move to instruments. Divide your instruments into five groups: wooden – instruments that are made of wood where the sound is made by one piece of wood hitting another e.g. claves, wood block metal – instruments that are made of metal where the sound is made by one piece of metal being hit by another piece of metal or a beater e.g. triangle, cymbals, cow bells rattling and jingling – instruments that make these sounds e.g. maracas, tambourines, jingle bells drums – all kinds with skin or plastic stretched across a frame (Tambourines could go in this category too but I usually put them with the rattling and jingling instruments with young children.) tuned – all percussion instruments that can play a tune e.g. chime bars, xylophones

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Lesson 1 (continued) • Give the instruments out in these groups entrusting the tuned instruments (they need to have at least 13 notes) to the children who were very comfortable with the rhythm. These children are going to add notes to the rhythm as shown in BIZET – Habanera Rhythm with Pitch (page 11). They will need two beaters.

HINT: When giving out instruments I always insist that they are not touched before I say so. This gives children the idea that instruments must be respected and gives you a quiet time to explain the task. If a child touches before they should, simply put the instrument into the middle of the circle for a few minutes – that usually sorts out the problem.

• Get each group to practise the rhythm in turn. It may work well here to give the groups time to practise together for a few minutes. It will help keep the rhythm secure if the children say the words in their thinking voices (in their heads) as they are playing.

• Now discuss how the piece should be put together. You could start with one group and then gradually add the others – or you could have each group play by themselves first and then all together. Try out different combinations until everyone is happy and you have a balanced piece of music. Add in dynamics (loud and soft) to add to the effect.

HINT: This is a tricky melody to sing with lots of very small intervals between the notes so don’t expect perfection.

Extension task for older, more advanced players If you have any fairly advanced instrumental players in your class they may like to learn to play the melody, which is printed out on page 12.

It would be a good learning tool for a recorder player who is looking to learn some new notes.

10 BIZET – Habanera Rhythm

11 BIZET – Habanera Rhythm with Pitch

12 BIZET – Habanera Melody

13 Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Claude Debussy was born in the French town of St-Germain-en-Laye in 1862.

He began piano lessons at the age of seven and entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was just ten. He spent much of his youth by the sea and would later tell people that he would rather have been a sailor than a composer!

Royal College of Music, London

He spent 11 years at the Paris Conservatoire, where he created his own ways of composing.

However his teachers often disapproved of his music. One once said: ‘I am not saying that what you do isn’t beautiful, but it’s… absurd.’

Debussy replied by saying simply: ‘You have merely to listen. Pleasure is the law.’

In 1889 Debussy visited the Paris World Exposition, a fair which featured exhibits from all over the world. Here Debussy first heard a Gamelan. A Gamelan is a Javanese orchestra made up of lots of gongs and xylophones.

Debussy appreciated its different sounds and rhythms and this is reflected in much of his own music.

The music of Debussy, and his pupil Maurice Ravel, are often compared with famous French Claude Debussy painters who were alive at the same time.

These painters, such as Monet, Cézanne and Renoir, were called Impressionists and they loved to bring movement and light into their pictures. Some people feel that the way Debussy also concentrated on beautiful effects in his music made him sound like an Impressionist composer.

Debussy himself however didn’t like the comparison at all.

The Legend of the Sunken Cathedral (La Cathédrale engloutie) Debussy took his inspiration for this piece from the French legend that tells the story of the grand city of Ys (or Is). The people there were greedy and lazy and so their god sank the city beneath the sea as punishment. However, every evening at sunset, the city’s cathedral would rise from the waves to remind everyone of the town’s punishment.

Debussy describes this part of the story in his music. The piece starts slowly and quietly, gradually building up as the cathedral comes out of the water. We hear the bells from the cathedral’s bell tower ring out before the music fades and slows and the cathedral retreats beneath the water. Music that tells a story like this is called programme music. The piece was originally written for piano, but has been rearranged for orchestra. This is called an arrangement.

14 Stephen Chadwick (born 1960) Stephen Chadwick is a composer with a broad interest in music, varying from classical and world music through to electronic and dance. He writes most of his music in the studio at the bottom of his garden.

Commissions from the London Philharmonic Orchestra have included Cotopaxi for panpipes and orchestra. Stephen also writes themes and incidental music for schools television programmes, including Numbertime, Words and Pictures, GCSE Bitesize and World Cup Stories.

In April 1999 he received a Royal Television Society Award for his work on the BBC’s Professor Allegro’s World of Music, Music Maker series.

Other awards include a BAFTA for Channel Four’s Grid Club Music Studio website. Recently he completed work on composing over 30 extracts of music for major Disney animations including Monsters Inc. and Jungle Book. Cinderella, based on Roald Dahl’s version from Revolting Rhymes, is one of his popular school musicals.

For more information visit www.stephenchadwick.com Stephen Chadwick

Celebrate This song was written to celebrate the 75th birthday of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. During its first 75 years the Orchestra played music all around the world and now reaches out to all parts of the community. The song invites everyone from the north, south, east and west to join in and help celebrate this achievement. It features several fanfares, with the final fanfare combining all the themes and elements to form a dynamic finale.

15 Lesson 2 – Song: Celebrate Listen to the song Celebrate on the CD (Track 1). The lyrics are on page 17. There are several contrasting sections beginning with a quiet introduction and then building towards the dynamic finale of Fanfare 3. These are divided into the following tracks: Introduction Chorus (lines 1-16) Chorus (lines 17-22) Fanfare 1 Chorus Fanfare 2 Chorus Fanfare 3

Track 2 Track 3 Track 4 Track 5 Track 6 Track 7 Track 8 Track 9

solos or group singing all sing all sing accompaniment A all sing accompaniments B and C all sing introduction melody and accompaniments A, B and C

At the concert a choir will sing the introduction and the extra vocals, but everyone will be asked to sing the chorus and perform accompaniments A and B. However, if suitable for the age and ability of your children, divide into groups and perform the extra vocal parts in Fanfares 2 and 3.

Singing the song To learn the chorus begin by reading through the words (page 17). Listen to the chorus several times (Track 3), then try singing the first 8 lines. Repeat, until confident. Then, move on to the next 8 lines which use the same melody, but with slightly different words.

Finally, work on the last 6 lines (Track 4). These are quite syncopated and it is important to listen to this part of the song several times before singing.

The introduction melody may be sung for school performance. However, if the children find it difficult to sing, this may be played as an instrumental section, substituting the singing for a movement activity (e.g. something that symbolises the coming together of a group of people, an awakening or growth). This melody also appears in Fanfare 3 in a lower key.

16 Lesson 3 – Song: Celebrate Fanfare 1 and 2 accompaniments Accompany Fanfares 1 and 2 with the following vocal and body percussion repeating patterns:

Listen to accompaniment A (Track 10) played on timpani and clave. Play the track again and copy the pattern in the gaps using the vocal and body percussion sounds. When confident, perform it with Fanfare 1 (Track 5), playing the pattern seven times.

Listen to accompaniment B (Track 11) played on bass drum and cymbal. Play the track again and copy the pattern in the gaps using the body percussion sounds. When confident, perform it with Fanfare 2 (Track 7), playing the pattern 15 times.

Listen to accompaniment C (Track 12) and copy the pattern in the gaps. When confident, perform it continuously with Fanfare 2 (Track 7), singing the pattern four times.

Perform accompaniment patterns B and C together by dividing into two groups.

Alternatively to extend the children, ask everyone to try performing both patterns at the same time.

Fanfare 3 accompaniments Accompany Fanfare 3 by dividing the class into two to four groups: • • • •

Group Group Group Group

1 2 3 4

sings the introduction melody (optional) performs accompaniment A performs accompaniment B performs accompaniment C (optional)

Perform the accompaniments as shown in Fanfare 3 on the lyrics page (page 17).

Track 13 is a karaoke version of the complete song.

17 Celebrate – Lyrics Introduction

Chorus

Come from the East, Come from the West.

Come from the North and from the South, Come be our guest.

Hear the music in the street Hear the rhythm and the beat Calling you To celebrate, Calling you, To celebrate,

Come and join Our band, We’re the greatest Band in the land.

Help us celebrate, Help us celebrate, All the music we make!

Come on mate! Celebrate!

Sing a song, Play a tune, Come and dance, We’re over the moon!

Help us celebrate, Help us celebrate, All the music we make!

Come on mate! Celebrate!

Bring your sounds, bring your grooves, And make the air vibrate.

Bring your spirit and your soul And celebrate! Celebrate!

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 And celebrate!

Fanfare 1 Accompaniment B - Bom sha bom sha bom

_ click _ click (repeat x7)

Chorus Fanfare 2 Accompaniment B - Celebration! Celebrate! Whey oh whey oh! (repeat x4) Accompaniment C - Stamp stamp clap _ (repeat x15) Chorus Fanfare 3 Group 1 Come from the East, Come from the West.

Come from the North and from the South, Come be our guest.

Hear the music in the street Hear the rhythm and the beat Calling you to celebrate,

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Group 2 Bom sha bom sha bom _ click _ click (repeat x8)

Group 3 Stamp stamp clap (repeat x16)

Group 4: Celebration!

Celebrate!

Whey oh whey on! (repeat x4)

Bom sha bom sha bom _ click _ click Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Stamp stamp clap (repeat x6)

Celebration!

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

18 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

19 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

20 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

21 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

22 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

23 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

24 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

25 Celebrate – Music and Lyrics

26 Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Benjamin Britten was born in Suffolk in 1913 in the small town of Lowestoft. He was already composing at the age of seven and his father, who was an amateur musician himself, nurtured his son’s musical talent and sent him to the Royal College of Music in London.

Alexander Bender

Britten grew up near the coast and, like Debussy, he also loved the sea. Much of his music is about the sea and the lives of people who live and work on it. Britten loved the coast so much that he would later set up his own concert hall and music society in the small fishing town of Aldeburgh in which he staged his own music and that of other artists he admired.

Benjamin Britten

Whilst at college Britten found his music was very different from that being written by his teachers and even after he left college, he wasn’t very successful. However in 1945, the first performance of his opera Peter Grimes was a massive success and he quickly became one of Britain’s most famous composers, writing many more operas and orchestral pieces.

He became so popular that, when the country needed a piece of music to commemorate the Second World War, Britten was asked to write it. His War Requiem was first performed in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral which had been heavily damaged in the war.

Four Sea Interludes and Peter Grimes Whilst he was living in America, Britten read a poem about a small fishing village in Suffolk and about the story of one fisherman in particular. The poem inspired Britten. ‘In a flash’, he said, ‘I realised two things; that I must write an opera, and where I belonged.’

He soon returned to Britain and wrote the opera Peter Grimes, which included the ‘Four Sea Interludes’. An Interlude is a small contrasting section of music in the middle of a large piece. For these interludes Britten wrote vivid music describing the sea in its many moods. In this particular section, there is a ferocious storm at sea. The swirling water and howling wind are represented by fast and loud strings, with sudden interjections from the brass and woodwind.

27 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Shostakovich was born in 1906 in St Petersburg in Russia. He was a child prodigy, which means he was an unusually gifted musician at a very young age.

When he was only 13 he went to the St Petersburg Conservatory where he studied composition and piano.

In 1917 there was a big change in the way Russia was governed. It became known as the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and, from the mid 1920s, was ruled Joseph Stalin. Stalin insisted that all musicians and artists only produce work that praised the way he ruled the country. This meant that for the whole of his life Shostakovich had to be very careful about what he composed.

1926 was a very bad year for Shostakovich.

Stalin condemned one of his compositions and after this almost all his other work dried up. He and his family had to live on just a quarter of his previous income. This was also the time of the ‘Great Terror’ when people whom Stalin did not trust were put in prison or killed. This happened to many of Shostakovich’s friends and relatives. The only good news that year was that Shostakovich’s daughter Galina was born. His son Maxim was born two years later.

Dmitri Shostakovich

After this Shostakovich tried to make his compositions acceptable to Stalin and often wrote flattering things about him on the title pages of his new works. However he also hid messages in his music telling how he really felt about Stalin and what was happening in his country.

In 1953 Stalin died and this made life a little easier for Shostakovich giving him more freedom to compose as he wished. Shostakovich died in 1975 of lung cancer.

Background to the Festive Overture Shostakovich did not write many overtures and would probably not have written this one but for a mistake by a friend of his – a conductor called Vassili Nebolsin.

On 6 November 1954, Vassili Nebolsin was due to conduct a concert to celebrate the 37th anniversary of the 1917 Revolution (when Russia became the USSR). Just a few days before the concert he realised that he had no suitable piece of music to open the concert. In the USSR at that time this could have led to his imprisonment and even death so he was very worried. He went to Shostakovich and asked him to write something – very quickly! Shostakovich agreed and began working straight away on the Festive Overture.

28 Dmitri Shostakovich Another friend of Shostakovich called Lev Nikolayevich Lebedinsky was with him at the time and said this: ‘Dmitri Dmitrievich, with his strange, unpredictable, almost schizophrenic character, had the notion that I brought him good fortune, although to my knowledge I never brought him any particular luck. He said: “Lev Nikolayevich, sit down here beside me and I’ll write the overture in no time at all.” Then he started composing. The speed with which he wrote was truly astounding.’

Within just two days the overture was complete and Vassili Nebolsin arranged for the orchestral parts to be transported from Shostakovich’s home to the rehearsal hall. When they arrived the ink on the music was still wet!

Useful Resource Website – http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/shostakovich.html

29 Lesson 4 Practical Activities • Set the task of getting the children to compose a piece of music suitable for a very important visitor.* The sting in the tail is that the visitor is coming at very short notice. They have just 15 minutes to do it!** Use any available instruments. Using just the notes C, E, G and top C will give a fanfare feel and, if you have keyboards, brass voices are a good option.

• After 15 minutes get everyone back together again to play to each other.

Discuss which would make the visitor feel most important.

• If you have access to the online Resources for Teachers or a recording, play the children the first minute of the Festive Overture.

Ask the children what sort of person they think this music was written for. (someone important) Discuss the style of the music. (grand, important, slow, using just a few notes) Also note the kind of instruments playing. (brass, big percussion) *It may be interesting to think about who this might be. Younger children will probably suggest the Queen or Prime Minister. Older ones might come up with names such as Nelson Mandela or an influential pop star. If you feel able to go with this, it will influence the kind of music that is composed (eg African instruments might be suitable for Nelson Mandela). **It is sometimes useful to limit the time children spend composing in groups in order to focus their minds. It can help to give children different roles. Thus you can have an instrument monitor, a time keeper, a note taker and a conductor in each group.

Listening Activities • Tell the children about Shostakovich and about the story of this piece. (See page 27.) If you have done the practical part of this lesson, point out the similarity of Shostakovich’s task to theirs.

• Using the online Resources for Teachers or a recording listen to the piece with your children and ask them to come up with descriptive words for the different passages in the piece – eg funny, sad, grand. Write these words down.

• Point out to the children the different moods there are in this one piece of music.

30 Lesson 5 Practical Activities • Remind the children of the work they did last time. Explain that this was quite grand and important music for an important person. Now ask them to imagine that they actually don’t like the person and they want to hide a clue of that in the music.

• Set the task of composing a piece of music to follow their fanfare that has some hint in it that they don’t like the important person. They are going to do this by making up a short musical idea and repeating it several times. On one of the repeats they need to hide their clue. It has to be quite well hidden though. It mustn’t take up the whole piece or they might get in trouble! Use all available instruments – tuned or untuned. Once again they only have 15 minutes.

• Come back together and perform to each other. Discuss how well the hints were hidden. Can the other children find them?

• Either now or later you could put the two sections of the pieces together. If you do not think this will work well for some groups you could choose the best ideas and make them into a whole class piece.

Last Minute Activities (in case you forget until you are on the way to the concert) Tell them about the following as described at the beginning of this section: • Shostakovich’s life.

• How and why he wrote this piece.

• Ask them to listen for contrasting moods in the music and prominent instruments.

31 Naxos Music Library Naxos have very kindly made recordings available to us from the Naxos Music Library (NML) for this concert.

The NML is available to subscribe to as an educational institution. There you will find over 584,800 complete tracks of music and educational text resources which you might find helpful for supplementary listening and study.

For more details of the Naxos Music Library and for subscription rates for schools, please contact nml@selectmusic.co.uk or (01737) 645600.

Features of the Naxos Music Library: • The NML is an online music resource with over 40,830 streamed CDs complete with printable text resources.

• The music comes from over 80 classical, world and jazz record labels, as well as all of the main Naxos labels.

• New releases and features are added regularly, with over 250 Naxos releases a year.

• A Playlist function, allowing you to create playlists for assignments and teaching.

• A ‘Text Search’, ‘Glossary’ and ‘Music Fundamental Terms’ are available.

• Static URLs of web links can be created, sent via email, or used in presentations and the music can be accessed simply by clicking on the link.

• A Junior Section, with interactive material, and pages on the instruments of the orchestra and a guide to composers of the classical world.

• A study area that includes practice questions and study notes for both GCSE and A-Level exams, with listening excerpts and playlists relevant to the topics discussed. The topics cover music history, genre and form, as well as aural questions.

• ABRSM Exam Playlists • Instrumentation and publisher information are now available for orchestra works.

32 London Philharmonic Orchestra History Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenure the Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passed from one illustrious musician to another, amongst them Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive tradition continued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, and in a further exciting move, the Orchestra appointed Yannick Nézet-Séguin, its new Principal Guest Conductor from September 2008. Julian Anderson became the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence in September 2010.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It plays there around 40 times each season with many of the world’s most sought after conductors and soloists. The Orchestra also has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. It is unique in combining these concert activities with esteemed opera performances each summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs to enthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra.

Touring continues to form a significant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and is supported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11 include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, the London Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domestic and international television and radio. It also works with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. Its own-label releases are widely available at record shops and can be downloaded from its website. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for the latest releases.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners through its rich programme of community and school-based activity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, which includes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, its Foyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstanding young instrumentalists, and regular family and schools concerts.

There are many ways to experience and stay in touch with the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk, subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhone application and join us on Facebook and Twitter.