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Tempo: Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
BORN: October 25, 1838, Paris, France DIED: June 3, 1875, Bougival, France
Biography (in Student Book)
Georges Bizet was born in 1838 and began showing his own musical talent at a young age. He began his studies at the Paris Conservatoire at age 10, where he continued to work on his composing. For one of his early compositions, he won an award called the Prix de Rome in 1857, which led to a pension to work at the French Academy in Rome. He lived in Rome for the next two years before returning to France in 1860. Later in his life, although he was admired by other composers of the time, Bizet was often overlooked and forgotten by the public. Furthermore, he seemed frustrated with his own compositions, starting several operas and then leaving them unfinished. Bizet wedded Geneviève Halévy in 1869; they had a son and a generally happy marriage. Bizet passed away at the early age of 36. Although he didn’t achieve widespread success during his lifetime, appreciation for his works continued to grow after his passing, with several of his operas reaching widespread popularity that Bizet would never get to see.
FUN FACTS (in Student Book)
• He was not the first musician in his family! His father was a voice teacher and his mother a skilled amateur pianist. • Although we know him as Georges Bizet, his original full name was Alexandre César Léopold Bizet. By his baptism two years later, his family was referring to him as Georges, though it is unclear how or why this name came about. • He left a lot of unfinished works. Of the thirty operas we know he started in his lifetime, he only finished six. However, he often reused material from pieces he left incomplete in his later works.
In 1827, Georges Bizet composed the incidental music for Alphonse Daudet’s play, L’Arlésienne (“The Maid of Arles”). The farandole is a celebratory folk dance, in which dancers join hands and wind in and out in a chain. While the play was not considered a huge success, the music was well-received, and Bizet arranged four of the 27 numbers in a suite for orchestra. Four years after Bizet’s death, his friend Ernest Guiraud arranged a second suite, from which the farandole is taken. The melody of this farandole is a motif taken from a popular French Christmas song titled “March of the Kings,” with origins dating back to the 13th century.
FUNDAMENTAL OF MUSIC: Tempo
Tempo is the speed of music. It is a steady, constant pulse, like a clock ticking or your heart beating. Tempi can be slow or fast or in-between, and can change during a song. Tempo influences how music sounds and feels. The same piece of music will sound different if it is played slower or faster.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY #1: Tempo Map
NORTH CAROLINA ESSENTIAL STANDARDS IN MUSIC:
4.ML.2.4 Interpret standard symbols and traditional terms for dynamics, tempo and articulation while performing (listening and moving to) music. 4.MR.1.1 Illustrate perceptual skills by moving to, answering questions about and describing aural examples of music of various styles and cultures.
OBJECTIVE:
Students will identify and use the correct terms for different tempo speeds. Students will respond and move to different tempos and identify tempos of various songs while listening.
MATERIALS:
• Metronome (Online option) Tempo-Metronome • Song samples (See table below) • Handout: Brainstorm Worksheet
PROCESS:
1. Define tempo: The speed at which a piece of music is or should be played. 2. Introduce tempo vocabulary—Largo, Adagio, Andante, Allegro, and Presto—and play short examples of each tempo using a metronome. Explain beats per minute and how each tempo marking represents a range not a single BPM.
When you play the examples, you may want to use the BPM listed for the song samples below. 3. Play longer examples of each tempo and allow the students to move around the room or in place. They may move in ways they feel are representative for the tempo they hear. 4. Play each tempo and have the students brainstorm what they think of when they hear each tempo. You can use the
Brainstorm Worksheet below. 5. Randomly play the song samples below and have students use their brainstorming sheet, as well as movement to identify the tempo of each song.
Tempo BPM Song Title
Presto Very fast 168-200 Sabre Dance Approx. 171 bpm
Allegro Fast 120-168 Stars & Stripes Forever Approx. 120 bpm
Andante
Walking pace 76-108
Stayin’ Alive Approx. 103 bpm
Adagio
Slow and Stately 66-76
Crazy Approx. 72 bpm
Largo Very Slow 40-66 Nothing Compares 2 U Approx. 60 bpm
Link
Tempo-Presto
Tempo-Allegro
Tempo-Andante
Tempo-Adagio
Tempo-Largo
NORTH CAROLINA ESSENTIAL STANDARDS IN MUSIC:
4.ML.2.4 Interpret standard symbols and traditional terms for dynamics, tempo and articulation while performing (listening to and analyzing) music.
OBJECTIVE:
Students will understand that musical tempos can change in a composition. Students will identify different ways that the tempo can change, and “conduct” music and/or movement to express different tempos.
MATERIALS:
• Video Recording: Edvard Grieg: “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt Tempo-Grieg • Video Recording: Georges Bizet: Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 • Online Interactive: Semi-Conductor Tempo-Semi-Conductor • Online Interactive: Body Synth Tempo-Body Synth
PROCESS:
1. Review the tempo vocabulary and information from the previous lesson. 2. Play “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt and ask the students what they observed about the tempo of the song. (Gradual acceleration) 3. Play Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 and ask the students what they observed about the tempo of the song. (Sudden tempo changes) 4. Discuss how music can have a steady tempo and changing tempo as well. 5. Introduce students to the online interactives. If students have their own devices, they can experiment individually with creating steady/changing tempos using Semi-Conductor and Body Synth. If students do not have their own devices, the teacher can set up a computer for display and let students take turns using the interactive programs. 6. Students can also work in groups and conduct their peers playing instruments, singing, or even just moving to the beat. 7. Review the tempo vocabulary and that music can have steady or changing tempos.
