musiqa
Winner 2008 and 2009 Access to Artistic Excellence Grants
National Endowment for the Arts
Hobby Center For the
Performing Arts
Spring 2009 Children’s Program May 12th – 16th
CONCERT PROGRAM AND STUDY GUIDE
created by Karim Al-Zand and Anthony Brandt
Sponsored by:
Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund Farb Foundation Bridgeway Charitable Foundation Herzstein Foundation Strake Foundation
Aaron Copland Fund for Music Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Houston Endowment Inc. Powell Foundation Simmons Foundation Wolff Foundation
In association with:
Musiqa is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ……………………………………………………4
Program ……………………………………………………7
Collecting Folk Songs ……………………………………………………9
Wimoweh (“Mbube”) ……………………………………………………9
Estrella é lua nova ……………………………………………………10
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain ……………………………………………………10
Rumanian Folk Dance No. 1 ……………………………………………………11
Setting A Folk Song ……………………………………………………12
Black is the Color ……………………………………………………12
Clair de Lune ……………………………………………………14
Inventing A Folk Song ……………………………………………………15
Swing High, Swing Low (Lullaby) ……………………………………………………16
Ballo ……………………………………………………16
Composing With A Folk Song ……………………………………………………16
He is There! ……………………………………………………17
Down by the Riverside ……………………………………………………17
Down by the Riverside for solo piano ……………………………………………………18
Red Pajamas ……………………………………………………18
Finale ……………………………………………………19
This Land is Your Land ……………………………………………………19
Musical Terminology ……………………………………………………20
Music Notation ……………………………………………………21
Music in the Classroom ……………………………………………………22
Music and… ……………………………………………………22
Describing Music in Words ……………………………………………………23
Conclusion ……………………………………………………23
One-Sheet Lesson Plans ……………………………………………………24
Further Resources ……………………………………………………28
Concert Etiquette ……………………………………………………30
About Musiqa ……………………………………………………34
Composer Biographies ……………………………………………………31
Performer Biographies ……………………………………………………34
AROUND THE WORLD WITH MUSIQA
An Educational Program Presented in collaboration with the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
created by
Karim Al-Zand and Anthony Brandt
INTRODUCTION Researchers have established that there have been cultures without written language, without religion or without science. But there has never been a culture without music. Music thus plays a central, universal role in human experience.
No better proof of this exists than the rich heritage of folk songs that is part of every culture in the world. Folk songs are the shared songs of a people, a touchstone of their identity and an expression of their passions and views of life.
Throughout history, composers from around the world have created arrangements of folk songs. These settings are as varied as they are numerous. Some remain very close to their source; others are more adventurous. Performing these arrangements alongside the original folk songs is a way of dramatizing how something shared by a community can be transformed into something unique —an art work that is rooted in tradition yet also vividly personal.
The program for Around the World with Musiqa is divided into four sections:
In Part I, we discuss how folk songs are collected, recorded and transcribed. In Part II, we explore how various composers have created highly imaginative arrangements of folk songs. In Part III, we celebrate the birth of new folk songs: songs created by modern composers in a folk style and using popular texts. In Part IV, we explore how folk songs are often the basis for more abstract instrumental works.
What is a folk song? Louis Armstrong once said: “All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing.” This is certainly true. All music is created, performed and enjoyed by human beings. The term ‘folk music’ however, usually implies music with a certain communality of origin, purpose and performance. We often don’t know who exactly composed a particular folk song, for example, or even when exactly it came into being. Folk songs aren’t meant to be performed exclusively by practiced professionals or in specially designated places. And, above all, folk songs are participatory. Some folk tunes are ancient, passed down from generation to generation; others are newly created. Some exist with fixed words and melodies; others occur in a variety of versions. But folk songs can be sung by anyone, anywhere and at any time. It is a music that is truly by and of the people.
Almost every activity, interest and emotion has found its way into folk song. Around the World with Musiqa offers a representative sampling: There are songs of love, such as Black is the color of my true love’s hair and songs of longing, such as Ballo. There are spiritual songs, such as Down by the Riverside. There are lullabies, songs for festive occasions, songs of work and songs of play. The folk song repertoire can be seen as an enormous catalogue of our collective feelings, hopes and experiences as human beings.
Although many of the melodies are old, all of the arrangements and compositions performed on the program were created by modern composers. Many distinguished and important composers from all parts of the world are represented, such as the Americans George Crumb, Roy Harris, Charles Ives and Frederic Rzewski, the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos, the Hungarian Bela Bartok and the Italian Lucian Berio. Several of the works presented were created by Musiqa composers especially for this program. Anthony Brandt has created an arrangement of Mbube, the Zulu melody made famous by Pete Seeger and later used in the animated film The Lion King (with the title The Lion Sleeps Tonight). Pierre Jalbert has created an arrangement of the beautiful and familiar French melody Clair de Lune. Shih-Hui Chen will show us how a lullaby is created from a traditional Taiwenese text. Karim Al-Zand has written a series of instrumental variations on the popular tune She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain. Finally, to close the program, Marcus Maroney has created an arrangement of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land.
Host Susan Koozin narrates the program, guiding the students through each topic and discussing what to listen for in each musical selection. Surtitles enable the children to read and sing along with the musicians. The musical performances are supplemented by lighting and props to help create a truly theatrical experience.
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We hope that the students will leave the program with a stronger understanding of music and its role in all of our lives. In addition, we hope to dramatize how a modern composer’s imagination can add yet another dimension to the rich folk tradition. For audiences, folk songs are a bridge that can connect the musical past to the musical future, the familiar to the unfamiliar. For composers, the folk song repertoire is a deep well that can replenish inspiration and sustain the joy of creation. It is our goal that the students experience a unique and exciting musical event and, more importantly, that they leave with a new sense of a curiosity about the cultural opportunities that surround them.
This study guide is designed to help teachers prepare their students for the Musiqa program and to discuss it with them afterwards. Included are the texts and descriptions of all the works on the program, the composers’ biographies, a glossary of important musical terms, suggestions for further study, and ideas for bringing more music into the classroom. The “one-sheets” on pp. 24-27 offer brief and handy suggestions for how to incorporate songs from the program into classroom lesson plans.
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PROGRAM
Karol Bennett, soprano Susan Koozin, narrator
Eric Bean, clarinet; Richard Belcher, cello; Sydney Carlson, flute; Sean Wang, violin; Rod Waters, piano; Blake Wilkins, percussion
Script by Rob Smith
COLLECTING FOLK SONGS
Wimoweh (“Mbube”) (Zulu) arranged by Anthony Brandt
Estrella é lua nova (Brazil) arranged by Heitor Villa-Lobos
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain (United States) arranged by Ruth Crawford Seeger
Rumanian Folk Dance No. 1 (Hungary) arranged by Bela Bartok
SETTING A FOLK SONG
Black is the Color (United States)
Version 1 (excerpt) arranged by John Jacob Niles
Version 2 (excerpt) arranged by George Crumb re-orchestrated by Anthony Brandt
Version 3 arranged by Roy Harris
Version 4 arranged by Rob Smith
Clair de Lune (France) Version 1 Ferdnand de la Tombelle Version 2 arranged by Pierre Jalbert
INVENTING A FOLK SONG
Swing High, Swing Low (Lullaby) (Taiwan) Shih-Hui Chen
Ballo (Sicily) Luciano Berio
COMPOSING WITH A FOLK SONG
Down by the Riverside (American Gospel Hymn) arranged by Anthony Brandt Down by the Riverside for solo piano (excerpt) Frederic Rzewski
He is There Charles Ives (excerpt)
Red Pajamas Karim Al-Zand
FINALE
This Land is Your Land Woody Guthrie arranged by Marcus Maroney
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM
COLLECTING FOLK SONGS Especially within the last one hundred years, great efforts have been made to record and preserve the folk music from around the world. “Songcatchers” is the term used to describe musicians who collect folk songs. Under often unpredictable conditions, risking exposure to disease and the elements, songcatchers have set out into the countryside and remote areas to record and transcribe indigenous song. The Hungarian composers Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly traveled with wax cylinders, the first recording equipment. The cylinders were cumbersome and difficult to carry, making this patient and painstaking work. The technology has rapidly improved: Songcatchers have graduated from cylinders to cassette recorders and now to digital equipment.
Folk music is generally not written down. Transcribing a folk melody—that is, writing it down in standard Western musical notation—is often difficult and approximate. Native singers often use vocal inflections and rhythmic freedom that doesn’t fit comfortably in Western notation. Nevertheless, transcribing the melodies has enormous benefits: It allows the music to be published and therefore more widely disseminated.
Thanks to the work of songcatchers, native songs that might have remained obscure or lost altogether have been preserved, studied, and are now heard and sung by people the world over.
Wimoweh (“Mbube”)
TEXT
Chorus Imbube, mbube Lion, stay away
Mbube is of Zulu origin. It was recorded in South Africa by Solomon Linda and his group The Original Evening Birds in 1939. Mbube is an example of the tortured path often followed by folk songs as they gain popularity and become part of mass market culture. The famous American folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger heard the Evening Birds’ recording, created his own version of the song, and changed the title to Wimoweh—a mispronunciation of the original title. Wimoweh was released with great success by Seeger’s band, The Weavers. In 1961, a rock band, the Tokens made an adaptation of Seeger’s version, added English lyrics, and retitled the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The Tokens’ song-writers Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George Weiss were credited as the lyricists and composers. The Tokens’ version topped the charts worldwide and was recorded by over 170 artists, earning millions of dollars in royalties for Peretti, Creatore and Weiss. The song gained renewed popularity when it was included in the soundtrack for the 1994 animated film The Lion King.
Meanwhile, Solomon Linda had signed away the rights to his song in 1952 for less than a dollar. He lived in poverty, working as a floor sweeper, and died penniless in 1962. A lawsuit, on behalf of Linda’s heirs, was finally resolved in February 2006: The Linda family was awarded a share of royalties from 1987 to the present.
As is often the case in indigenous song, the meaning of the song is open to interpretation. The Zulu word for lion is “imbube.” The Zulu word “mbube” has been translated in contradictory ways. Scholar David Düsing translates it as “wake up.” According to Düsing, the last king of the Zulus, Chaka, was known as “the Lion.” Düsing explains: “Following his death, a legend arose that ‘the Lion’ was only sleeping and would one day awaken.” However, Linda’s youngest daughter translates “mbube” as “stay away.” She reported that the song was inspired by Linda’s childhood job as a herder, guarding his cattle against marauding lions. To her, the lyrics implore the lion to leave the flock alone.
In the original recording, Solomon Linda’s voice soars over a chorus of men chanting “imbube, mbube.” The arrangement by Musiqa’s Anthony Brandt, created especially for this program, is adapted from Pete Seeger’s recorded performance. Instead of lyrics, Seeger sings a “vocalise”—a wordless melody—over the chanted refrain, accompanying himself on the banjo. In Brandt’s adaptation, the singer performs Seeger’s vocalise and the piano takes on the role of the banjo. Meanwhile, the other instruments play echoes of the melody and accompaniment, weaving them into intricate textures.
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Featured Work Solomon Linda’s original recording is available on “Mbube Roots (Zulu Choral Music from South Africa), released on the Rounder Select label (#5025). Pete Seeger’s version is available on “Pete Seeger’s Greatest Hits,” Sony 65711. The Tokens’ version is available on the album “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” RCA 66510. The Lion King soundtrack is released on Disney B0000CABJ2. Estrella é lua nova
TEXT Estrella é lua nova A Star is a New Moon Estrella do céo é lua nova A star in heaven is a new moon Cravejada de ouro, makumbebê bejewelled in gold Makumbebê Óia a makumbebê, óia a Makumaribá! Look at makumbebê, look at Makumaribá!
According to Stela Bandáo, Estrella é lua nova is a “ceremonial chant picked by Villa-Lobos from the Macuma, an Afro-Brazilian ritual, which mixes Portuguese and (native) Kibundo language, practiced mostly in Rio de Janeiro.” The text is thus a hybrid of languages, both native and colonial. Bandaó continues: “The chanting would lead to trances, creating a freer communication with deities and the elements and spirits of nature.”
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is widely regarded as one of South America’s greatest composers. He devotedly collected folk songs in his hometown. He also made several expeditions to record indigenous songs, traveling into the Amazon jungle and other remote areas. He later told colorful tales of visiting cannibal tribes and other adventures. He developed a strongly personal compositional voice, rooted in the vernacular music of his culture. As Villa-Lobos once remarked, “My music is as natural as a waterfall.” Extremely prolific, he wrote concert music in every possible genre.
Featured Work Estrella é lua nova RCA 09026-63726-2
Other Recommended Works Bacchianas Brazilerias Angel 66964
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain
TEXT
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes. (Toot, toot!) She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes. (Toot, toot!) She'll be coming round the mountain, she'll be coming round the mountain, She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes.
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes. (Whoa back!) She'll be driving six white horses when she comes. (Whoa back!) She'll be driving six white horses, she'll be driving six white horses, She'll be driving six white horses when she comes.
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes (Hi, Babe) Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes (Hi, Babe) Oh, we'll all go out to meet her, we'll all go out to meet her, We'll all go out to meet her when she comes.
She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes. (Scratch, scratch!)
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She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes. (Scratch, scratch!) She'll be wearing red pajamas, she'll be wearing red pajamas, She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes.
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes. (Snore) She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes. (Snore) She will have to sleep with Grandma, she will have to sleep with Grandma, She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes.
We will all have chicken and dumplings when she comes. (Yum, yum!) We will all have chicken and dumplings when she comes.(Yum, yum!) We will all have chicken and dumplings, we'll all have chicken and dumplings. We will all have chicken and dumplings when she comes.
The source of the popular American Folksong She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain is not known, though it probably originated in the second half of the nineteenth century. It has been recorded countless times by folk singers ranging from Pete Seeger to Buffy Saint-Marie and is a perennial favorite children’s song. The simple lyrics refer to the arrival of a train (“toot, toot”) or covered wagon (“she’ll be driving six white horses”), an exciting and important event in small town, rural America. The occasion would mean the arrival of visitors and special deliveries. In The Music Man, composer Meredith Wilson uses a similar conceit when the River City townsfolk sing “Oh-o, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street. Oh please let it be for me!” She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain is a particularly good example of a folksong since its simple lyrics (only a single short sentence) permit easy, spontaneous invention. The lyrics given above are only a small sampling of the most popular ones.
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) was born in Liverpool, Ohio. She was one of the first American composers to be influenced by the revolutionary teachings of the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, one of the pioneers of 20th-century music. Seeger’s own concert works are considered important landmarks of American music. However, after the birth of her children, she largely gave up composing, and focused instead on transcribing and publishing a rich body of folk song. Her children —most notably her stepson Pete Seeger— followed in her footsteps, and popularized American indigenous music.
Featured Work She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain Rounder Select 8001
Other Recommended Works Selected Chamber Music CRI 658
Rumanian Folk Dance No. 1 for violin and piano (Joc cu Bâta) As described by musicologist André Gertler, Bartok’s set of Rumanian folk dances were collected “from peasants and Gypsies during his pioneering ethno-musicological field trips through Hungary in 1910-14. [The] works were first arranged for solo piano, though Bartók would have originally heard these tunes played on fiddle, shepherd’s flute, or bagpipe.” Joc cu Bâta is from Maros-Torda county of Hungary.
In Bartok’s transcription, the first half of the tune is played and then repeated, as is the second half. Although Bartok’s accompaniment is meant to be relatively inconspicuous, he carefully heightens each repetition, making the second statement of each half more expressive and dramatic.
Bela Bartok (1881-1945) is one of the towering masters of 20th-century music. Bartok was born in Hungary and he emigrated to the United States in 1940 when he was forced to flee the Nazis. He was a pioneer in the recording and analysis of folk music, transcribing many Hungarian, Rumanian and Turkish songs. His own music combines this interest in folk music with a rigorous, thoughtful modernism, producing a unique and extremely influential body of work. He was never fully recognized in the United States during his lifetime: Columbia University hired him as an ethnomusicologist, not a composer, and he died of leukemia in near poverty.
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Featured Work Rumanian Folk Dances Innov. Music Prod. #2044
Other Recommended Works Concerto for Orchestra Deutsche Grammophon 437826
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste Deutsche Grammophon 447747
FOR FURTHER STUDY
American Folk Songs for Children by Ruth Crawford Seeger Score: Oak Publishing 65076 Recording: Rounder Select 8001
Songcatcher: Music Inspired by the 2000 feature film about the ethnomusicologist Dr. Lily Penleric Vanguard 79586
SETTING A FOLK SONG
A folk song is usually just a melody, sung alone or in groups. If there is an instrumental accompaniment, it tends to be quite simple, capable of being played by local and often untrained musicians.
Composers throughout music history have tried their hand at creating folk song arrangements. In a folk song arrangement, the composer generally preserves the original melody, but creates a more elaborate accompaniment, choosing distinctive harmonies, instrumental colors and rhythms. Often, the composer will try to find ways to highlight the spirit and heritage of the original, but in a more personal way. Thus, a song shared by all comes to bear the stamp of a particular musical personality. In this section of the program, we compare “authentic” versions of two folk songs with more unusual and original settings. Studying folk song arrangements provides a rare glimpse into a composer’s creative process: We can observe how a familiar source gives rise to often unexpected and unusual sounds. Black is the Color
TEXT Black is the Color Black black black is the color of my true love's hair His lips are something rosy fair The sweetest smile and the kindest hands I love the grass whereon he stands I love my love and well he knows I love the grass whereon he goes If he no more on earth will be 'Twill surely be the end of me
As is often the case with folk songs, the source of Black is the color is disputed. It is generally regarded as an Appalachian folk tune, though some scholars have traced the roots of both its text and tune back to British 18th-century ballads. The folk song specialist John Jacob Niles is widely credited with “discovering” and popularizing it in the early 20th-century. However, in the Introduction to a collection of his songs, Niles claims to have actually composed its famous melody: “In the case of Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair…the text is indeed in the public domain, but the tune (which is the tune now employed wherever the song is sung) was composed by me, because I felt that the traditional one, dull beyond belief, was unworthy of that fine text.” Roy Harris, George Crumb and Luciano Berio all regarded the melody to be of Appalachian origin. Whatever its source, it is a supremely beautiful song, one of the treasures of the literature.
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FOUR SETTINGS John Jacob Niles’ setting for voice and piano is the most straightforward and “authentic” of this group of arrangements. Nevertheless, Niles’ setting is not plain: The melody is accompanied by a rich progression of harmonies that color each word of the text very poignantly. Niles’ setting offers a point of reference against which we compare the more elaborate and personal settings of Crumb, Harris and Berio.
American composer John Jacob Niles (1892-1980) was born in Kentucky into a musical family. From an early age, he began collecting, transcribing and publishing folk songs. He became an accomplished balladeer, much in demand as a performer and recording artist. In the 1950s, he began to write more extended concert works. However, he is best known for his ballads and folk arrangements: He is widely recognized as a pioneer and champion of indigenous American song. .
Featured Work Black is the color “The John Jacob Niles” collection, Gifthorse Records G410008
Other Recommended Works The Hangman and I Wonder as I Wander from the same album
George Crumb’s setting of Black is the color is drawn from a set of Appalachian Folk songs titled Unto the Hills that Crumb arranged for his daughter Ann, an actress and singer. It was originally scored for soprano, amplified piano and four percussionists. Crumb writes about the work: “In confronting these songs head on, so to speak, I determined to leave the beautiful melodies intact…since one could not hope to “improve” on their pristine perfection.” Crumb and his daughter chose from among several versions of the song. As a result, Crumb’s melody differs slightly from that used by Niles, Harris and Berio, though it is still very recognizable. Crumb accompanies the voice with exotic and imaginative sounds: the percussion uses includes cymbals, chimes, and bass drum. He writes further: “I have attempted to bring out the psychological depth and mysticism…inherent in Appalachian folklore.” Crumb’s colorful soundscape is rescored for the Musiqa program by Anthony Brandt
Born in Charleston, West Virginia, composer George Crumb (b. 1929) is one of the most influential and revered living American composers. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1968, and a Grammy Award in 2001. From his official web-site: “George Crumb's music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles. The references range from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western music. Many of Crumb's works include programmatic, symbolic, mystical and theatrical elements, which are often reflected in his beautiful and meticulously notated scores. A shy, yet warmly eloquent personality, Crumb retired from his teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania after
more than 30 years of service. [He has been] awarded honorary doctorates by numerous universities and the recipient of dozens of awards and prizes,” Crumb has been married for fifty years, and has three children.. Featured work Unto the Hills Bridge 9139
Other recommended works Voice of the Whale Black Box BBM 1076
Ancient Voices of Children CRI803
Roy Harris’ American Ballads were written in 1942-45 for his wife, a noted pianist. In his short version for solo piano, fragments of Black is the color appear as if out of the mists, then recede into a haze of piano chords. The result is a tender and meditative reflection on the song.
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American composer Roy Harris (1898-1979) was born in Oklahoma. He was a truck driver for several years in his youth, but then found his way to Paris, where he studied with Nadia Boulanger, one of the great composition teachers of the 20th-century. A prolific composer, his music always remained rooted in a sense of American folk heritage. He also encouraged the dissemination of American music: He hosted a radio show in the 1930’s called “Let’s Make Music,” and remained involved in broadcasting into the 1950’s.
Featured Work American Ballads for Piano Albany 105
Other Recommended Works Third Symphony Sony 60594
Rob Smith’s setting of Black is the Color uses the original unaltered melody, but presents it at a much quicker tempo than it is traditionally performed. The opening notes of the melody – “Black, black, black” – are passed throughout the instruments to create much of the background accompaniment. Rapid piano figures and dense swelling chords in the strings and winds make for a lush mood, despite the fast tempo. A dreamy and more introspective atmosphere is found near the end of this passage – “and the kindest hands” – by Rob’s use of loose imitation as the music gradually slows down. This arrangement was written specifically for this Musiqa program. Clair de Lune
TEXT Au clair de la lune, Tonight by the moonlight, Mon ami Pierrot, Pierrot, my dear friend Prête-moi ta plume A note I would soon write, Pour écrire un mot. If a pen you'd lend. Ma chandelle est morte, Burnt out is my candle, Je n'ai plus de feu. and my fire is cold Ouvre-moi ta porte unlock your door handle Pour l'amour de Dieu! for God's love of old.
Au clair de la lune, In the moonlight bright then, Pierrot répondit: Pierrot answered me: Je n'ai pas de plume, I do not have a pen, Je suis dans mon lit. I'm in bed, you see. Va chez la voisine, Go next door, the neighbor Je crois qu'elle y est. does not yet retire, Car dans sa cuisine. In the Kitchen labors On bat le briquet. Someone at the fire. Au clair de la lune, Only by the moonlight On n'y voitque peu; Not much can be told. On chercha la plume They search for a pen now On chercha le feu. Then the fire behold. Cherchant de la sorte Searching this and that way Ne sais c'qu'on trouva; Who knows what they'll find. Mais je sais qu'la porte This much tho' I can say, Sur eux se ferma They closed the door behind
Composer Pierre Jalbert writes: “The French Folk Melody Au Clair de la Lune (In Shining Moonlight) is generally attributed to Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), one of the most famous French composers of the Baroque period. He served as Court Composer to King Louis XIV of France for much of his life and composed many operas, instrumental music and religious music.
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The song is presented here in two versions. The first, an arrangement by Ferdnand de la Tombelle, is a more subdued, ‘classical’ version of the song. The second is an arrangement by me; a more animated, rollicking version that one might hear at a French family gathering.”
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) was born in Florence. He moved to Paris in 1646 at the invitation of the Chevalier de Guise. In 1653 his success as a court composer resulted in his appointment as King Louis XIV’s official composer of instrumental music. Lully’s accomplishments included collaborations with the great French playwright Moliére and a series of early French operas. He eventually became France’s most celebrated musician. He died a particularly unfortunate death. He conducted using a large staff, which he used to beat time. At a performance in 1687, he accidentally struck his foot. Gangrene set in, and he died three months later.
Fernand de la Tombelle (1854- 1928) was born in Paris. A Baron and true Renaissance man, he was a poet, artist, composer skillful organist, philosopher and scientist. Although he achieved considerable renown in France during his lifetime, his music is now largely forgotten.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Benjamin Britten: Folk Song Arrangements Naxos 8557220-21 Aaron Copland: Old American Songs Sony 42430 Gyorgy Ligeti: A Cappella Choral Works Sony 62305
INVENTING A FOLK SONG
The composer of a folk song is often not known to us. Perhaps there may have been a single original author at one time, but their identity has faded away. Or perhaps a folk song is simply an ever changing musical organism, with layers of additions and emendations by many nameless composers incorporated over time—this would explain the often quite different versions of many folk songs that exist. The author of a folk song might have been a parent singing to their child, workers toiling in the fields, a troop of soldiers or a preacher. On the other hand, some songs can be traced back to established composers like Woody Guthrie or even Jean-Baptiste Lully. But whomever the composer, a folk song is usually passed along from person to person, from family to family, and from generation to generation, until it becomes part of the collective spirit of a people.
Sometimes classically trained composers try their hand at creating folk songs by adding music to popular texts. In theses cases, the authorship and creative genesis of the work is better documented. In this section of the program, we explore the making of a folk song from scratch: How a composer takes a popular text and invents music to bring it to life as a new folk song creation.
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Swing High, Swing Low (Lullaby)
TEXT 搖呀搖， Swing high, swing low 搖到內山 Into the hills we go 去挽茄。 Where eggplants grow 挽若多？ Plenty we’ll pick today 挽夠一飯籬。 ‘Nough for a rice basket 也好吃， Yummy to the last bit 也好賣， So hot on the market 也好給嬰仔作度晬。 Perfect for babe’s first birthday
Composer Shih-Hui Chen writes: “I found the text of this lullaby while researching Taiwanese folk music. This rich and imaginative Taiwanese text evokes a carefree childhood and has no specific melodies attached to it. My goal is to create a newly composed piece that, though it might be modern and distinctly Taiwanese, will also exhibit a universal quality that can be appreciated by all cultures and ages. The translation is by Tao-Lin Hwang.” The work is scored for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Ballo (“Dance”)
TEXT Ballo Dance Amor fa disciare li più saggi Love makes even the wisest mad, [e] chi più l'ama meno ha in sè misura and he who loves most has least judgment. più folle è quello che più s'innamorathe. The greater lover is the greater fool.
Amor non cura di fare suoi dannaggi Love is careless of the harm he does. co li suoi raggi mette tal calura His darts cause such a fever che non puo raffreddare per freddura. that not even coldness can cool it.
Luciano Berio’s Ballo is another example of an invented folk song. Berio took a Sicilian folk text and created this exciting song. To portray love-stricken “madness,” the soprano imitates the instruments at frenetic speed on the syllables “la-la-la-la” before launching into each verse.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
•Maurice Ravel: Chansons Madecasses (Madagascar Songs) Sony 64107 Ravel’s cycle based of Madagascar folk texts is a riveting and colorful work. The middle song, “Aoua!” is a protest of the colonization of Africa. It is one of the great political songs in the classical repertoire.
COMPOSING WITH A FOLK SONG
In the final section of the program, we explore how a composer might use a folk melody as a point of departure for an “abstract” musical composition, often using only the melody without the text. The composer might embellish the melody, break it into fragments, vary its speed, harmony and register and combine it with other tunes. Often, composers are attracted to a particular tune because of the political, emotional or historic significance of the text. However, once the folk melody becomes part of the “abstract” composition and is divorced from the lyrics, it takes on a life of its own, with new functions and meanings.
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Ives: He is There! (excerpt) In a straightforward folk setting, there is naturally only one tune at a time. Charles Ives is famous for blending, intertwining and layering folk tunes and other musical quotations as a way of representing the democratic spirit of the American people. His song He is There! is one of a set of three based on the text of John McCrae, a physician in the Canadian army during World War I. At the song’s climax, Ives combines two traditional melodies: The voice and piano play Columbia, Gem of the Ocean while the flute plays Dixie. The excerpt also includes the well-known melody The Battle Cry of Freedom.
Charles Ives (1974-1954) is widely regarded as the “father” of the experimental American tradition. Born in Danbury, Connecticut in 1874, he attended Yale University. His greatest musical influence was his father, a freethinking musician who encouraged his son to be daring. His professional life was unique: During the day, he was a very successful insurance salesman. At night, he was a composer of songs, chamber music and orchestral music. Most of Ives’ music was rarely performed in his lifetime, and his papers were left in disarray at his death. However, through the painstaking work of editors, much of his deeply original work has been rescued and is now widely performed.
Featured Work He is There Albany Records B0000049MM
Other Recommended Works The Unanswered Question Symphony No. 2 Deutsche Grammophon 429220
Down by the Riverside
TEXT Gonna lay down my heavy load Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my heavy load Down by the riverside Ain't gonna study war no more.
refrain
I ain't gonna study war no more, I ain't gonna study war no more, Study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more, I ain't gonna study war no more, Study war no more. Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Ain't gonna study war no more.
Down by the Riverside is a traditional Afro-American spiritual. Many spirituals were created at camp meetings, where several hundred slaves would gather at night and hear the gospel read by a traveling black preacher. The sermon gradually built in intensity, as the preacher became more impassioned and the congregation became more vocal,
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until someone would finally break into song. Some songs were quickly forgotten, but others were passed on from generation to generation, creating a timeless legacy born out of despair and suffering.
Frederic Rzewski’s North American Ballads for solo piano were written in 1978. Down by the Riverside begins with a straightforward presentation of the spiritual melody. Rzewski then develops fragments of the melody in intricate ways, creating an imaginative panorama of shifting moods.
In Musiqa’s performance, we will begin by singing two verses of the spiritual. We will then segue into an excerpt from Rzewski’s piano work, showing how the composer elaborates on the folk tune.
Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938) was born in Westfield, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard and Princeton. However, a trip to Italy in 1960 changed his musical outlook: There he met many avant-garde musicians, with whom he began collaborating. He didn’t return to the United States until 1971. In 1977, he moved back to Europe, and still teaches at the Royal Music Conservatory in Belgium. His compositions are known for having overtly political overtones: One of his most famous works, Coming Together, is a setting of letters by a prisoner killed in the Attica prison riots. His music also often includes improvisation —passages not strictly written out by the composer that may be “composed” on the spot by the performer. A world-class pianist, Mr. Rzewski has toured extensively performing his own music.
Featured Work Four North American Ballads CRI 653
Other Recommended Works The People United Will Never Be Defeated Hyperion CDA670
Red Pajamas Red Pajama Variations is an instrumental ‘Theme and Variations’ using the folksong “She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.” Theme and Variations is a common musical form whose roots go back to the 17th century. The ‘Theme,’ presented first, is typically an unadorned melody with a simple harmonic accompaniment. Following the theme are a series of ‘Variations’ which are essentially repetitions of the theme, but each cleverly disguised and embellished in a variety of ways. There might be anywhere from two or three variations to fifty or more! If you listen carefully, you can often hear within a variation the basic structure of the original melody and harmony. This is the appeal of Theme and Variation form, both for a composer and an audience: the variations all preserve something familiar at their core (the simple melody and harmony of the theme), but individually they feature constantly new and surprising characteristics.
In Red Pajama Variations, the familiar tune is first presented in a fairly straight-forward and recognizable way. The variations which follow are played in sets of two or three; each set highlights a particular aspect of music, or a particular facet of the ensemble and its instruments. One pair contrasts a variation using a very high register with one using a very low register; another juxtaposes a quick tempo with a very slow one. Between each short set of variations, several instruments play what is called a vamp, a short repeated figure which quietly acts as a time-keeping device. Over the top of the vamp, the narrator speaks to the audience and explains what they will hear in each subsequent variation set.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
•Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Sony 63082 Copland’s ballet score was written for the legendary choreographer Martha Graham. Copland’s setting of the Shaker hymn tune Simple Gifts is probably the most famous folk song setting in American instrumental music.
•Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Deutsche Grammophon 435769 Stravinsky’s evocation of pagan Russian, using both authentic and invented folk songs, is one of the seminal pieces of 20th-century music.
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•Bela Bartok: Contrasts Sony 42227 Bartok’s trio for clarinet, violin and piano, written for the jazz legend Benny Goodman, incorporates many folk elements. Most notably, the violin is detuned in the third movement to simulate the strident playing of a country fiddle.
FINALE
This Land is Your Land
TEXT Chorus: This land is your land, this land is my land From California, to the New York Island From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me
Solo: As I was walking a ribbon of highway I saw above me an endless skyway I saw below me a golden valley This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts And all around me a voice was sounding This land was made for you and me
Chorus (X2)
This Land is Your Land is the balladeer Woody Guthrie’s most famous song. It was written in 1940. According to popular accounts, Guthrie became tired of hearing the singer Kate Smith sing Irving Berlin’s God Bless America on the radio, feeling that it sugar-coated the injustices and inequalities of American society. The melody is not his own, but actually that of a gospel song, The World’s on Fire. This version is arranged by Musiqa composer Marcus Maroney.
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (1912-1967) was born in Oklahoma. He met and married his first wife, Mary Jennings, in Texas. The couple had three children. During the “Dust Bowl”—the terrible drought during the Great Depression that afflicted the Midwest—Guthrie and his family moved to California. Guthrie’s experiences roaming the country with the poor and disadvantaged made a deep impression on him, and were the inspiration for many of his songs. In 1939 or 1940, Guthrie moved to New York City. There, collaborating with folklorist Alan Lomax, he recorded hours of conversation and songs for the Library of Congress. Guthrie married twice more, and had four more children, including a son, Arlo, who became a famous songwriter in his own right. Later in his life, Guthrie’s behavior became more and
more erratic. He was finally diagnosed with a rare disorder, Huntington’s Chorea, which had also killed his mother. He was hospitalized until his death in 1967. The following quote perfectly captures Guthrie’s populist spirit: “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin’ it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do.” (Source: www.wikipedia.com)
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MUSICAL TERMINOLOGY The terms listed below will give students concrete ways to discuss the music that they hear. Every piece has a particular character formed by a combination of many elements: rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, instrumentation, dynamics and tempo. Sometimes one element is most obvious and characteristic, but usually some combination of several elements will lend the music its distinct flavor. By carefully listening and focusing their observations, students can sharpen their powers of perception and learn to appreciate new levels of interest within any music they enjoy.
Rhythm When we describe the chuga-chuga, chuga-chuga of a speeding train or the boom-boom, boom-boom of our heartbeat, we are talking about rhythm. In general terms, rhythm is the organization of sound into patterns of long and short values.
Melody Whether we are speaking of She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain or This Land is Your Land, we all know what it means to sing the melody. In more technical terms, melody is a “musical line,” created by a combination of pitch and rhythm. Pitch refers to the precise note we sing. Rhythm tells us how fast each pitch is played. Sing the opening of She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain all in equal values: in that case, you are singing the pitches—but not the rhythm—of this folk melody. Now, tap out the melody on a tabletop: This time, you are performing the rhythm, but not the pitch. It takes both pitch and rhythm to create the melody: Change one or the other and you change the tune. For instance, sing She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain with the correct rhythm but with new pitches—it’s a new melody!
Harmony When the monks in medieval times gathered to sing together, they all chanted the same melody together. There was no “harmony:” It was as if they were speaking with a single voice. Harmony arises when more than one pitch is being played at the same time. Almost all the music we listen to, be it jazz, rock or classical, has harmony. In a typical popular song, the singer performs the melody while the piano or band plays the supporting harmony. Some types of music use a very limited number of harmonies or chords, others have much more variety. Progressive composers throughout music history have experimented with incorporating new combinations of sounds—new harmonies—into music’s vocabulary.
Polyphony is when many melodies are heard simultaneously. A good example is when a single melody is sung by several people but each beginning at a different time. This musical procedure is called a round or canon. Row, Row, Row Your Boat is a round: when three people sing it, they each begin with the opening line, but their entrances are staggered. The resulting sound is polyphony. Whereas in melody and accompaniment, one voice clearly predominates, in polyphony, the voices are considered to be of equal importance. In the Fifth Movement of his Second Symphony, Ives creates polyphony by layering pre-exisiting folk tunes on top of his own composed music.
Timbre or Tone Color refers to the instrument or voice that is being used. The violin, cello, flute, clarinet, and piano are all examples of different timbres. Timbres range from very pure, clearly pitched sounds to ones that approach noise. The tone color of a flute is very pure. The timbre of a clarinet, violin or cello is more complex. The timbre of a cymbal crash is the most complex of all: It is a burst of noise.
Instrumentation refers to what instruments are playing. For instance, Roy Harris’ Black is the color is scored for solo piano. On the other hand, Luciano Berio’s setting of Black is the color is scored for voice, viola, cello and piano. Thus, the two settings share the same melody but have different instrumentations.
Register and Range both refer to aspects of pitch. Range is the array notes an instrument is capable of playing. Some instruments, like the flute for instance, have a relatively small range; others, like the piano, have a very large range. Register refers to the height of sounds: music in a high register features pitches with a high frequency; music in a low register features pitches with a low frequency. Register can also be used in a relative way to specify segments of a particular instrument’s range: for instance we might speak of the clarinet’s “low register” or the piano’s “upper register.”
Accompaniment refers to the music that supports and underlies the main melody. When the band plays behind a jazz or pop singer, when the orchestra plays behind the piano soloist, they are playing the accompaniment. The accompaniment is usually designed to not call too much attention to itself, so as not distract from the main melody. For this reason, the accompaniment is usually more repetitive and predictable than the melody itself. However, the accompaniment can go a long way towards creating a “mood” or feeling for the melody. The accompaniment might be mellow and serene, or very rhythmic and upbeat. The harmonies might be more straightforward or more
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sophisticated. Arranging a folk song consists of creating an accompaniment for the melody. In the section of “Setting a Folk Song,” we will compare four different accompaniments for the melody Black is the color.
Dynamics refers to the loudness or softness of music. Italian terms are usually used to describe the overall volume of a passage of music: when music is loud, it is forte; when it is soft, it is piano. Dynamics can change instantaneously or gradually. A gradual increase in volume is called a crescendo; a gradual decrease in volume is called a decrescendo.
Tempo refers to the speed at which music moves. Speeds can range anywhere from extremely slow to very rapid, and are also commonly indicated by Italian terms: Andante (a moderately slow tempo, literally ‘walking’ in Italian), Allegro (a brisk tempo, meaning ‘merry’ in Italian) and Presto (a very quick tempo). Like dynamics, tempos can change instantaneously or gradually. A tempo which speeds up over time is called an accelerando; the opposite is a ritardando.
Texture refers to how the music is distributed among the instruments. A texture can be thin (with few instruments playing) or thick (with many instruments playing). Whereas timbre refers to the sound of an individual instrument, texture refers to the relationship between all the instrumental parts in a given passage. Many of the considerations above in combination—including instrumentation, rhythm, register and tone color—can help in creating a distinctive texture. In addition to the above terminology (we might speak of a “polyphonic texture” or a “chordal texture”) any number of other adjectives can also be used to describe distinctive textures (delicate, undulating, bubbling, brittle, undulating, dense).
Articulation refers to how a note is played. It can be played short and clipped (staccato), accented (marcato), stressed (tenuto), or smoothly connected to the next note (legato).
MUSIC NOTATION Many folk songs were never written down. Even many skilled performers and composers, such as the legendary songwriter Irving Berlin, relied solely on their ears and were not able to read music.
The writing down of music has two main purposes. First, it enables a piece of music to be “recreated” over and over again fairly exactly. It thus gives the composer more precise control over how the music sounds. Think of the difference between verbal driving directions and a road-map: It is much easier to convey precise and extensive directions in written form. Second, written music enables musicians to move together in more intricate, flexible and strictly determined ways.
One further benefit of a musical score is that it enables a piece of music to be studied without being played. It is through a close examination of the musical score that composers learn how a piece that they admire is put together.
Music may be notated in a variety of ways. Some notations are very general, giving only approximate indications, others are more specific. In Western music, conventional notation has become more and more well defined. The 18th-century master Johann Sebastian Bach often did not specify which instruments were needed, marked only general dynamic levels of loud and soft, and used very approximate markings for the speed of the music. These issues, therefore, are left open to on-going interpretation and debate. By the 19th-century, composers such as Beethoven and Brahms marked specific instrumentation, and notated more gradations of dynamic levels and more precise indications of speed. Some 20th-century composers have gone so far as to mark a different dynamic level on every single sound!
Avant-garde composers in the 20th-century have experimented with unconventional means of notating music. They did so to break free from traditional sounds and methods. For instance, the American composer Earle Brown wrote “graphic” scores that consist of lines of different lengths and dots of different sizes, arranged in patterns on the page. Reading such a score is very open-ended: Each performer interprets it in his or her own way. Such unconventional notation is often very useful in working with young or untrained musicians: It takes imagination, but not necessarily expertise, to write it down or perform it.
Learning to read music opens the possibility of a deeper and more careful study of music literature. Like learning to read languages, learning music takes consistent practice. Many useful tools, like flash cards, are readily available at music stores and on-line. The Connexions web-site has excellent tutorials on standard music notation (http://cnx.rice.edu/content/col10209/latest/).
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MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM Music is a “whole brain” activity: It involves the full range of our mind’s capacities—analytic, emotional, physical and creative. Learning music is closely related to learning languages: Both require the careful discrimination and interpretation of sounds and patterns. Music is mathematical: musicians “count” rhythms and describe the “proportions” of a piece. Music is scientific: Its elements are often a direct result of the physical properties of instruments; its expression is deeply rooted in our psychology. Listening to music helps build memory and concentration. Music thus helps integrate the mind, uniting the machinery of our thoughts into a smoothly functioning engine of attention and imagination. Best of all, as this program hopes to demonstrate, we are all musicians: Music is inside all of us and belongs to all of us.
Bringing music into the classroom has many important benefits. It can enliven and enrich academic subjects, help to maintain students’ focus and train their memories.
Along with suggestions for ways to integrate music into the curriculum, we have provided four “One-Sheets:” These lesson plans and ideas are designed to show how songs from the Musiqa program might be incorporated into the study of other subject matters, such as social studies, language arts, science, and history.
MUSIC AND... Modern History
Artists often get caught up in important historical events. The German composer Beethoven dedicated his Eroica (“Heroic”) Symphony to Napoleon, believing him to be a champion of the people. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven famously crossed out the dedication. The works of such composers as Arnold Schoenberg and Paul Hindemith were banned by the Nazis as “decadent.” Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw vividly captures eyewitness accounts of brutality in the Jewish ghetto. The Russian composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shoskatovich struggled throughout their lives with the Soviet authorities, falling in and out of favor with Communist party. The French composer Olivier Messiaen was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis. While interned in the camp, he wrote and premiered one of his most famous works, The Quartet for the End of Time. George Crumb’s Black Angels for amplified string quartet reflects on the Vietnam War. More recently, John Adams’ operas Nixon in China and Doctor Atomic focus on actual historical events.
Ancient History
Although we cannot know how the music sounded, because no written record exists, we can study the instruments and how music was used in rituals and ceremonies in earlier world cultures. The connections between music and authority, music and spirituality, music and daily life are often very revealing about a particular population’s belief and customs.
Here are some questions that can be used to address music’s role in a particular culture:
•What instruments were used? How did these compare to the instruments of other cultures during the same time period? Was the music primarily vocal or instrumental? •What was the setting for the performance: Was it part of a ritual or ceremony? •Was the audience expected to be silent or were they allowed to participate? •How long did an individual piece last? •Was the music written down? If so, how? How strict was the notation? Was there room for improvisation, embellishment and other forms of interpretation? •How “enduring” was an individual composition? Was it intended to be played only once or a few times, or was there the hope that the art-work might endure?
Science
Musical instruments are inventions, and make excellent studies for hands-on science. The analysis of instruments involves an exploration of the physical properties of sound and the resonance qualities of different materials and shapes. How many different kinds of materials can be used to make a flute? (Partial answer: Wood, bamboo, clay, stone, silver, gold). Why are the violin and piano shaped the way they are? Asking students to design and build their own instruments is an exciting and fun project.
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Literature
Setting a poem to music creates a “reading” of the poem. Thus, studying how poems are set to music can be very revealing about language, meaning and emphasis. Many of the world’s greatest poets have been set to music. Often, the same text is set by several different composers, making for intriguing comparisons. The “Lieder and Art Song” web-site (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/) includes a search function both by poet, facilitating comparisons of different settings of the same text.
Foreign Languages
This program has featured songs in Brazilian, French, Italian, and Taiwanese. There are great traditions of songs in all languages, from popular songs to concert works and opera. Learning songs is a fun and exciting supplement to language study.
Art
Musical instruments make excellent subjects for still-life drawings. Students can also build and decorate their own instruments.
Physical Education
Dancing to music of all varieties is a great way to combine physical activity and music. Jane Rosenberg’s “Play Me A Story,” “Sing Me a Story” and “Dance Me a Story” book/CD sets contain excellent suggestions for teachers.
DESCRIBING MUSIC IN WORDS
The renowned American composer Aaron Copland once wrote: “For every two words written about music, one of them will be wrong.” Describing the abstract experience of music in words will always be open-ended, personal and incomplete.
Students often relate to music through metaphoric images or stories and emotional descriptions: “This piece sounds like raindrops falling,” “this music sounds sad.” Encourage your students to go further and describe how the descriptions they have chosen fit the music. “This piece sounds like raindrops falling because the music is tinkling high up, and is very steady and repetitive;” “This music sounds sad because it is low, slow and soft,” etc.
Always keep in mind that, in any art form, there is never a single correct interpretation. The question is: How well can the student support their point-of-view through careful observation of the music? Ask your students to explore their emotional and metaphoric responses to the music through analytic listening. It will make their impressions and understanding even more informed and vivid.
CONCLUSION This program is intended to celebrate the universal love of music that transcends all geographic and cultural boundaries. Nothing better demonstrates that music belongs to all of us than the rich heritage of folk song. Singing and listening to folk songs in arrangements both “authentic” and freshly created are a way to build community, to express one’s personal thoughts and convictions, to learn about other people’s ways of life, and to cherish the bountiful imagination of the human spirit. In her introduction to American Folk Songs for Children, Ruth Crawford Seeger writes: “Many of us open a savings account at the bank when a children is born, and add layer and layer of small deposits which he can later draw on for a college education. Perhaps a fund of songs might be begun as early, and added to layer after layer—an ever-growing wealth of materials which he can draw on at will can take along with him as links from himself to the various aspects of the culture he will be going out to meet.” We hope that today’s program makes such a contribution to the students’ fund of songs.
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We often focus our study of history on the words and deeds of major fi gures. Folk music is a way of drawing a portrait of people swept up in the tides of history, people whose actions and thoughts might otherwise be overlooked. From slave songs to the ballads of workers and soldiers, folk songs exist for every era of American history. For example, This Land is Your Landto the ballads of workers and soldiers, folk songs exist for every era of American history. For example, This Land is Your Landto the ballads of workers and soldiers, folk songs exist for every era of American history. For examplehelps us to better understand the outlook of American citizens who had lived through the Great Depression.
Song-writer Woody Guthrie was born in 1912 in a frontier town in Oklahoma which he described as “one of the singiest, square dancingest, drinkingest, yellingest, preachingest, walkingest, talkingest, laughingest, cryingest, shootingest, fi st fi ghtingest, bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor carryingest of our ranch towns and farm towns, because it blossomed out into one of our fi rst Oil Boom Towns .”1 In the 1930’s, the citizens of the Panhandle states were affl icted by both the Great Depression and the “Dust Bowl” drought. Guthrie left Oklahoma and traveled West as part of a huge migration. During these often desperate travels, he forged strong bonds and felt great compassion for his fellow travelers, swept up in one of the United States’ most bleak economic periods. After moving to New York City in 1939, he met the musician Alan Lomax, who encouraged him to record his songs and stories for the Library of Congress. In 1940, RCA records released Guthrie’s “Dust Bowl Ballads.” In his songs, Guthrie documented the feelings and experiences of the displaced and the outcast.
By then, the United States had been drawn into World War II. Patriot feeling was strong, as the country united against the Axis powers. According to lore, Guthrie grew tired of hearing Irving Berlin’s God Bless America on the radio, feeling it sugar-coated America’s injustices and inequalities. He wrote This Land is Your Land in 1940 as a musical alternative to more straightforward patriotic is Your Land in 1940 as a musical alternative to more straightforward patriotic is Your Landfervor. As is often the case in folk music, the melody was not original: Guthrie adapted it from a Gospel song, The World’s on Fire. Guthrie recorded This Land is Your Land many times, often changing the words to make them more or less overtly political. Guthrie’s song celebrated what Your Land many times, often changing the words to make them more or less overtly political. Guthrie’s song celebrated what Your Landhe felt were essentials of American life: freedom, fairness and equal opportunity. Incorporating a discussion of this song is a way of creating a more nuanced study of United States during one of the decisive periods of its history.
Class Lesson:•Sing This Land is Your Land with your class or play a recordingThis Land is Your Land with your class or play a recordingThis Land is Your Land•Discuss the lyrics with your class. What are Guthrie’s words trying to express? •What inequalities existed in the United States at that time? How did the World War impact such social injustices as segregation, women’s rights and the plight of the poor?
Further Study:Guthrie’s extensive output creates a vivid and lively depiction of Depression era America. The offi cial Woody Guthrie web-site includes a Teacher’s curriculum, showing how Guthrie’s songs may be used to teach art, science, math and more. ((http://www.woodyguthrie.org/curriculum/curriculumkubasak.hthttp://www.woodyguthrie.org/curriculum/curriculumkubasak.htm) Guthrie’s work is archived at the American Folk Life ) Guthrie’s work is archived at the American Folk Life Center of the Library of Congress. The Center may be accessed on-line at: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/http://www.loc.gov/folklife/.
Other representative examples of folk songs that might accompany lessons in American history include the following: A Revolution war soldier is courted in “Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Me?” (Sound fi le may be found at: http://www.http://www.mcneilmusic.com/rev.html A prospector sings of his fruitless search for gold during the Gold Rush in “Acres of Clams.”(Score and lyrics may be found at: http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiOLDSETLR;ttROSINBOW.htmhttp://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiOLDSETLR;ttROSINBOW.html) ) Conferedate soldiers complain of rationing in “Goober Peas.” (Lyrics and sound fi le may be found at: http://www.niehs.http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/gooberp.htnih.gov/kids/lyrics/gooberp.htm) )
1 From the offi cial Woody Guthrie web-site: http://www.woddyguthrie.org
LESSON PLAN
Music and History
original lyrics for This Land Is Your Land
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Throughout history, music has been used to celebrate nature. Both folk songs and concert music frequently celebrate the sun, the moon, the seasons and other natural phenomena.
Discuss the science of the moon•The moon is believed to have originated 4.5 billion years ago when a collision between the earth and another planetary body occurred, dislodging a gigantic chunk of rocky debris. This debris gathered into a ball and began to orbit the Earth.•Unlike the Earth, the moon is made of solid rock. It has no water and no volcanic activity. Because it lacks a protective atmosphere, the moon has been hit by meteors very frequently. These are the cause of the moon’s numerous craters.•One side of the moon always faces away from the sun, and thus is permanently dark. •The moon’s gravitational pull causes the earth’s tides. The bodies of water nearest the moon swell, while those farther away recede. •The moon is only visible when it is refl ected by sunlight. Depending on the relative position of the sun, moon and earth, different portions of the moon are illuminated, from a “crescent moon” to “gibbous moon” to a “full moon.” The various phases of the moon are shown in the diagram at right.
Discuss the mythology of the moon, and how the moon has been perceived by cultures throughout history•For instance, the word “lunacy” is derived from the French word for moon, lune. Because crime rates have historically been higher during the full moon, the moon was often cited as a cause of madness. Werewolves and other creatures draw their power from the moon.•Some cultures percieve a human face in the full moon. The picture at right is taken from the the fi rst science fi ction movie, a 1902 French silent fi lm entitled Le Voyage dans la Lune.•The mysterious associations of the moon have been a source of inspiration for many composers including Claude Debussy (Claire de lune from his piano pieces Claire de lune from his piano pieces Claire de lune Suite bergamasque) Suite bergamasque) Suite bergamasqueand Arnold Schoenberg (Pierrot lunaireand Arnold Schoenberg (Pierrot lunaireand Arnold Schoenberg ( ). Pierrot lunaire). Pierrot lunaire
Class Lesson:•Play a recording and read a translation of the French folk song Clair de lune. This familiar song illustrates the special qualities of moonlight—mysterious, secretive and romantic.•Play a recording of the fi rst movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor. Listen for the characteristics which have led many to call this work his “moonlight” sonata.•Invite the students to bring in other art-work—music, painting, poems, etc.—that celebrate the moon.
Further Study:Many concert works exist that can be paired with discussions of scientifi c topics. Gustav Holst’s The Planets for orchestra, The Planets for orchestra, The Planetsis a musical portrait of each planet. Claude Debussy’s orchestral work La Mer (“The Sea”) describes the ocean at times of calm and times of tempest. Debussy also has many piano works that portray the wind, rain, clouds and more. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”) includes several natural scenes, including a lightning storm. Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite is a popular orchestral tone poem. Camille Saint-Saëns Canyon Suite is a popular orchestral tone poem. Camille Saint-Saëns Canyon Suite Carnival of the Animals is a wonderfully colorful work, Carnival of the Animals is a wonderfully colorful work, Carnival of the Animalscelebrating elephants, whales, turtles, donkeys—and even fossils. Bedrich Smetana portrays the river of his homeland in The Moldau. Similarly, Charles Ives depicts the quietly fl owing Housatonic river in the last movement of his Three Places in New England George Crumb’s England George Crumb’s England Song of the Whale is a celebrated avant-garde work for electric fl ute, violin and piano that evokes the Song of the Whale is a celebrated avant-garde work for electric fl ute, violin and piano that evokes the Song of the Whaleplaintive and mysterious voices of these undersea mammals. In works such as Oiseaux Exotiques, the 20th-century composer Olivier Messaien included references to the bird-song of hundreds of species, which he avidly recorded. In addition, there are untold folk and popular songs that refer to nature, including such familiar tunes as Fly Me to the Moon, Singing in the Rainand Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
LESSON PLAN
Music and Science
The phases of the moon.
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Every culture in world history has had its own music for ritual, work and entertainment. Music can help illustrate and dramatize the meeting of cultures.
Case Study: Solomon Linda’s MbubeThe story of Solomon Linda’s song Mbube is a cautionary tale about how Western culture can borrow and transform the Mbube is a cautionary tale about how Western culture can borrow and transform the Mbubework of an indigenous artist.
•Solomon Linda was born in the Zulu territory of South Africa in 1909.•He founded a singing group called Original Evening Birds.•In 1939, a talent scout invited the Evening Birds to a recording studio. In the studio, Linda made up the song Evening Birds to a recording studio. In the studio, Linda made up the song Evening Birds Mbube on Mbube on Mbubethe spot. •The 78 r.p.m. recording of Mbube was the fi rst African record to sell 100,000 copies.Mbube was the fi rst African record to sell 100,000 copies.Mbube•The American folk singer Pete Seeger recorded an arrangement of the song with his group, The Weavers. Mispronouncing the lyrics, Seeger changed the title to Wimoweh. It became a worldwide hit.•Eventually, over 150 groups recorded their own versions.•In 1961, the American songwriter George Weiss took the last section of Linda’s improvisation and turned it into the main melody, setting it to the words “The lion sleeps tonight.”•In 1994, Disney’s fi lm version of The Lion King included The Lion King included The Lion KingWeiss’ version on the soundtrack. •In 2004, Solomon Linda’s descendants fi led a lawsuit against Disney and Weiss’ publishers. Linda’s full story was revealed: He signed away the rights to Mbube in 1952 for the Mbube in 1952 for the Mbubemodern equivalent of 87 cents. He lived in poverty, working as a cleaning man. He died in 1962 with $22 in his bank account. His wife, who was illiterate, again signed away the rights in 1982. While the Lindas lived in poverty, The Lion Sleeps Tonight was earning millions of dollars in royalties. • Thanks in part to the investigative reporting of Rian Malan of Rolling Stone magazine, there was a groundswell of Rolling Stone magazine, there was a groundswell of Rolling Stonesupport for the Linda family. In February 2006, the family was awarded royalties from 1987 to the present, ending the dispute.
(Source: “In the Jungle, the Unjust Jungle, a Small Victory,” front page article in The New York Times, March 22, 2006)
Class Lesson:•Play Solomon Linda’s original recorded version, available on “Mbube Roots (Zulu Choral Music from South Africa,” Rounder Select #5025. Compare it with Pete Seeger’s version, available on “Pete Seeger’s Greatest Hits” (Sony 65711), and Disney’s version in The Lion King (Disney B0000CABJ2).
How does the song change—in the way it is performed, in its emotional effect—when it is transferred to Western culture and becomes “commercial”?Describe the circumstances of how Linda gave up to the rights to his song, which became a worldwide hit. How would it have been fair to compensate him?
Further Study:Hungarian composers Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly explored the countryside of their native land, recording and transcribing folk music. Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos journeyed into the heart of the Amazon jungle in search of indigenous song. Americans Ruth Crawford Seeger and Alan Lomax visited remote regions of Appalachia and other areas to document and help preserve songs passed down through many generations of frontier people.
LESSON PLAN
Music and Social Studies
Solomon Linda (furthest left) and the Original Evening Birds
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THE LYRICS:
She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain is a particularly good example of a folksong since its simple lyrics (only a single short sentence) permit easy, spontaneous invention. The lyrics given are only a small sampling of the most popular ones.
She’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain when she comes. (Toot, toot!)She’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain when she comes. (Toot, toot!)She’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain, she’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain,She’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain when she comes.
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses when she comes. (Whoa back!)(repeat)
Oh, we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes. (Hi, Babe)(repeat)
She’ll be wearing red pajamas when she comes. (Scratch, scratch!)(repeat)
And she’ll have to sleep with Grandma when she comes. (Snore)(repeat)
Oh, we’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes. (Yum, yum!) (repeat)
Classroom Exercise 1: Distribute the lyrics to She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain and discuss possible stories which might have prompted them. Who is coming around the mountain anyway? Why does she have six white horses? And why on earth is she wearing red pajamas?
She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain is a classic folk song. Its simple, repeating words and melody make it ideal for sing-alongs. It has been recorded countless times by folk singers ranging from Pete Seeger to Buffy Saint-Marie and is a perennial favorite children’s song. But where did it come from? The provenance of any particular folk song is often hard to know—and She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountainis no exception—but lyrics often give us a clue.
Discussion: The lyrics in this case probably refer to the arrival of a train (“toot, toot”) or covered wagon (“she’ll be driving six white horses”), an exciting and important event in small town, rural America. Such an occasion would mean the arrival of visitors and special deliveries. The lyrics also suggest a family setting, perhaps a relative (Auntie Babe?) visiting a large family (thus “she’ll have to sleep with grandma”). The rural or country setting is also hinted at by the reference to “chicken and dumplings,” a traditional home-style dish.
LESSON PLAN
Music and English
Classroom Exercise 2: Discuss the rhythmic structure of the lyrics for She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain. Where do the accents fall? Have students invent new lyrics and sing them as a class.
Halloween:She’ll be riding on a broomstick when she comes. (repeat)
Baseball:He’ll be hittin’ lots of homers in the game. (repeat)
Food:We’ll be eatin’ chips and sodas till we burst. (repeat)
School:But the dogie ate my homework, it’s the truth.
(repeat)
Because of their fl exible structure, the lyrics for She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain have been reworked many times to suit all manner of protest cries, patriotic songs and commercial jingles. New lyrics can be easily fi tted to the familiar meody. Several examples are given to the right.
Discussion: The lyrics for this song are very adaptable words. To substitute a phrase, choose lyrics which fi t the total syllable count (11 syllables) and which follow a mostly long–short pattern of accents (see the break-down of the syllables above). Use the frame lyrics “she’ll be………when she comes” or create a new sentence from scratch.
She’ll be (short–short)com-in’ (long–short)‘round the (long–short)moun-tain (long–short)when she (long–short)comes. (long)
The lyrics of She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain also reinforce its folk roots. They are written in a way which suggests the pronunciation of spoken colloquial English using ‘contraction’ and ‘reduction.’
Classroom Exercise 3: Find the contractions in the lyrics to She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain and write out their complete equivalents. List some other common contractions and their written-out equivalents.
Discussion: A contraction shortens a phrase and replaces the missing letters with an apostrophe. They are also a way of writing a word or phrase which refl ects natural speaking. Contracts can be used in advertisements, in songs and perhaps in email, but are used sparingly in formal written English. So the lyrics to She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain are defnitely meant to sound spoken (or sung) and not read.
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FURTHER RESOURCES Web-Sites
More and more suggestions for teachers are being posted on-line.The Young Audiences web-site (http://www.youngaudiences.org/) includes many links to music-related education sites, with suggestions for lesson plans, creative exercises, etc.
The Connexions project at Rice University is an on-line educational resource that contains numerous musical topics designed for K-12 students. All Connexions materials are available free of charge, may be reproduced and distributed at will, and may be easily printed out from the web-site. http://cnx.rice.edu Search: Music
The New York Philharmonic website has an excellent introduction to orchestral instruments. http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml? Musical Notation Software
Finale http://www.finalemusic.com
Sibelius http://www.sibelius.com Music Education Software
Jumpstart Music (Windows/Mac) http://www.jumpstart.com/
The Nutcracker Music Game (Windows only) Mozart’s Magic Flute Music Game (Windows only) http://www.KidsMusicStage.com Music Lessons
The Shepherd School of Music Preparatory Division Contact: Virginia Nance 713-348-5753
The Moores School of Music Preparatory and Continuing Studies Division 713-743-3398 Reference Books
The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/RANHAC.html Classical and Modern Concert Music for Children
Bela Bartok: Mikrokosmos (progressive piano studies for young pianists)
Benjamin Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Francis Poulenc: Babar the Elephant
Sergei Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
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Musical Organizations in Houston
The Houston Symphony performs regular subscription concerts, as well as youth programs at venues throughout the greater Houston area. http://www.houstonsymphony.org
The Houston Grand Opera presents a subscription series of classical and modern operas. http://www.houstongrandopera.com
Da Camera of Houston performs subscription chamber music concerts, often exploring the links with other artforms, as well as outreach concerts at the Houston Zoo, Wortham Center and other locations http://www.dacamera.com
Both the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston present almost nightly free performances by students in recital, chamber music, and orchestral performances. For a calendar of events, visit: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~musi http://www.uh.edu/music/
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CONCERT ETIQUETTE Thank you for attending our concert! Please share these rules with your students. Arriving at the Concert
Please be sure to arrive early, as there is no late seating.
The musical program is approximately an hour long, without intermission. Please visit the rest rooms or get a drink of water before the performance. No food or drink is allowed in the hall.
In entering or exiting the hall, safety is the primary concern. Please follow your teachers’ instructions in taking your seats. Please, no running, pushing or horseplay. Please enter the hall as quietly as possible.
Once you are in your seat, please sit calmly. Please keep your hands and arms to yourself, and keep your feet off the seats. Grown-ups: Please turn off your cell-phones and pagers. During the Performance
Once the lights in the auditorium dim, please do not make any sound unless you are directed to by the musicians on stage. It is very important to give the musicians your undivided attention. A concert is a group experience. Please be considerate of the rest of the audience, so that everyone has a chance to concentrate and enjoy the performance.
It is appropriate to applaud at the end of each musical number.
There will be several opportunities for sing-a-longs. The lyrics will be projected, so that you can follow along. Please follow the musicians’ instructions and join together in song! Leaving the Performance
Once again, safety is the primary concern. Please follow your teachers’ instructions in leaving the hall and returning to the school buses. Please walk quietly. Hopefully, there will be a lot to talk about; please wait for the appropriate time to do so.
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ABOUT MUSIQA Musiqa is a nationally recognized new music ensemble that presents innovative, inter-disciplinary concerts and outreach events to the Houston community. The Artistic Directors of Musiqa consist of composition faculty of the Shepherd and Moores Schools of Music. Musiqa has performed at venues including the Rothko Chapel, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and Zilkha Hall. Performers are world-class musicians from the Houston Symphony, Shepherd and Moores School faculties, and from throughout the United States. Musiqa has been a leader in bringing together works from diverse disciplines to create an artistic whole. These have ranged from readings by Edward Albee, Justin Cronin, Jennifer Grotz, Edward Hirsch,Tony Hoagland, and Antonya Nelson to plays by Will Eno, Douglas Mitchell and Craig Wright, films by Alfred Guzzetti, Hal Hartley and Isaac Julien, dance by the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Travesty Dance Company and José Limon Dance Company, and a lecture by Dr. John Lienhard. Educating students on the vitality and imaginative reach of contemporary music is a significant part of Musiqa’s mission. Now in its fifth season, Musiqa has collaborated with the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts to present educational concerts to close to 20,000 students from public schools throughout the Houston area. For more information about Musiqa, please visit our website at: www.musiqahouston.org MUSIQA COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES
The music of composer Karim Al-Zand (b. 1970) has been called "strong and startlingly lovely" (Boston Globe). Al-Zand is currently an Assistant Professor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Before arriving in Houston, he received degrees from Harvard University (Ph.D., 2000) and McGill University in Montreal, Canada (B.Mus. 1993). He was recently awarded the prestigious 2003 Sackler Prize in Composition. Groups which have featured his music include the Mendelssohn String Quartet, Flux String Quartet, California E.A.R. Unit, New Millennium Ensemble, Third Angle Ensemble, North/South Consonance, Pinotage, Ensemble Noir, and Brave New Works. Al-Zand's most recent
commission, from OrchestraX in Houston, resulted in the composition of The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad. In 1998 String Quartet won the Salvatore Martirano Composition Competition and in 2003 his String Quartet No. 2 was honored as part of the Tampa Bay Excellence in Chamber Music Prize. His work has received recognition from ASCAP, the Society of Composers, the National Association of Composers, and from the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators (for his jazz and big band arrangements). He has been a participant composer in many festivals including MusicNinetySeven, June in Buffalo, the Aspen Festival, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and the Oregon Bach Festival; he has also been a resident at the MacDowell Colony and an associate at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Karim Al-Zand is a member of Musiqa (www.musiqahouston.org), Houston's contemporary music group, which presents concerts featuring new and classic repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Anthony Brandt (b. 1961) earned his degrees from California Institute of the Arts and Harvard University. His honors include a Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, and the New England Foundation for the Arts and a 2006 Fellowship from the Cultural Arts Council of the City of Houston/Harris County. He was a fellow at the Wellesley Composers Conference, and the Aaron Copland Fellow at the Tanglewood Institute in 1994. He has been invited twice to the MacDowell Colony, where he was chosen as the Norton Stevens Fellow in 1998, and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship to the Djerassi Resident Artists Colony in 2002. He has been a Visiting Composer at the Bowdoin International Festival, the Bremen Musikfest, Southwestern University, Cleveland State University and Baltimore’s New Chamber Arts Festival and Composer-in-Residence of Houston’s OrchestraX and the International Festival of Music in Morelia, Mexico.
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Performances of his music have taken place in Belgium, the Far East, Germany, Mexico, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City, and throughout the United States. His chamber opera, The Birth of Something, with a libretto by Will Eno, was commissioned by Da Camera of Houston and premiered at Zilkha Hall in February 2006. He composed the score for the television documentary, “Crucible of the Millennium,” which aired nationally on PBS in 2001-02. He was commissioned to reconstruct and orchestrate his teacher Earl Kim’s last work, Illuminations, left incomplete at the composer’s death in 1998; the completed score was premiered by Karol Bennett and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra in February 2003. In addition to serving as Musiqa’s President, Dr. Brandt has given pre-concert lectures and written program notes for Da Camera of Houston and has written liner notes for New World, Bridge and Albany Records. He is the author of an innovative, web-based music appreciation course called “Sound Reasoning,” created for the Connexions Project. The prototype is viewable at http://www.cnx.rice.edu. Dr. Brandt is an Assistant Professor of Composition at the Shepherd School of Music. He was awarded the University’s Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize in 2001.
As the recipient of a Koussevitzky Music Foundation Commission (2004), a Barlow Endowment Commission (2001), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000), and an American Academy in Rome Prize (1999), the music of Shih-Hui Chen has received significant recognition in recent years. A performance of Twice Removed at Lincoln Center was described by the New York Times as "...ruminative and involving, drawing the listener in through a process of gradual thematic metamorphosis.” String Quartet No. 3, premiered by the Arditti Quartet at the Tanglewood Music Festival, was praised by The Boston Globe as having “... a sureness of step and gentleness of spirit that are very winning.” In 66 Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer
finds a sensitive text setting which “... abounds in arching vocal lines, harmony that sits on the precipice of tonality, and richly hued atmospheres that depict the various seasons.” This work has also been analyzed by German ethnomusicologist Barbara Mittler for the Asian Music Journal CHIME, who also has written an entry about Ms. Chen in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Shih-Hui Chen came to the United States in 1982 and received her master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and her doctoral degree from Boston University. There have been many performances of her works, including those by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Also frequently appearing in programs abroad, her music has been featured in China, Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy and Amsterdam. As a recipient of fellowships, Ms. Chen has been awarded grants from the Fromm Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer Foundation, the Tanglewood Music Center, the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Harvard University, and the Bellagio Rockefeller Foundation. Recent performances include Fu II by members of Seattle Symphony Orchestra; Moments for Orchestra (Shanghai, China); Jin, Concerto for Pipa and Chamber Orchestra with Wu Man and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Shui by the Fischer Duo (Boston and NY); Four Little Pieces for Wood (Dallas and Houston), and half of a Composer’s Portrait Concert by the Freon Ensemble in Rome, Italy. In the Spring of 2005, four premieres of her works were presented: String Quartet #5 for the Chiara String Quartet, Plum Blossoms for saxophone and piano duo (commissioned by the World-Wide Concurrent Premieres & Commissioning Fund, Inc), Sweet Rice Pie, Four Taiwanese Nursery Rhymes for the Empyrean Ensemble in California, and a new solo piano piece for Hsia-Jung Chang who will perform a solo recital at St. Martin in the Fields in London. Shih-Hui Chen is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University and Composer in Residence at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute (2000, 2001, 2004). Dr. Chen is a founding member of Musiqa.
Pierre Jalbert is currently Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston. He also serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has received numerous awards for his compositions, including the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize, a Guggenheim fellowship, BMI and ASCAP Awards, a Society of Composer's Award, and the Bearns Prize in Composition.
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His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad, including two Carnegie Hall performances of his orchestral works. In October, 2001, the London Symphony Orchestra performed his In Aeternam at the Barbican Centre in London as part of the BBC's Masterprize Competition, in which he received first prize. He has also been commissioned and performed by violinist Midori, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Houston Symphony, the Budapest Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Fischer Duo, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Zeitgeist, Network for New Music, and the Maia String Quartet, among others. From 1999 -2002, he served as Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony. His music is published by Theodore Presser Company and he is also a member of Musiqa, a Houston new music group. Current projects include new works for the Houston Symphony, the Ying Quartet, the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, and a new concerto for marimbist Makoto Nakura.
Marcus Karl Maroney studied composition and horn at The University of Texas at Austin (B.M.) and Yale School of Music (M.M., D.M.A.). His principle composition teachers were Joseph Schwantner, Ned Rorem, Joan Tower and Dan Welcher. In 1999, he received a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center, the First Hearing award from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (for Those Teares are Pearle) and an ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composer's award. Other awards and fellowships followed, including: a Charles Ives Scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Music 2000 Prize from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, further awards from ASCAP, a residency at the Copland House and consecutive Woods Chandler Memorial awards from Yale University. Commissions have come from such organizations and individuals as eighth
blackbird (Rhythms), the Orchestra of St. Luke's (Hudson), The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (Introduction and Barrage for the Gryphon Trio), Timothy McAllister (Denk Dir:), the Moores School Percussion Ensemble (Pantheon), the Texas Music Festival (Märchenbilder), the Deer Valley Music Festival (Three Pieces for String Quartet) and the Juventas! New Music Ensemble (Dust of the Road). Mr. Maroney served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music from 2002-2004. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music. His academic pursuits include research on the music and life of Swiss composer Frank Martin, for which he was awarded a grant from the University of Houston for residency at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel.
Bridging modernism and American jazz and pop idioms" (San Antonio Express-News), the innovative and highly energetic music of Rob Smith is frequently performed throughout the United States and abroad. Ensembles and musicians that have performed his compositions include the Continuum Ensemble (London), Coruscations (Sydney), Synchronia (St. Louis), the Montague-Mead Piano Plus (London), the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and the pianist Christopher Taylor. He has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, the American Composers Forum (as a part of their
Continental Harmony project) and several nationally renowned university wind ensembles, among others. His compositions have received numerous awards, including those from ASCAP, the National Band Assoc., the National Association of Composers in the USA, the Luigi Russolo International Electronic Music Competition, and the Society of Composers. Dance Mix, a work written for the Society of New Music (Syracuse, NY), was used as the title music for the PBS television documentary Continental Harmony, which aired nationally in 2001 and 2002, and has been released on a Society of New Music CD on the Innova label. In 1997, as the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Australia, he collaborated with many different Australian ensembles and musicians, which led to a teaching position at the University of Woolongong in 1998. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Potsdam College and both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in music composition from The University of Texas at Austin. Currently, he teaches at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music where he is Assistant Professor of Music Composition and director of the AURA Contemporary Ensemble. In addition, he serves as one of the artistic directors of Musiqa, a contemporary music ensemble in Houston. Boosey & Hawkes, Carl Fischer, Southern Music Company, C. Alan Publications, and Skitter Music Publications publish his music.
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PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES
Eric Bean enjoys an active musical life in northwest Houston. He began is musical studies at the University of Miami followed immediately by graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado. Mr. Bean has performed with the Miami Symphony and the Greeley Philharmonic in addition to serving as second clarinet with the Ft. Collins Symphony. During his time in Colorado, Mr. Bean won the Rocky Mountain Concerto Competition and the Southard Award at the University of Northern Colorado. He also competed as a semi-finalist in the 2002 International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition in Stockholm, Sweden. Currently, Mr. Bean teaches at Lone Star College-North Harris in addition to maintaining a private teaching studio. He is also a founding member of the Scirocco Winds, a Houston based
woodwind quintet dedicated to championing the music of living American composers. Mr. Bean’s principal teachers have included Wayne Montag, Margaret Donaghue, Steve Cohen, Bil Jackson, and Richard Nunemaker.
A native of Christchurch, New Zealand, Richard Belcher is the founding cellist of the Ensō String Quartet, top prizewinners in the 8th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and winners of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. As a soloist, Richard has been hailed for his “spellbinding warmth and lyricism” (The Otago Daily Times), and his “melting musicality” (The Houston Chronicle).
Richard has been heard in recital in New Zealand and the United States, and as a chamber musician in Australia, England, France, St. Barthelemy, Canada, Panama and Costa Rica. Other musicians with whom he was performed include soprano Karol Bennett, violinists David Cerone, Kenneth Goldsmith and Kathleen Winkler, violists Paul Neubauer and Richard Young, cellist Norman Fischer and pianists John Kimura Parker, James Tocco, Gilbert Kalish and Anton Nel. A frequent performer of contemporary music, Richard has performed with Musiqa Houston, and with Barmusic since its inception. Festivals he has performed at include the Chautauqua Institution (NY), Green Lake (WI), Great Lakes (MI) and Tuckamore (Newfoundland), and at the Europienne Acadamie de Musique (France). Richard was the recipient of the inaugural New Zealand Post Young Musicians Award in 1997. He holds degrees from Yale University, Rice University, Northern Illinois University and the University of Canterbury.
Hailed for her “sumptuous sound, wrenching poignancy, and faultless musicianship” (The New York Times) and “ravishing tone and fire of imagination” (Boston Globe), soprano Karol Bennett has been heard with numerous ensembles worldwide. Her honors include the Pro Musicis International Award, an Artistic Ambassadorship, a fellowship from the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, and a Duo Recitalists Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her recording of music of Earl Kim on New World Records was chosen for the “Critics’ Choices: Classical Music, 2001” by The New York Times. Ms. Bennett is celebrated for her versatility and interpretive insight in repertoire ranging from Baroque music to numerous contemporary works, many
written especially for her. Her oratorio and orchestral appearances include works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Brahms, Fauré, Verdi, Mahler, Orff, Barber and Bernstein. She recently made her Houston Symphony debut under Hans Graf performing Luciano’s Berio’s Folk Songs. Praised for her “bright, articulate” singing (Opera News), operatic appearances include the title role in the Russian premiere of Debussy’s Pélleas et Mélisande. Her recording of Tod Machover’s Flora was selected as the Boston Globe’s “New Music Recording of the Year: 1992. The Philadelphia Inquirer called her recording of Tod Machover’s Song of Penance ”so good you’d be tempted to proclaim it one of the new-music discs of the decade.” Her release of Jonathan Harvey’s From Silence was praised by Gramophone as “strikingly agile and secure, powerfully convincing.”
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Other releases include a collection of twentieth century sacred music with the Boston Cecilia, John Harbison’s Simple Daylight, and the Victoria Requiem.
Sydney Carlson is Professor of Flute at Portland State University. Before moving to Oregon, Dr. Carlson was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and made frequent appearances with the Houston Symphony and Houston Ballet Orchestras. Sydney is the former Principal Flute of Mineria Orchestraof Mexico City. She has performed at The Bellingham Festival of Music and toured Europe as the Principal Flute of the American SinfoniettaOrchestra. She has appeared through out Mexico as a chamber musician andsoloist. Dr. Carlson has served on the faculty of the Texas Music Festival andthe American Festival of the Arts. Sydneyholds degrees form the Eastman School of Music,East Carolina University and the
University of Houston. She has recorded on the Mark, Delos, Albany, CIEM, and Urtext Digital labels.
Susan Koozin is one of the most visible actors in Houston, best known for her roles in two of the longest-running productions in Houston's history, Always, Patsy Cline and The Great American Trailer Park Musical, both at Stages Repertory Theatre. A Stages favorite, she portrayed Mae West in Dirty Blonde and other wide ranging roles in Company, Nickel and Dimed, Bright Ideas, and Late…A Cowboy Song. Other Houston productions include Assassins (Bayou City Concert Musicals), Stop Kiss, The Man in the Trunk (Unhinged Productions), Defying Gravity (Main Street Theatre), Habeas Corpus, Private Eyes, and Wild Oats (Actors Theatre of Houston). Other favorite acting roles have been: Shirley in Shirley Valentine, Rosalind in As You Like It, Annie in Annie Get Your Gun, Amanda in Private Lives, Julie in Miss Julie, Belinda in Noises Off, Miss Hannigan in Annie, and Sister Hubert in Nunsense. She has done radio and television
commercials, voice work in anime films, performed in comedy improv ensembles throughout the country, and appeared in Parenthood (with Steve Martin). Susan has directed more than 25 productions, including award-winning productions of Children of a Lesser God, The Foreigner, and How the Other Half Loves. Her Houston directorial debut was the recent production of Barbara's Wedding at Theatre Lab. Susan has also taught theatre and music classes for young children as well as high school and university courses. She is a member of Actors' Equity Association.
Violinist Sean Wang is a performer and scholar well-versed in musical styles and repertoires from multiple historical periods. On the violin he has credentials in early music, and was violinist-in-residence of the Guild of Composers in New York City, in which capacity he premiered numerous compositions and gave his New York debut recital with an all-20th-century program. A recipient of many awards and prizes, Dr. Wang has appeared on television and radio in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has performed at venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Jordan Hall, Alice Tully Hall, as well as
international music festivals in Germany, France, and Denmark. He is currently a member of Trio Solari (with clarinetist Chad Burrow and pianist Amy Cheng), Nashville Opera Orchestra (recently as principal second violin), IRIS Orchestra, Brightmusic Ensemble (Oklahoma City), and Chamber Society of Nashville. A violin graduate of the Curtis Institute, he also holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School as a recipient of the prestigious Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship and a joint Ph.D. in musicology and humanities from Stanford University. He lives in Houston with his wife, and teaches violin and musicology at Vanderbilt University.
Pianist Rodney Waters, a native of Lubbock, Texas, earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Mannes College of Music in New York, where he studied chamber music with Felix Galimir and piano with Leon Pommers and Richard Goode. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in such venues as Weill Recital Hall (New York), Orchestra Hall (Detroit) and Asahi Recital Hall (Tokyo). 2000 marked his seventh trip to Japan, where he has performed in critically acclaimed performances with soprano Lucy Shelton, baritone Yaron Windmueller, violinist Asako Urushihara, flutist Lisa Nickl, and violist Mai
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Motobuchi. In 2003 Naxos released his recording with Curt Thompson of the complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Charles Ives on their American Classics series. In March, 2004 the New York Times included this CD on a list of outstanding Ives recordings. In Houston he performs regularly with The Houston Symphony, as well as on chamber music concerts presented by Context, St. Cecilia, Barmusic, and Musiqa. From 1992-2001 he served as a staff pianist at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University. His work with refugees resettled by Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston resulted in the CD Seeking Refuge, which combines music, poetry, and photography to raise both money and awareness for refugees in the United States. He is currently programming a chamber music series entitled Mukuru for the 2005-06 season that will raise funds for AIDS Foundation Houston.
Blake Wilkins has served as and Director of Percussion Studies Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music since 1997 From 1993–1997 he served as percussionist and substitute principal timpanist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. A strong advocate for the performance of new music, he has performed regularly with Musiqa New Music Ensemble, and he also co-founded El Dos, an experimental improvisation duo, with bassist Michael Lee. Additionally, he has recently cultivated a research interest in the music of Japanese Toru Takemitsu. He is equally active as a composer, and his three works for large percussion ensemble have been recorded by the University of Oklahoma and University of Houston Percussion Ensembles on the Albany Records label. His Twilight Offering Music was a
prizewinner in the 1988 Percussive Arts Society International Composition Competition. Wilkins holds degrees in Percussion Performance and Composition from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Southern California.
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