GCSE BrightSparks —Bach to the Future

GCSE BrightSparks —Bach to the Future

Teachers’ Resource PackSpring 2020

The copyright of the project pack text is held by:

• Rachel Leach © 2020• London Philharmonic Orchestra © 2020

Any other copyrights are held by their respective owners.

This pack was produced by:

London Philharmonic OrchestraEducation and Community Department89 Albert EmbankmentLondon SE1 7TP

The LPO BrightSparks concerts in 2019/20 are generously supported by AT&T, Candide Trust, Dunard Fund, Mr & Mrs Philip Kan, Gill and Julian Simmonds, The R K Charitable Trust and the Rivers Foundation.

Unauthourised copying of any part of this teachers’ pack is strictly prohibited

This pack and additional online resources are available on lpo.org.uk/thestudioteachers

London Philharmonic Orchestra GCSE Resources 2020

Rachel Leach

Our concert will be presented by composer and animateur Rachel Leach. Rachel has composed and worked for most of the UK’s orchestras and opera companies.

Rachel’s most recent comission was Zeppelin Dreams, a massive World War One community opera for English Touring Opera and the Wolverhampton Grand. Other pieces have been recorded by NMC and published by Faber. Her community opera One Day, Two Dawns, written for ETO, won the RPS award for best education project 2009.

As well as creative music-making and composition in the classroom, Rachel is the mentor of the LPO’s Creative Classrooms project, training primary teachers in south London in creative music-making in the classroom. She is also the lead tutor on the London Symphony Orchestra’s teacher training scheme, which over 10 years has helped to train 100 teachers across East London.

Rachel also works with Turtle Key Arts writing song cycles with people with dementia, an initiative which also trains students from the Royal College of Music. Alongside all this, she is increasingly in demand as a concert presenter. She regularly presents children’s concerts, lunchtime concerts and pre-concert events for LPO, LSO, BBC Proms, RCM and Wigmore Hall.

Contents

3London Philharmonic Orchestra GCSE Resources 2020

Introduction 4

The London Philharmonic Orchestra 5

Set works and musical analysis:

Steve Reich – Clapping Music 6

Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons: ‘Winter’, first movement 8

J. S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, third movement 10

Aaron Copland – Rodeo: ‘Saturday Night Waltz’ and ‘Hoedown’ 12

John Williams – ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

15

Creative resources:

Ideas for creative work in the classroom 17

The Studio: the LPO’s online space for creative composition 26

LPO Soundworks 27

Thank you 28

IntroductionThis pack forms part of a variety of resources linked to the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s GCSE BrightSparks concert on 11 February 2020, but can also be used as a standalone resource for GCSE Music teachers.

The concert on 11 February includes a varied programme, with works by Baroque masters and 20th century innovators, showcasing the various ways in which composers have used orchestras and combinations of instruments over time, including soloists, group of soloists and minimalism in two parts, all the way up to a large symphonic ensemble. The programme also covers a range of music for different purposes: from the abstract, to programmatic, to music for dance and film.

The concert features the following repertoire:

• Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons: ‘Winter’, first movement (Edexcel wider listening and OCR recommended listening)

• J. S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No.5, third movement (Edexcel set work, Baroque analysis relevant to other boards)

• Aaron Copland – Rodeo: ‘Saturday Night Waltz’ and ‘Hoedown’ (AQA set work)

• Steve Reich – Clapping Music (AQA Minimalism)

• John Williams – ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (Edexcel set work, OCR recommended listening, film music on various boards)

In the concert, the solo parts will be performed by principal players from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Pieter Schoeman, Leader of the LPO, will perform the solo violin part in the Vivaldi, and he will be joined in the Bach by LPO Principal Flute Juliette Bausor. The harpsichord part in both pieces will be played by Ian Tindale. Clapping Music will be performed by LPO Principal Percussionist Andy Barclay and Co-Principal Henry Baldwin.

We are also delighted to be joined by the LPO Junior Artists, who will play side-by-side with the LPO in the Copland and Williams pieces. LPO Junior Artists is a year-long orchestra experience programme for talented musicians aged 15—19 from backgrounds currently under-represented in UK orchestras. Applications for 2020/21 will open shortly. Find out more at lpo.org.uk/juniorartists

This pack introduces the repertoire from the concert, provides brief analysis and background information about the pieces and composers, and includes some ideas for creative work in the classroom based on the concert themes.

Alongside this pack, we invite you to explore our digital composition resources on The Studio, the LPO’s creative online space for teenage musicians and their teachers, which includes composition activities and guidance, as well as resources about additional GCSE and A Level set works. We have newly added Film creative briefs with guidance and tips from film composer Ruth Chan, and a behind the scenes look at composing for video games.

More information about the resources on The Studio can be found on page 26.

lpo.org.uk/thestudio

4

The London Philharmonic OrchestraOne of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with its reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. It was founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham, and since then has been headed by many great names in the conducting world.

The Orchestra regularly record for film – so it’s possible your students have heard them. Amongst many soundtracks they have recorded are:• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (watch ‘The Making of’ video)• Thor: The Dark World

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It also has residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne, Saffron Hall and Glyndebourne, and performs around the UK and the world.

The LPO Education and Community department maintains an energetic programme for young people and families. Our BrightSparks schools’ concert series provides orchestral experiences for students from Key Stage 1 all the way up to A Level, providing analysis of set works at Key Stages 4 and 5. FUNharmonics family days provide interactive concerts and music-making experiences for the whole family at Royal Festival Hall. Other projects work with young people with special educational needs and disabilities though our Open Sound Ensemble, and with young musicians in the LPO Soundworks creative ensemble, with accompanying online space The Studio. We also run the LPO Junior Artists programme, a free orchestral experience programme for talented young musicians from backgrounds currently under-represented in professional UK orchestras, and LPO Junior Artists: Overture, free immersive events for young people which take a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the world of a professional orchestra. In primary schools, the annual Creative Classrooms project works intensively with Key Stage 2 teachers to build confidence in leading music in school, while parallel online space Creative Classrooms Connect hosts resources for teachers beyond the live project. The department also caters for young professionals – the LPO Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts schemes look to support young players and composers at the start of their careers.

The LPO is proud to be a member of the South Riverside Music Partnership (SRMP) which comprises the LPO, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and the Music Education Hub leads of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Royal Greenwich.

For more information about the London Philharmonic Orchestra, you can visit our website or social media.Website: lpo.org.uk Twitter: LPOrchestra Facebook: londonphilharmonicorchestra Instagram: londonphilharmonicorchestra


Steve Reich (b. 1936)Steve Reich is one of the most famous and well-respected composers alive today. Born in New York and a former student of the Juilliard School, he began his musical life as a percussionist, until his fascination with repeated rhythm led him to start experimenting with electronic music and music for percussion. In the 1970s he was at the forefront of the minimalist movement and has continued working within the genre ever since.

Minimalism

Minimalist techniques include:

• Interlocking – staggering two cells so the rhythms interlock to create a more complex pattern

• Gradual transformation – after many repeats the cell changes by just one note or duration

• Phasing – the same cell is played by two people. One slowly moves out of sync with the other by very slightly altering the speed or length of the cell and each mismatch creates new rhythms and/or harmonies

• Shifting – another form of phasing. One pattern shifts its emphasis by placing the last note at the beginning or vice versa thus creating new a pattern

Minimalism was a radical musical movement which originated in the USA in the 1960s. It is constructed from a small number of short musical ideas that are repeated many times to generate music that gradually changes over a long period of time. Pioneered by Steve Reich, minimalist music was initially made from short rhythmic ‘cells’ that were repeated a lot and put through a number of processes allowing the music to very gradually develop and transform.

6 London Philharmonic Orchestra GCSE Resources 2020

Steve Reich’s Clapping Music is arguably his most famous piece. Fed up of touring with loads of equipment, Reich decided to write a piece that uses only the human body. He took a rhythm very similar to African bell patterns (he studied African drumming in Ghana in 1970), and using a variant on the phasing technique (shifting), created one long transforming piece that is clapped by two performers. One performer stays on the original rhythm throughout and the other shifts the rhythm by one quaver after an agreed number of repetitions until eventually, the patterns line up again.

Clapping Music (1972)


Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)Antonio Vivaldi was a child prodigy on the violin, a priest at the age of 25 and the music master of an orphanage for a large part of his adult life. This last post was incredibly important as the girls in the orphanage were encouraged to take part in music studies, and Vivaldi wrote the majority of his music for their increasingly famous orchestra.

The Four Seasons: ‘Winter’, first movement (c.1720)

Amongst the many concertos he wrote, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons from around 1720 are by far the most famous. Each one has an accompanying poem that Vivaldi wrote into the manuscript telling us exactly what the music is portraying. In doing this, he created the first ‘programme’ concertos.

Quick Analysis

Form: Solo concerto

Instrumentation: Solo violin, string orchestra, harpsichord continuo

Structure: Ritornello form – music alternates between soloist and orchestra (ritornello = ‘return’ to orchestra)

Programmatic

Baroque solo concerto with continuo


Bar 1 Ritornello 1Build-up of chords and texture. Staccato quavers and little trills help to portray ‘coldness’Home key: F minor

Bar 12 Solo 1Soloist plays demisemiquaver arpeggios and scalesThree solo passages (forming an upwards sequence) with short orchestral accompaniment in between. Supposed to be a ‘blizzard’Dominant key: C minor

Bar 19 Ritornello 2Repeated semiquavers are ‘chattering teeth’ and fast up and down notes are ‘stamping feet’.Keys: F minor – moving through a circle of keys and back to F minor

Bar 26 Solo 2Again demisemiquaver scales say ‘cold’Orchestra again moves through a circle of keys underneath

Bar 36 Rapid alternation between soloist and orchestra leads to … Bar 39 Ritornello 3

A return to the opening ‘stabbing’ chords (Ritornello 1)Bar 44 Solo 3

Short section moves from Eb to C minorBar 47 Ritornello 4

‘our teeth chattering in the extreme cold’Bar 56 Repeat of Ritornello 4

Home key: F minor – moving through a circle of keys and back to F minorBar 60 Coda (ending)

Cadence: IV – V – I in F minor (twice) M

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)Johann Sebastian Bach held a series of posts as musical director to churches and aristocratic families supplying music for the weekly services, parties and special events. Around 1720 he was seeking a new position and so he gathered together six concertos written in recent years and sent them with a dedication to the Margrave of Brandenburg as a job application. It is doubtful whether the Margrave ever heard them and Bach ultimately didn’t get the job – but the concertos are now named after this association and are thought of as the best of their kind and certainly some of the best music Bach ever created.

Brandenburg Concerto No.5, third movement (c. 1720)

As a concerto grosso, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 features a concertino (a small group of soloists) and a ripieno (the full orchestra). In this piece, the concertino is a group of flute, violin and harpsichord. The harpsichord part is so challenging that it is said that back in 1720 only Bach could play it. Because of this intricate part, this work is now considered to be a precursor to the many piano concertos that followed.

Quick Analysis

Form: Concerto grosso

Instrumentation: Concertino: flute, violin, harpsichord Ripieno: string orchestra, harpsichord continuo

Structure: Ritornello form – music alternates between soloist and orchestra Fugal – like a fugue with polyphonic texture and lots of imitation

Ternary (ABA)

Baroque concerto grosso


Bar 1 A Section. Solo 1

In the style of a Gigue. Fugal

Home key: D major

Bar 29 Ripieno enter

Also Fugal

Bar 42 Virtuosic display from harpsichord

Solo violin and flute in unison and then parallel (from bar 44)

Bar 58 Imitation between flute and solo violin

Bar 62 Ripieno uses the subject theme to provide a cadence in home key

Bar 65 More imitation within the Ripieno

Bar 79 B Section

Solo flute accompanied by solo violin and harpsichord

Key: B minor (B pedal)

Bar 89 Role reversal – solo violin accompanied by solo flute and harpsichord

Bar 97 Solos within Ripieno are accompanied by ‘soloists’

Bar 106 Call and response between soloists

Bar 128 Ripieno fugue

Bar 137 Sequence – solo flute and violin have same material repeated on different pitches each

bar

Bar 149 Soloists accompany the Ripieno!

Bar 156 Call and response between harpsichord and Ripieno

Bar 165 Cadenza for harpsichord punctuated (at bar 177) by orchestra using the subject

Bar 193 Imitation between soloists

Bar 220 Ripieno enter one by one

Bar 233 A Section returns

Home key: D major

Bar 296 Stretto – narrowing of space between the entries as we approach the ending

Bar 307 Final perfect cadence featuring subject theme


Aaron Copland (1900–1990)Aaron Copland was a pioneering American composer whose life spanned the 20th century. He was born into a humble family in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up to be one of the most important American composers ever. He is known as the father of American classical music and many of his early pieces defined a new American sound. He wrote music in all genres including much for film and stage.

Rodeo (1942)

Rodeo tells the story of a cowgirl who is desperate to be taken seriously by her cowboy colleagues. It was dreamed up by the choreographer and star dancer Agnes de Mille as a vehicle to show off her unique talents. She gave Copland a list of traditional folk melodies to include and told him where to put them within her story.

The ballet was a huge success and became the inspiration behind music theatre hits such as Oklahoma! and Calamity Jane. Copland transformed the music into Four Episodes from Rodeo, an orchestral work that closely resembles the shape of a symphony (fast: slow: ‘minuet’: fast)

A ‘cowboy’ ballet that greatly influenced music theatre


‘Saturday Night Waltz’On stage: Cowboys and girls pair up and dance a slow waltzOverview: A lazy waltz with improvisatory feel and no um-pa-pa!

Bar 1 Introduction: strings only

Open 5ths and syncopated rhythms portray the band ‘tuning up’

Fig. 1 G major tonality is flattened as the music transitions to the home key of Eb

Woodwind and brass enter with similar material to the strings

Fig. 2 Theme A: ‘Old Paint’

Accompaniment features a mix of 6/8 and 3/4

4-bar link with flute falling 3rd ‘cuckoo’ leads to …

Fig. 3 Theme A repeated, different orchestration

Fig. 4 2-bar link leads to Theme B on viola, then 1st violin.

This is an extension of Theme A rather than a new idea

Fig. 5 Theme A again with flute decoration which includes the ‘cuckoo’ idea

Fig. 6 Brighter key of E (semitone move from Eb)

‘Improvisatory’ section developing the idea of a falling (or rising) 3rd – the ‘cuckoo’

again

Syncopated rhythms add to the ‘lazy’ feel

Fig. 9 Viola falling theme and flute pedal on B.

Clarinet sketches out A major chord with added major 7th

Fig. 10 Theme B returns, back in the home key of Eb. Louder dynamics

Fig. 11 Theme A returns. The most confident, thickly scored version so far

Last four bars are a coda made up from material previously heard before Fig. 3

including flute ‘cuckoo’A

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‘Hoedown’On stage: A lively dance celebrating the end of the working day. The cowgirl gets her man and a kiss!Overview: A re-working of three traditional folk tunes

Bar 1 Introduction: Swirling idea (from Theme A) focuses on the keynote: D

Short fanfares pass between trumpets and violins

More ‘swirling’

D major ‘vamp’ featuring piano and woodblock

Syncopated, open 5th accompaniment throughout the pieceFig. 5 & 6 Theme A: Bonaparte’s Retreat

Two contrasting, balanced 4 bar phrases - a a b b

a – the ‘swirling’ idea from the intro

b – folk fiddle patterns (Fig. 6)Fig. 7 & 8 a a b b

Fig. 9 Phrase b b on full orchestra.

Two homorhythms – woodwind, upper strings vs. brass, percussion, lower stringsFig. 10 a a

Fig. 11 Codetta made from phrase ‘a’ – gets ‘stuck’ and fragments to a new section

The 4-bar phrase structure is interrupted by a 5-bar phrase!Fig. 12 Theme B: McLeod’s Reel

Begins with anacrusis and a distinctive, emphasised, octave leap

Call and response between trumpets and violins

Fig. 13 Theme C: Gilderoy

Chamber ensemble feel. Theme C is presented on solo oboe and answered by solo

clarinet and solo violin

Fig. 14 Theme B returns

Fig. 15 New call and response fanfares between woodwind and piano and strings leads to…

Fig. 16 Massive celebratory section for most of the orchestra

Comes to abrupt stop, could end here but the story on stage dictates the next section

Fig. 17 & 18

‘Vamp’ section in D and C (repeated patterns)

Slows and slips downwards chromatically to magical chord (with added celeste) – the

cowgirl’s ‘kiss’

Fig 19. Theme A (Bonaparte) returns and the ‘a’ and ‘b’ phrases alternate until almost the end.

Copland messes with the symmetry of the phrases for added excitement

Fig 21. Theme A ‘gets stuck’ again to create a coda made up of open 5th syncopated chords, an

unpredictable homorhythm and three unison low D ‘stamps’ from the bass instruments


John Williams (b. 1932)American composer John Williams was and is famous for his symphonic scores often featuring big, stirring melodies and littered with leitmotifs. He is the most awarded film composer in history

– he’s won 5 Oscars and been nominated for 51 to date (he also holds the record for most Oscar nominations awarded to a living person, only a little behind Walt Disney’s 59 nominations).

‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977)

The first Star Wars film was released in 1977, and featured an Oscar-winning score by John Williams. There are now nine Star Wars films in the series (not including standalone films related to the franchise), all of which were also scored by John Williams.

On screen: Opening titles feature the ‘story so far’, outer space, the Death Star and a battleOverview: Williams’ theme begins conventionally with balanced, tonal phrases but then images on screen begin to dictate the music’s direction…

One of the most instantly recognisable themes in orchestral music

Bar 1 Introduction: Fanfare from the brass section. In Bb, 4/4 with fanfare figures made up

from quartal chords (based on stacked 4ths)

Bar 5 Theme A: a leitmotif representing Luke, heroism, adventure. Used throughout the film:

Features a distinctive rising 5th and then inverted, falling 4th from tonic to dominant

Two balanced 4-bar phrases

Inverted tonic pedal on high violins

Syncopated march-like accompaniment


Bar 12 Theme B: a contrasting theme on strings doubled over 3 octaves.

Begins with an anacrusis, moves mostly by step, has swooping upward leap of a 6th

Two balanced 4-bar phrases, finishes with Bb minor scale in contrary motionBar 21 Theme A repeated, different orchestration

2nd phrase features walking basslineBar 30 Mysterious fanfare-like section with sequences within the violin part.

Music is now responding to the images on screenBar 33 “Stars and sky” – transition section with unstable harmonies, string arpeggios,

diminuendoBar 36 ‘Lonely’ piccolo solo over bitonal chords. In C major with flats including a Bb in the

melody

Instrumentation greatly contrasts with the opening – harp, celeste, high violins, vibes

No brassBar 39 Scurrying strings, trombone block chords

Bar 42 C (tonic) pedalOminous, pounding rhythm on timpaniBrass triads – another fanfare figure

Bar 44 Switch from 4/4 to 3/4

C pedal continues

Build-up of a massive cluster chord by whole orchestra – suspense

Rit (slowing down) and pauseBar 51 Quicker tempo

C pedal continues

Brass triads similar to 42 – 43Bar 60 Pedal fades away*

*This is where the GCSE set work ends, but we will perform the whole Main Title in the concert.

Video resources on The Studio:Watch Dr Vasco Hexel’s talk on the background and musical themes in Star Wars, as well as the musical influences that litter the score in our Set Works playlist.

You can also hear Vasco talk about some of the leitmotifs from Star Wars in video 4 (Emotion and meaning) of our Introduction to Narrative Film Music playlist.

Both playlists can be viewed on lpo.org.uk/thestudioteachers


Creative tasks based on some of the techniques used within these pieces may help your students to understand the music from a hands-on point of view. Here are some suggestions for creative work that can be undertaken either in groups or individually.

Ideas for creative work in the classroom

Composing task 1: Minimalism in the classroom

A classic minimalist warm-upBefore beginning creative composition with your students, a fun warm-up can help to get the creative juices flowing and this one explores a very important minimalist technique – phasing.

• Clear your classroom and ask your students to stand in a circle.

• Teach them the following (‘football’) rhythm and as a class, clap it four times through:

• Explain that you’re going to change the rhythm very slightly by adding a whole beat onto the end like this: Note that you must add a full crotchet beat onto the end and therefore augment the rhythm from eight beats to nine. It might help at first if this extra beat is a stamp or a shout rather than another clap.

• Practise clapping this and repeating through four times

• Now split your circle in half. One side will clap the original (8 beat) pattern, the other side will clap the new (9 beat) pattern. They must clap their patterns round and around. Point out that the patterns are going to go out of sync and it will be hard to keep going but eventually the patterns will fit together again

• When this is achieved, explain that they have just performed a phase – one of the most important of all the minimalist techniques!


Pure minimalism: Steve Reich(limited scales, ostinato, motivic development)

1 Split your class into groups of about six. Ask each student to choose an instrument and make sure that each group has at least two pitched instruments in it (the more pitched instruments

used in this task, the better)

• Ask each group to choose a limited number of pitches to work with – five is the maximum number of pitches that they need. They may want to choose a pentatonic scale (the black notes of the piano) or five random pitches

• If you envisage putting all the groups together at the end to make one piece decide on the pitches as a class so that everyone is working with the same limited scale

• Ask each group to invent three ostinatos and practise playing them over and over on their instruments

• Ask each group to make a piece that features:

• Up to three ostinatos pitched within their limited scale, or unpitched

• A neat beginning and ending – ideally everyone stopping (and possibly starting) completely together

2 When this is achieved, hear each group and comment: Minimalist music sounds much less predictable if the ostinatos start on different beats of the

bar rather than all starting at the beginning of the bar. At this stage you may want to tweak some of the pieces by encouraging at least one ostinato in each group to begin on beat 2, 3 or 4 of the bar (this just means the player waiting a couple of beats before beginning). Explain that this is called staggering

3 Next, explain the following ‘processes’ to your class:

1. Subtraction – over many, many repetitions notes are gradually removed from the ostinato until nothing is left. This can be done in two ways, either by replacing the note with a rest…

An ostinato is a repeated rhythmic pattern. One quick way to invent a new ostinato is to ask a simple question such as ‘what did you have for lunch?’

Encourage your students to answer with a full sentence then simply speak this sentence to a pulse. Next, try to clap each syllable of the phrase, then finally transfer the clapped pattern onto instruments sticking within your chosen pitches.

For example:


… or by squashing the notes up instead of adding a rest (much harder, although using the words does help!)

2. Addition – over many, many repetitions notes are added to the ostinato to either create it from silence...

… or to transform it into something else:

3. Phasing – one ostinato is lengthened by one whole beat to create a mismatch with the others and therefore create a phase. Refer your students back to the ‘football chant’ warm-up above

Stress to your class that these processes are designed to create a gradual change in the music and therefore take place gradually over many, many repeats. For example, if using subtraction, notes are subtracted slowly one note per several repeats not one note each repeat

4 Split your class back into its working groups and ask each group to choose at least one process from the ones outlined above to apply it to their piece

5 When this is achieved, listen to all the pieces and comment. Are the transformations gradual enough? Are they successfully executed?

• At this stage you may want to put all the groups together to make one big minimalist piece. Decide as a class how to structure the groups – do they all play at the same time or is there

any structure to their entrances/exits? Can two or three processes be lined up or is it more effective if they stay separate? The effect you are aiming for is gradual transformation of ideas and a lot of repetition but be careful that all your lines can be heard and you don’t just create a big minimalist ‘fog’.


Composing task 2: A programmatic concerto grossoThis task combines elements from Vivaldi (his descriptive poems) and J.S. Bach (concerto grosso form). Clear your classroom and ask your students to stand in a circle.

1 Begin by selecting a topic to describe

Vivaldi wrote his own sonnets as the basis for his Four Seasons and these are readily available

online. However any story, poem or place will do - you could even encourage your class to

write their own stimulus. For the following example I’ve chosen the end of Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’

sonnet as follows:

Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes

Nymphs and shepherds lightly dance

Beneath the brilliant canopy of spring

2 Split your class into four evenly sized groups

You might want to have a discussion about the instruments available and split them

accordingly or ideally aim for each group having a good mix of instruments and ability. Ask

each group to make a short piece to describe the opening line of the poem:

Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes

Before beginning work, decide as a full class on the following:

• Key – Vivaldi uses E major but C major might be easier for your students. You could even cut this down to just C, D, E, F, G

• One motif – the idea of bagpipes in this line is an easy thing to portray. Vivaldi uses an open 5th drone:

• One rhythm – it might be helpful to set everyone off with the same short ostinato. You could invent this as a class or again, borrow from Vivaldi. Here’s is Vivaldi’s most prominent rhythm: When these elements are decided on, ask each group to simply make a short piece using them and adding anything else to help describe the images of the line of poetry.

It might be easier to create new music if you don’t listen to Vivaldi’s piece first!


3 Decide on a Concertino group

Hear each group’s piece and let the class decide which one would make the most effective

Concertino (i.e. solo) group. (The most difficult thing about making a concerto with a large

class is deciding who plays the solo parts, so let the students decide!)

Now split the class into two groups as follows:

Group 1 Concertino as recently decided Group 2 Ripieno – all the other groups combined

Set the following tasks:

Concertino group – create two short pieces to describe the next two lines of the poem (one

piece for each line).

Nymphs and shepherds lightly dance

Beneath the brilliant canopy of spring

Ripieno group – work together to combine all their ideas so far into one piece thus creating

the ‘Ritornello’.

4 Structure the ideas to create a Ritornello form piece

Hear each section of music separately. You should have the following:

Ritornello played by the large Ripieno group

Concertino 1 played by the ‘solo’ group and based on line 1 of the poem

Concertino 2 based on line 2

Concertino 3 based on line 3

Remind your class of the shape of ritornello form (i.e. an alternation between Ripieno group and

Concertino) and encourage them to order their music to achieve this shape.

Taking it further:

• Composers don’t always stick to the rules we place upon them… is there room within your piece

for a solo cadenza or a coda played by everyone?

• Should the Ripieno group accompany the Concertino group during their solos – i.e. could you

create a supporting ‘continuo’ part, or even just a bassline?

• Should the Concertino group join in with the Ripieno group?

• Are there any musical sound effects you could add to further tell your story?

You can lead a similar exercise with any of the Four Seasons movements and afterwards play Vivaldi’s version to the class and lead a discussion on the

similarities and differences.


Composing task 3: Film music

Listening task: ‘Spot’ a film When composers are commissioned to write a film score they sit down with the director and watch the footage without music in a process called ‘spotting’. During this viewing they write down events, actions and emotions that require music alongside the time at which they occur. Then together, the composer and director agree (or not) on where the music will be placed and what style it will have.

You can do this task with any film clip, or you could try one of these:

• Try one of the Film Creative briefs on The Studio

• Clips of the sound cues from Psycho are good, and are available on YouTube as is the opening credit sequence from Star Wars.

Or, simply choose a clip with a lot of action and mute the sound. If you can run a visual stopwatch against it that will help.

You can find out how scoring a film is done in the real world by watching film composer Alex Harwood explain the process on The Studio.

Here’s a method to use in the classroom either in groups or individually:

1 Play your chosen film clip to your class without sound. Ask them to note down everything including characters, events, actions, emotions, scenery, and to note alongside these events the

exact time at which they occur. For this example, we have used Film Creative brief 5: Where Loyalty lies.

2 Looking at their list, ask your students to categorise the events as follows:

• Diegetic sounds music that can be heard by the characters within the film as well as the audience

• Sound effects non-musical sounds

• Mickey Mousing opportunities for music to perfectly mimic action as in a cartoon (footsteps etc.)

• Atmosphere to be created by music alone

• Character opportunities to write signature tunes (leitmotifs) for characters within the film


They might have a table that looks something like this:

There are two options for the next step:

Option 1 – Compose the Soundtrack

3 Set your class the task of composing their own soundtrack. To do this, encourage them to assemble a ‘sound-bank’ of musical ideas from their lists and draw up a table like this:

4 Choose the most important motifs

Ask you students to select the three most important characters or themes from their list that are strong enough to convey the essence of the story alone

For example: House Party Bottle (atmosphere) (diegetic) (leitmotif)

Time Event Category

0.05 Knock on the door Sound effects

0.29 Opens window Mickey Mousing

0.48 Music at the party Diegetic

Empty house Atmosphere

1.24 Picks up smashed bottle - possible flash-back?

Leitmotif

Motif Type Description

Knock on door Sound effects Knocking

Open window Mickey Mousing Window goes up, he goes in

Empty house Atmosphere Mysterious, sinister

Party Diegetic Loud, rhythmic, dance music

Bottle Leitmotif Sinister, violent


5 Create a short motif Encourage your students to create a short musical theme or motif to describe each of their

selected elements. Encourage them to keep these musical ideas short and flexible and perhaps just contain three ingredients (i.e. a rhythm, an instrumentation, a tune). The themes should contrast as much as possible but also fit together if required so encourage your students to use the same set of notes for all three but perhaps different instrumentation, tempo and metre. You may choose to split your class into teams to achieve this, each team creating one element Or, if working with a large class you might want to split into teams with each team focusing on a different type of sound – i.e. a sound effects (Foley) group tasked with finding life-like sound effects and adding them in sync with the action, a diegetic group (one group just for the music in the party scenes) etc.

6 Watch the film again and chart how each motif might change in response to the story being depicted. For example: Empty house atmosphere becomes more sinister as police officer

discovers more clues.

7 Encourage each group to create different versions (or variations) on their themes to cover all of these differing emotions and events.

This is a classic ‘Theme and Variations’ task. Draw up a list with the class of techniques composers use when creating Theme and Variations. Your list might include some of the following:

• Change the mode – major/minor

• Change the metre

• Change the rhythms – add syncopation

• Change the mood

• Change the orchestration

• Fragment

• Add a countermelody

• Create a canon (or echo)

• Invert the melody (mirror it)

• Keep the rhythm, change the pitches

• Keep the pitches, change the rhythm

• Play it in retrograde (backwards)

• Change the structure

• Change the harmony


8 Compose your piece Finally watch the film again and order and combine your motifs and variations to create a

score. Write this down as a list of events first and then try playing your music live to picture. You can of course, record your music and edit it on to the film making all the ‘hit-points’ sync up in ‘post production’!

Option 2

Watch the film again with sound and see how many of your ideas match the real composer’s… then discuss the effectiveness of the real soundtrack and how it could be adapted or bettered. You can watch some of the other responses to Creative brief 5, or use a clip from a mainstream film for this option.

You could even try this task in reverse. Listen to a film soundtrack without the images and ‘spot’ what might be happening on screen.


As well as this pack, our online space The Studio offers a wealth of resources for GCSE Music students and their teachers, including insights from composers, creative composition briefs and material related to other set works. We have picked out a selection below that will be of particular relevance for GCSE Music students:

• Behind the scenes: recording a soundtrack to a video game Composition for video games is big this year, featuring on the syllabuses of AQA and OCR, as well as on both exam boards’ ‘composing to a brief’ element for 2020. This summer the LPO was in the studio recording for a new video game. We went behind the scenes to interview the composer, Taisei Iwasaki, to find out how he composed the music, and hear from Robert Ziegler (conductor) and Anne McAneney (LPO trumpet) about what it’s like to perform video game music, and how it differs from other orchestral repertoire. Watch this short film for an insight into the real world of video game music, for your students to be inspired with their own compositions.

• Film creative briefs: new material Our creative briefs on The Studio offer short videos to stimulate students’ composition for film, dance or theatre, along with guidance from professional composers, and examples of other students’ work. We have added two new briefs to our Film music page using clips from short films made by young filmmakers from the BFI Future Film Academy: Where Loyalty Lies – a dark, atmospheric scene of a police officer investigating a crime scene, and Daylight Robbery – a comedy clip featuring two bungling burglars. Film composer Ruth Chan offers tips on how to create music for these clips. There are many other creative briefs on The Studio too – perfect for class assignments.

The Studio: The LPO’s online space for creative composition

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• Composing for strings For any student composing for string instruments, we offer a comprehensive guide to what these instruments can do, some typical playing techniques, and examples of how composers have composed for them. Presented by Dr Steven Berryman, with a quartet of players from the LPO performing musical examples, this video is a great starting point to find out more about the largest instrument family of the orchestra, and how to write thoughtfully for them.

• Focus on set works: Star Wars and Psycho In these videos, Dr Vasco Hexel discusses features of Star Wars (John Williams, Edexcel set work) and Psycho (Bernard Herrmann, A Level Edexcel set work, and useful for general film composition at GCSE)

• Introduction to narrative film music playlist A highly informative starting point for any student learning about film music, presented by Dr Vasco Hexel. Find out about the functions of film music, typical features and examples

The above resources, and a digital version of this pack, are hosted on the teacher page of The Studio: lpo.org.uk/thestudioteachers


If your students are interested in composition and excited by cross-arts collaboration, we run our LPO Soundworks Creative Week every Easter holiday, open to creative musicians aged 14–19.

This April, we will collaborate with the Youth Theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe, devising a joint music and drama piece to be performed at London’s Southbank Centre. Along the way the LPO Soundworks music ensemble will meet professional composers and musicians and find out how music and drama combine in thrilling and dynamic ways.

More information about LPO Soundworks can be found at lpo.org.uk/soundworks

Sign up to our mailing list by emailing [email protected] to be alerted when applications open.

LPO Soundworks

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Thank you

We hope this pack will give you some suggestions to support GCSE provision in your school. For further ideas, don’t forget that the LPO’s BrightSparks series of schools concerts runs annually at Royal Festival Hall, with specific concerts for GCSE students.

You can find out more at lpo.org.uk/education

Please feel free to get in touch at any time via our email address [email protected] about our work here at the LPO, or if you’d like any future guidance for musical work in the classroom. We’d love to hear from you about your school’s future musical activities!


Documents

GCSE BrightSparks —Bach to the Future