Symphony in Color

CURRICULUM GUIDE Thank you for participating in the 67th annual SYMPHONY IN COLOR, a statewide art contest for students in grades one through six. Since 1951, this contest has been a labor of love for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association. Each year our members look forward to opening the boxes of beautiful and creative artwork sent in by our Indiana school children. After judging, framing and exhibiting, we are rewarded by the faces of the winners at our annual Awards Tea. We are pleased to have you participate this year.

PURPOSES

To encourage young children to appreciate symphonic music To encourage creative interpretation of music through visual arts

To provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary study of the performing and visual arts To increase awareness of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and its role as a cultural leader in the

state of Indiana

Symphony in Color

sponsored by the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association

additional support from

Printing Partners UPS Zionsville Store #3906

The Great Frame Up Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana

McDonald’s of Central Indiana Propylaeum Historic Foundation

special thanks to

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Indiana State Museum

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TIMELINE

Friday February 2, 2018, 5 PM Deadline for submitting artwork

February 5-7, 2018 Contest week and judging

February 26 to March 26, 2018 Gold Ribbon Winners exhibited in the Oval Promenade of the Hilbert Circle Theatre

March 4, 2018 Awards Tea for Gold Ribbon winners and their guests at Hilbert Circle Theatre

April 2 to May 4, 2018 Exhibition of 100 finalists at the Indiana State Museum

THEME

Art must be based upon one of the following Symphony in Color 2017-2018 Music Selections

1. Beethoven | Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73 ("Emperor") 2. Weber | Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 (Arr. Berlioz) 3. Handel | Music for the Royal Fireworks 4. Haydn | Second Movement of Symphony No. 101 in D Major ("The Clock") 5. Mahler | What the Wild Flowers Tell Me (Arr. Britten)

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Did You Remember To...

Indicate grade and music selection on each entry form?

Include a maximum of 6 entries per school (plus an additional seventh entry if using the MMI/AUT category)?

Mount artwork on the correct sized (16x20 inches) white poster board? Incorrectly sized artwork will be disqualified. Don’t disappoint your budding artists!

Use the correct size box (UPS standards) and ship via UPS? We highly recommend using UPS so boxes can be tracked.

Ship artwork to arrive by 5 pm, Friday, February 2, 2018.

Address the box correctly?

Symphony in Color c/o The Propylaeum Historical Foundation

1410 N Delaware Indianapolis, IN 46202

Symphony in Color

PROCEDURE Included are your Curriculum Guide and the music selections for the 2017-2018 Symphony in Color.

Please read all information and rules, and then duplicate (as needed for your submissions). The Official Inventory List and Official Entry Form to be found in the centerfold of the Guide or online here.

You have the option of presenting all the musical selections to your students in all grades or selecting pieces respective to grade and ability levels.

It is recommended that musical selections be presented prior to your art activity to allow for discussion of the musical form, composer, instruments, etc. The school music teacher and the program notes contained in the Curriculum Guide are good resources for this discussion. In some schools the music is first introduced in the music department and then the project is moved to the art department. As soon as students have the “feel” of the music, they should begin their artwork.

We encourage you to introduce the students to all the selections; however, their artwork must be created for a specific selection and must state which selection on their entry form. Failure to reference the specific selection will result in the committee’s placing it in the category in which they think it belongs and may result in its being judged incorrectly.

ELIGIBILITY

Participation is open to all students in grades 1-6 as well as mildly mentally impaired/autistic students in Indiana. Home-schooled children are also eligible when entered through their districts. Only one entry per student will be accepted. Each entry must be the original artwork of an individual student. Only six entries per school will be accepted (an additional seventh representing the mildly mentally impaired/autistic category is also accepted). Please do not send additional entries, as they will not be included in the judging and will not receive participation certificates.

SPECIFICATIONS

Failure to comply with the following specifications will result in disqualification of any or all entries received from your school.

MEDIA: Any two-dimensional art media is permitted. Colored chalk, pastels, and charcoal are permitted ONLY if the artwork is sprayed or covered securely with a transparent wrapping other than Plexiglas, glass or laminate.

SIZE: The artwork must be on standard 12" x 18" paper mounted on white lightweight poster board.

The dimensions of the finished artwork, after mounting, must be 16" x 20". Please mount artwork securely - do not use spray adhesive.

IDENTIFICATION: An Official Entry Form must be completed by the art teacher for each entrant. The top half of the form must be adhered to the back of the artwork, leaving the lower half attached but free to be removed. The top of the artwork must be identified with an arrow or the word “top” on the back of the art.

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SUBMITTING ARTWORK: Artwork must be wrapped in a clean corrugated cardboard carton that is less than 84 inches in length and girth. (Determine this by taking the length of the box in inches and add to it the width measurement of all four sides around the outside of the box.) Cartons larger than 84 inches in length and girth are considered “oversize” by UPS standards and will be returned at the school’s expense. The carton must be marked clearly with a return address, including the school name and/or number and address, including ZIP code. These cartons will be used to return the artwork at the end of the contest. If you have used the same package repeatedly for many years, please consider replacing it this year.

An Official Inventory List from this book must accompany all packages of artwork. All entries from one school must be packaged together. We strongly suggest using UPS to deliver your artwork, as they offer a reliable way to verify the receipt of your package. Please note: it is very important to write on the address label: “Please deliver between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.!” in order to ensure that your artwork arrives when the building is open.

Send complete cartons by UPS to: (Please note the new address.)

Symphony in Color c/o The Propylaeum Historic Foundation 1410 N Delaware Indianapolis, IN 46202 All artwork must be received by Friday, February 2, 2018, by 5 pm, to be eligible. We cannot be responsible for hand-delivered packages left outside the building past this time.

For further information, you may phone the ISOA office at 317-262-4068 or email Mary Richards at sic.contest2017@gmail.com. If you need to make alternative arrangements to deliver your artwork, please call well in advance of the deadline.

JUDGING

Each participating art teacher will perform the initial judging by selecting six entries, preferably one from each grade level. An optional additional entry may be selected from the mildly mentally impaired/autistic category.

In Indianapolis during the week of the contest, a panel of three judges will review all entries and select 100 finalists for exhibition.

A second panel of three judges will review those 100 finalists and select 36 Gold Ribbon winners with the goal of selecting 5 from each grade level, one through six, and 5 from the mildly mentally impaired/autistic category. An attempt is made to distribute the 100 finalists evenly throughout the grades when possible. Teachers will receive a list of the six judges as well as their background information at the conclusion of the contest.

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GUIDELINES FOR SELECTION OF ENTRIES Following are some guidelines to help you select the entries from your school. Our judges are highly qualified professional artists and musicians. The following are qualities that we ask them to consider as they judge the artwork. 1. MUSICAL INTERPRETATION is the foremost criterion for judging. How well did the child capture

the spirit, motion and rhythm of the music? How accurately has the theme (storyline, nationality, characters) been portrayed?

2. AGE-APPROPRIATE ARTWORK is a consideration. Our judges are usually very quick to spot any

“meddling” by an older hand or mind (i.e. suggestions of ideas that obviously would not occur to one of more limited experience).

3. COLOR or SHADING. Some entries using pencil, charcoal, and pen and ink have done well in the

past. In general, however, children usually use color as an important means of expressing their feelings and responses to music.

4. BALANCE. How are elements in the picture placed? 5. OVERALL APPEAL. There are always some pieces that “speak” to us as individuals, regardless of

how well the above criteria have been met. If you find such a piece among your students’ efforts, by all means enter it. Remember that yours is the first professional “eye” to judge these entries.

AWARDS

Each Gold Ribbon winner will receive a Certificate of Excellence and other appropriate awards to be presented at the Awards Tea in the Hilbert Circle Theatre on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

Each of the remaining 100 finalists will receive a Certificate of Merit that will be sent to the school art teacher.

Every other student entered in the contest will be awarded a Certificate of Recognition for his or her participation. It will be sent to the school art teacher.

Each school will receive a Certificate of Participation for its participation in the contest.

THE MAESTRO AWARD

The school with the greatest number of exhibitors will be designated the winner of the Maestro Award. A special certificate and $500 for the purchase of art supplies will be presented at the Awards Tea. In the event of a tie, the award will be determined by the number of Gold Ribbon winners.

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THE PACINI AWARD

One entry will be designated winner of the Pacini Award. This award, formerly the Committee’s Choice Award, was renamed in Renato Pacini’s honor as a token of appreciation for his many years of service to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and his support of the efforts of Junior Group. The winner will be notified prior to the Awards Tea. A special certificate and cash award of $300 will be presented at the Awards Tea.

Renato Pacini (1910-1989) was a beloved member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for fifty years, serving as Associate and Assistant Conductor, Assistant Concertmaster, and as a member of the first violin section. “Patch” was instrumental in presenting the early seasons of the Lollipop Concerts, sponsored by the Junior Group.

EXHIBITIONS

Hilbert Circle Theatre - Thirty-five Gold Ribbon winners and one Pacini Award winner will be selected from finalists and will be exhibited in the Hilbert Circle Theatre Oval Promenade from February 26 to March 26, 2018.

Indiana State Museum - One hundred finalists will be selected by a qualified panel of judges and exhibited in the Indiana State Museum, along with 10 Honorable Mentions, from April 2 to May 4, 2018. All students participating in Symphony in Color are encouraged to visit this exhibit.

Due to limited space, only the 35 Gold Ribbon, the “Pacini” and “Maestro” Award winners and guests will be invited to the Awards Tea.

GALLERY OF PACINI WINNERS

A reproduction of the winning artwork will be displayed in a special Symphony in Color gallery in Symphony Centre, the offices of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. The winner and parent/guardian will be asked to sign a formal release for the purpose of making a reproduction of the artwork.

RETURN OF ARTWORK

All artwork will be returned in the original corrugated packages at the end of the contest if your school has no finalists, or before the end of the school year if you have finalists. Schools with finalists, all entries (including non-finalists) will be shipped by UPS by May 12, 2018, after the close of the Indiana State Museum exhibit.

DISCLAIMER

The greatest care will be taken to protect the artwork submitted. However, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association are not responsible for any loss or any damage to artwork submitted. Images of submitted artwork may be used in promotional materials for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra or in the Association’s materials. No artist’s name or personal information will be included without permission of a parent or guardian.

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SPECIAL NOTE

Please complete the Official Entry Blank for each piece of artwork submitted. This information is used to complete participation certificates, winners’ lists, awards invitations, etc. We cannot be responsible for incorrect spelling of names due to illegible handwriting on the entry.

WE OFFER MORE!

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Discovery Concert Series, bringing the gift of music to thousands of Indiana students yearly. Find out more about this and other educational projects of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra by visiting their website.

For ticket information, please visit the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s website.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association represents “people with a passion for music.” We welcome new members. To get involved, call the ISOA office at 317.262.4068.

Symphony in Color

CURRICULUM NOTES The following notes help teachers identify and comprehend characteristics of the 2015-2018 Symphony in Color contest repertoire. The five works chosen for this year’s contest represent benchmarks in symphonic music. It is hoped that the experience of hearing and responding to these musical masterpieces will be an enriching one for both teachers and students. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will perform several of these selections during the 2017-2018 Season. The performance dates with notes about each piece are included here.

Symphony in Color meets the following Indiana Academic Standards: Music:

Listening to, describing and analyzing music (Standard 6) Understanding the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside of the arts (Standard 7)

Visual Arts: Students observe, select, and utilize a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas in their work (Standard 7) Students understand and apply elements and principles of design effectively in their works (Standard 8) Students understand the integrative nature of art forms (Standard 14)

Language Arts Recognizing that oral and written communication skills are stressed throughout Indiana’s Academic Standards, the Symphony in Color Curriculum Guide includes questions to prompt classroom discussions and writing exercises. These questions are intended to enhance oral and written work.

Participate in collaborative conversations about grade-appropriate topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

Consult reference materials, both print and digital (e.g. dictionary) to determine or clarify the meanings of words

and phrases. See highlighted words in Selection section

Visual Art and Music Vocabulary

Some of the same words are used to describe both visual art and music: line, form, color, texture. Here is a brief explanation of what some of these words mean when referring to visual art or to orchestral music. In visual art, a line is an edge or a boundary marking you can see. In music, a line is a succession of notes following one after another, like the notes of a melody. In visual art, form refers to a shape or mass or the arrangement of all the shapes. In music, form refers to how the different sections of a piece are arranged. In visual art, we see different colors and refer to them by name, such as red, blue, green and yellow. In music, we hear different colors when we hear different instruments like violins, horns, bassoons, flutes and tympani.

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In visual art, texture can be seen and felt when different materials are applied to the surface of the artwork. In music, we can hear different textures when lines played by different instruments are added or subtracted.

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THE SELECTIONS Selection No. 1

Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73 ("Emperor”) Ludwig Von Beethoven (1770 -1827) German Performed by the ISO on February 23, 2018

THE COMPOSER:

Beethoven's first music teacher was his alcoholic and abusive father, who also worked as a musician. He unsuccessfully attempted to exhibit him as a child prodigy. Beethoven's mother died when he was 17 and for several years he was responsible for raising his two younger brothers. The family was so poverty-stricken that his father’s employer decided to pay part of his father’s salary to him to ensure that the family could survive. In 1792 Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he studied with Joseph Haydn and other teachers. By age 28 he started to become deaf and had a difficult time performing due to his deafness. As a result, he turned to composing. Archduke Rudolf and other wealthy patrons provided him a grant that made him the world's first independent composer. Before this contract musicians and composers, became servants in the houses of wealthy aristocratic families. Some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he was profoundly deaf. Beethoven is considered to be the crucial transitional figure connecting the Classical and Romantic ages of Western music.

THE MUSIC: Beethoven's fifth piano concerto began in May of 1809, when Napoleon's army besieged Vienna. The Austrian Imperial family and all of the court, including Beethoven’s friend and benefactor, Archduke Rudolph, fled the city. Beethoven’s house stood extremely close to the line of fire, so he found temporary shelter in the cellar of his brother's house. He not only stayed, but after Napoleon’s army bombarded the city, he completed the composition of his last piano concerto, the Emperor. After some months, Beethoven was able to get away from the city and return to composing. He produced back-to-back masterpieces in the "heroic" key of E-flat. Some, have speculated that the piece was named after Napoléon Bonaparte. Beethoven greatly admired Napoleon until he declared himself Napoléon Emperor of France. Others attribute the name to the fact the piece is very musically big and imposing, much like an emperor. Beethoven himself never gave the concerto a name; though the piece was dedicated to Archduke Rudolf of Austria, one of Beethoven's patrons. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Beethoven was invited to play the concerto many times, bringing him recognition and admiration which made him very proud. LISTEN FOR:

1. E Flat the "hero" key that opens Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto.

Over the centuries composers have all used it as their key of choice to represent "heroic" themes or

characters.

2. The solo piano and piano scales that introduces the main theme before the full orchestra answers

with a response.

3. A flourish of different piano chords.

4. Arpeggios - ascending or descending chords

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. What part of the music makes it sound like a dedication to a hero or royalty? What colors

do you associate with heroes or royalty?

2. What part might make you think of war or bombardment?

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3. How do you think being deaf affected Beethoven composing music?

4. What is a metronome? How do you think a metronome would help a deaf Beethoven

compose?

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Selection No. 2

Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 (Arr. Berlioz) Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826) German Performed by the ISO on February 2, 2018

THE COMPOSER: Carl Maria von Weber, a cousin of Mozart’s wife, was trained as a musician from his childhood. He was the son of musician who had founded a travelling theatre company. He made a favorable impression as a pianist and then as a music director in the opera houses of both Prague and Dresden. While there he introduced various reforms, and was a pioneer of conducting without the use of a violin or keyboard instrument. From 18 years of age, he was continuously in service as a kapellmeister at one of the German princely courts. Even though the experience of being a kapellmeister was good for him, it exacted a terrible toll on Weber’s fragile health. He had been born with a lame foot and from his early 20s showed signs of tuberculosis. However, he made up for it with boundless energy, and a quiet determination that would occasionally explode in temper. Of all of Weber's innovations, perhaps his most talked-about reform was his elevation of the role of orchestral conductor. THE MUSIC: Weber dedicated Invitation to Dance to his wife Caroline. The piece tells the story of a couple at a ball. It starts with a young man politely asking a girl for a dance. They converse. She accepts. They dance around the room and then they part. It was the first concert waltz to be written for listening rather than for dancing. It is an example of a romantic concert waltz. It was also the first piece that, rather than being a tune for the dancers to dance to or a piece of abstract music, was a programmatic description of the dancers themselves. Weber used the idea of a program (guide) for this solo piano piece. The opening describes the dancer approaching a lady at a ball. He then dances a waltz with her. The dance reaches an excited pitch and then the dance ends. He leaves and the opening mood returns. Just before that happens, though, there is a mysterious moment. LISTEN FOR:

1. Bars 1–5: First appearance of the dancers

2. Bars 5–13: His pressing invitation to dance

3. Bars 13–21: Her consent, some conversation and finally

4. Bars 27–29: her answer

5. Bars 29–35: They take their places, his thanks, her reply and wait for the end of the dance.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Invitation to the Dance is in rondo form. Can you identify the alternating theme?

Rondo - principal theme alternating with one or more contrasting themes. 2. The music is happy, bouncy, and melodic. What do you picture in your mind as you listen to

it?

You might picture the ladies in long beautiful dresses attending an elegant ballroom formal dance.

3. How is asking for a dance different today?

4. What do you think is the equivalent of a Kapellmeister (master of music) today?

Kapellmeister (master of music)

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Selection No. 3 Music for the Royal Fireworks

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 – 1759) German

THE COMPOSER: Handel was born into a middle-class physician's family and was well brought up and educated. Händel was a German and later British, composer who spent most of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. He was strongly influenced by the great Italian Baroque composers. Handel worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1727. Handel made a transition to English choral works and started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. After his success with the Messiah opera in 1742, he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man. His funeral was given full state honors, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. THE MUSIC: Händel’s music for the Royal Fireworks" was composed at the request of King George II of Great Britain for the great fireworks display celebrating the end of the War of the Austrian Succession on October 18, 1748. The king commissioned Handel to write music that should be played by a military band without stringed instruments. It was scored for a large wind band ensemble consisting of 24 oboes, 12 bassoons and a contrabassoon, nine natural trumpets, nine natural horns, three pairs of kettledrums, and side drums. Händel honored the king’s request but added strings after the debut at the fireworks celebration. Music for the Royal Fireworks work is in five movements it opens with a French overture and includes a bourrée and two minuets. LISTEN FOR:

1. Wind instruments are featured in this piece. How does the music begin?

Slowly and majestically in a sort of march with underlying tympani (kettledrums). 2. Trumpets making announcements, the tempo picks up a steady beat in the tympani.

3. When cellos take the lead and then the music returns to heavy brass.

4. The orchestra alternating between loud and soft and contrasting slow and fast that leads to a happy

ending with lots of pomp and circumstance.

WHAT DO YOU THINK: 1. The music changes mood into a dance style known as the minuet. At this point, is the music

loud or soft? It is softer and light hearted.

2. The orchestra is in conversation back and forth between the strings and brass.

How does that look as a picture in your mind?

3. Why do you think the King requested only wind instruments?

4. Based on the sound, how would you describe the setting?

Much like a processional, a great and noble celebration with royalty.

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Selection No. 4 Second Movement of Symphony No. 101 in D Major (“The Clock”)

Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) Austrian pronounced (High-din)

THE COMPOSER: Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria. His father was, a wheelwright who also served as village mayor. Haydn's mother worked as a cook in the palace of a wealthy aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could read music, but his father was a folk musician. His family was extremely musical, and frequently sang together and with their neighbors. Haydn's parents noticed that their son was musically gifted and knew he would have no chance to obtain serious musical training where they lived. Around the time Haydn turned six, they decided that he should be apprenticed to train as a musician. He was recruited at age 8 to the sing in the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he went on to learn to play violin and keyboard. After he left the choir, he supported himself by teaching and playing violin. He later became an assistant composer in exchange for lessons. In 1761 he was named "court musician" at the palace of a wealthy family. He remained there for thirty years. Even though he became famous while there, Haydn left his position in 1791 saying he felt isolated and forced to be original. Haydn returned to Vienna in 1795.

Haydn was the most famous composer of his time. He is known as the "Father of the Symphony". He wasn't the first person to compose symphonies, but he did help the symphony to grow as a musical form. He composed 106 symphonies and became the principal architect of the classical style of music. He was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

THE MUSIC: In 1793, Haydn gave his employer an elaborate musical clock, for which he wrote 12 short pieces, one of them being the basis for The Clock symphony. He wrote the symphony for the second of his two visits to London. The nickname of Symphony No. 101 comes from the tick-tock rhythm of the 2nd movement and took hold as early as 1798 when the piece was published in Vienna. This movement was demanded as an encore at its first performance. It’s ticking accompaniment gave the symphony its nickname. Although its tick-tock pattern, skipping back and forth over two octaves at one point, and split between high flute and barking bassoon at another is one of a kind. Even when the movement suddenly switches to loud and dramatic music; the clock keeps running.

LISTEN FOR: 1. Ostinato - The ticking movement throughout the movement with plucked strings and a bassoon.

Ostinato - is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, usually at the same pitch.

2. Towards the middle of the movement, there is a dark, fierce passage in G minor, followed by humor

and finally the clock theme once again.

3. The tick-tock accompaniment split between solo flute and bassoon some two octaves apart.

4. The rising scale motif begins and ends on the dominant, and two broken chords follow.

WHAT DO YOU THINK: 1. What do you think was the inspiration for the Clock Symphony?

2. Can you think of a famous clock in London that could have been Haydn’s inspiration?

3. When the tick-tock pattern skips back and forth over a flute and a bassoon; what size clock do you

think of?

4. What do you imagine when you hear the tick-tock pattern? Anything other than a clock?

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Selection No. 5 What the Wild Flowers Tell Me (Arr. Britten)

Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911) German pronounced (Mar-ler)

THE COMPOSER: Gustav Mahler was born into a Jewish German-family in Bohemia in 1860. From the beginning he was an outsider, a feeling which would remain with him his whole life. He started learning piano at the age of 4, and progressed very quickly. At one stage he was young enough and skilled enough to earn "child prodigy" status. He gave his first public performance at age 10. After doing quite badly at school, his father sent him off to study at the Vienna Conservatory. Gustav did well and won some piano prizes, but he soon started to focus on composing. He left the conservatory at age 18 to study literature and philosophy at Vienna University. Mahler taught piano and composed until he took his first conducting job at age 20. He conducted his first full opera at 21. He premiered his first symphony in 1889, but it wasn't well-received. Despite growing fame and responsibility as a conductor, he was eventually music director with the New York Philharmonic (1907) and considered one of the world's greatest conductors, composing was his calling. He started composing in a beautiful cottage by a lake in Austria each summer. Mahler died in May 1911 from a heart condition. He was 50 years old. His music never really took hold in European hearts until after 1945. After that, however, he skyrocketed into one of the most popular composers. The fact that he spent most of his life on the conductor's podium made him an expert on the way an orchestra functions. THE MUSIC: Mahler became known as a “summer composer,” because he worked on his music during the long summer days in the countryside and then returned to his life as a conductor in the city. Nature was Mahler's chosen subject. He enjoyed it daily in his mountain retreat, staring out the window as storms swept across the lake, or walking in the forest after a long day's work. This symphony program consists of a title for each of the six movements: "Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In", "What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me", "What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me", "What Man Tells Me", "What the Angels Tell Me" "What Love Tells Me". The second movement was arranged by Benjamin Britten in 1941 for a smaller orchestra. This version was published as What the Wild Flowers Tell Me in 1950. Mahler's music is relaxed, free-flowing and grandiose. Mahler stated that "A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything." LISTEN FOR:

1. The broad ABABA pattern.

2. Mahler dedicated the second movement to "the flowers in the meadow

3. The style of the music changing back and forth in this piece.

4. The different changes in tempo.

WHAT DO YOU THINK: 1. Why do you think Mahler was a ‘summer composer’?

2. Do you feel the carefree mood of the music? What instrument best conveys that mood?

3. Can you hear the movement of the wind?”

4. What do you see when you close your eyes and listen to the music?

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To Help You Present the Selections

Teachers, we offer these suggestions in hopes that you will attempt your own “spin” on this. If one of our prompts or one you invent creates a particularly rich response from students, do let us know. We are interested.

Close your eyes as you listen. Does music tell you a story of your own? How does your story look to you? Could you write your story? How will you show it in your artwork?

After hearing about the composer and the possible story about this piece, what do you think is its purpose?

If there is a story, how is it reflected in the instruments?

As you plan your artwork, what clue in your art will show your viewer that you are picturing a piece of music?

What do the words Forte (loud) and Piano (quiet) mean to the listener as they relate to the music you have chosen to represent? How might you show these in your artwork?

Are the instruments “speaking” to each other? (echo) Will your artwork show what they are saying? How? Could you write a short dialog of what they are saying to each other?

What roles do the individual instruments play in this piece? From the sounds the instruments make, can you pick out which characters are playing which roles, good or bad, in the story?

Does the music imitate or reflect on something in nature? What? How will you show it in your artwork?

Is there a repeating theme (main idea) in the music? What does it say to you? Why do you think the composer repeats certain musical phrases or ideas? Will your artwork represent the theme?

Can you write a letter to a friend that explains your piece of art?

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Looked at Another Way . . . In the Mind’s Eye – A Supplemental Idea

Symphony in Color‘s success is based on inviting students to listen to classical music to create artwork. We are eager to point out, however, that this can also work in reverse: some composers have looked at art to compose music! Stravinsky and Picasso collaborated on Pulcinella, and Victor Hartmann’s Pictures at an Exhibition inspired Mussorgsky’s successful piece in which visual motifs find vivid aural form in clocks, bells, chants and even feathers.

The ISO premiered In the Mind’s Eye: Images for Horns and Orchestra, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in May 2010. Featuring five horns, this composition by the ISO’s own James Beckel was inspired by paintings at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Each movement musically described a different art work, such as Ingrid Calame’s Form #258 created from rubbings at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Robert Weaver’s Daniel in the Lion’s Den, J.M.W. Turner’s East Cowes Castle, and Seurat’s The Channel of Graveline.

To inspire your students, you are no doubt considering well known Principles of Design: Unity, Balance, Movement, Rhythm, Focus, Contrast, Pattern, Proportion and Harmony. It is not surprising that art and music each use these descriptive terms.

As a way of preparing your students to create their artwork, we hope you might find this “spin” useful. Below are websites where you can hear Beckel’s fascinating explanation of his creative process.

Hear comments about Jim Beckel’s creative process here.

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Group Ideas

Teachers, here are some ways to guide students in groups to communicate with each other about the music and the artwork:

In your group, take turns telling what the music says to you. How could your artwork show the mood of this selection? How could your artwork show the contrast of the instrumental color heard in this selection? With paper and pencil, sketch what your artwork will look like. Share it with your group. Ask for suggestions. Our popular concertmaster, Zach De Pue, talks about working to find the energy in whatever he is playing. How is energy shown in your artwork? Take turns discussing how your artwork will reflect or represent the music. Can you tell one way that your artwork will show one of the Principles of Design? Write a message to each student in your group telling what you see in his work or asking her a question about the piece. Write an answer to the question that you received. How will you use color, shapes, and placement to represent the music? Give your group a chance to respond to your work with comments such as: I like… I wish… I see…. What one question about your artwork that you would like to ask your group? Write it on a piece of paper and ask for a response. Write a haiku or a couplet poem about the music you have chosen before you begin your artwork. Hint: Teacher, when having a dialog with students about their “music-to-art” group conversations, try saying: “Janie, what did Jimmy say about how his color choices will represent the music?“