text:
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 Young People's Concerts
World music January 25 & 26, 2012 10:00 & 11:35 am
Minnesota Orchestra Courtney Lewis, conductor Samir Chaterjee, tabla Robin Scott, violin
The Minnesota Orchestra gratefully acknowledges generous support from:
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 Young People's Concerts
World Music Table of Contents Concert Program
Performer Section
World Music Concert Overview
Cuban Overture
Svara Yantra Cadenza & Joy
An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 Young People's Concerts
World Music Concert Program George Gershwin Cuban Overture Shirsh Korde Svara Yantra Candenza & Joy Samir Chatterjee, tabla & Robin Scott, violin
Peter Maxwell Davies An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise Maurice Ravel Boléro
Performers The Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century and led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, ranks among America's top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world, award-winning recordings, radio broadcasts and educational outreach programs, and a visionary commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of tomorrow. The 98-member ensemble performs nearly 200 programs each year and its concerts are heard by live audiences of 400,000 annually. Its Friday night performances are broadcast live regionally by Minnesota Public Radio, and many programs are subsequently featured on American Public Media's national programs, Symphony Cast and Performance Today. In addition to traditional concerts, the Minnesota Orchestra connects with more than 85,000 music lovers annually through educational programs including Young People's Concerts (YPs), Target Free Family Concerts and Kinder Konzerts. In the last decade more than half a million students have experienced a Minnesota Orchestra YP. Musicians also engage in such Minnesota Orchestra-sponsored initiatives as the Adopt -A-School program (founded in 1990), Side-by-Side rehearsals and concerts with young area musicians, and the UPbeat program, which establishes multi-year relationships with communities throughout the Twin Cities and around the state.
Performers Courtney Lewis, conductor Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Courtney Lewis has worked with orchestras and chamber ensembles from London to Venezuela, earning recognition as one of today's top emerging conductors. He is founder and music director of Boston's acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra with the unique mission of introducing inner-city school children to classical music while bringing new and unusual repertoire to established concert audiences. He recently completed his second season as Zander Fellow with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, a prestigious conducting apprenticeship under the ensemble's music director, Benjamin Zander. In addition to his work with the Boston Philharmonic, he has assisted Zander with the London Philharmonia, Toronto Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony and Símon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. In November 2008 Lewis made his major American orchestra debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, leading a series of five concerts. He subsequently spent several weeks assisting conductors David Robertson, Marc Albrecht and Yan Pascal Tortelier. In recent seasons he has also worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony and Liverpool Mozart Orchestras, as well as smaller groups including the Nash Ensemble and Alban Berg Ensemble. Lewis attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and clarinet with Dame Thea King, graduating at the top of his year with starred first class honors. After completing a master's degree with a focus on the late music of György Ligeti, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music, where his teachers included Sir Mark Elder and Clark Rundell.
Performers Samir Chatterjee, tabla
Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player of India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and western musical traditions. Samir performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 2007. Samir Chatterjee lives in New York-New Jersey area, where he has become a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Western music, performing with many the Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Ethos Percussion group, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva and many other renowned jazz, classical and avant guard musicians and ensembles. He is member of jazz trio Sync and quintet Inner Diaspora. Samir Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 30 years and many of his students are established performers. He is the Founder-Director of Chhandayan organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Indian music and culture. He is the author of a comprehensive 654-page book entitled "A Study of Tabla" and a guide book to Indian music titled "Music of India". He is on the faculty at Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, University of Pittsburgh, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and University of Bridgeport in CT. He also contributes to several newspapers and periodicals. He won gold medal for his proficiency in a musical examination (equivalent to B.Mus.). He has two master degrees, in English and History. This is Samir"s first performance with the Minnesota Orchestra.
Robin Scott, violin
Violinist Robin Scott was the winner of the 2011 WAMSO Young Artist Competition and this will be he first performance with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also competed internationally, winning 2nd Prize in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France (2006), and Silver Medal at the Stulberg International String Competition (2003). As a soloist he has appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield (OH) Symphony Orchestra, and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra and others. He has performed extensively with Indiana University's (IU) "Violin Virtuosi," past performances including two French tours and one in Carnegie's Weill Hall. He has also given numerous recitals and performances throughout the United States (especially the Midwest). Also an avid chamber musician he has performed at the Kennedy Center and has attended the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute for Young Artists, as well as the Kneisel Hall Festival and others. Scott is currently continuing studies with Prof. Fried at the New England Conservatory in Boston. In 2006, he completed an Artist Diploma at IU with Distinguished Professor Miriam Fried. Previously he was a student of Mimi Zweig at IU's preparatory program Scott plays on a violin made by Carlo Tononi circa 1700, which is generously being loaned to him by the Steans Institute.
Curriculum Materials by Joanna Cortright
An Overview of the "World Music" Concert The "World Music" Young People's Concert is an "around the world with music" performance with a difference. Though each piece invokes the sights and sounds of a specific culture, there are other cultural layers beneath the surface. These multiple layers of diversity will provide an exciting musical experience for students. And perhaps they will also shine some light on how composers respect and honor the cultural roots of all humans through the music they bring to life.
The Program
Here is a summary of the concert repertoire, with the various cultural underpinnings of each work: • George Gershwin's Cuban Overture is an example of how new cultural experiences spark creativity. Gershwin, a New York composer with Jewish roots, who knew his way around jazz, took a vacation to Cuba. The musical sights and sounds of street musicians and night clubs in Havana engaged Gershwin's fluent creativity. He returned to New York with a suitcase full of Cuban instruments and the idea for a grand orchestral rumba. •
Peter Maxwell Davies was always aware of his Scottish roots, but he lived in the bustling city of London. Seeking a quieter place to compose, he traveled beyond the northernmost tip of the Scottish mainland to Hoy, a tiny island in the Orkneys. In his new surroundings his music began to change. It was there that he wrote An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise, a 'picture postcard,' complete with Scottish bagpiper, of a wedding he actually attended on Hoy.
Maurice Ravel's father was Swiss/French, his mother Basque (a region in Northern Spain). He was a French composer who grew up hearing Basque lullabies and folk songs. His love of Spanish music is apparent in many of his works, including the hugely famous Boléro with its hypnotic drum ostinato.
Finally there is composer Shirish Korde, a true citizen of the world. Born in Uganda of Indian descent, he is now a college music professor and active musician in Boston. He wrote the Concerto for Violin and Tabla, Svara Yantra, at the request of a Polish virtuoso violinist. It was premiered in Warsaw, Poland. Just imagine: a concerto rooted in East Indian music traditions, by a composer born and raised in Uganda, Africa, for a Polish violinist and Indian tabla player, premiered in Poland, and lauded in the United States.
That's the journey through music that you and your students will take at this Young People's Concert!
The Activities and Lessons
The concert preparation resources include strategies to help students perceive, describe, analyze and interpret key musical elements and characteristics used by composers to create music with specific cultural footprints. Background on the cultural roots in the music is also included. Choose the lessons that are appropriate for your teaching situation. Don't forget to download the music files from the Minnesota Orchestra website Education Pages. It includes the entire concert repertoire.
Connecting to Standards The activities and resources in this curriculum align with state and national music standards. Classroom activities focus on the Minnesota Standards listed below. This list represents the standards that fit the curriculum, not the complete Minnesota Standards in music. For the full draft of the June 2008 revision of the music standards document, go to the Minnesota Department of Education website, arts standards page at: http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/Arts/index.html
Strand 1, Standard 1: ARTISTIC FOUNDATIONS - Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations of the art area. Benchmark #1 • Describe the elements of music including melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, tone color, texture, form, and their related concepts. (YP learning activities focus on musical elements, related concepts, and vocabulary of music.) Benchmark #2 • Describe how the elements and related concepts, such as pitch, tempo, canon, and ABA are used in the performance, creation, or response to music. (The reflective processes in this guide focus on describing, analyzing, and interpreting the music. Lessons provide strategies and tools which require students to draw upon their musical knowledge as they respond to the music.) Benchmark #3 • Identify the characteristics of a variety of genres and musical styles, such as march, taiko, mariachi, and classical. (The YP concert repertoire includes multiple genres for orchestra drawn from music rooted in many cultures.) Strand 1, Standard 3: ARTISTIC FOUNDATIONS - Demonstrate understanding of the personal, social, cultural, historical contexts that influence the art area. Benchmark #1 • Describe the cultural and historical traditions of music including the contributions of Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities. (Repertoire for this YP concert includes multiple works from different cultures. Activities focus on cultural context of each piece.) Benchmark #2 • Describe how music communicates meaning. (Student discussion, writing, and analysis/interpretation of musical works demonstrate their level of understanding about how music communicates meaning.) Strand 4, Standard 1: ARTISTIC PROCESS: Respond/Critique Benchmark #1 • Justify personal interpretations and reactions to a variety of musical works or performances. (Using various reflective processes and the discussions about the context and meaning in the music provides material to assess student's ability to state personal interpretations and their reasons for them.)
Cuban Overture George Gershwin In 1932, George Gershwin went on a vacation to Havana, Cuba. Among the souvenirs he brought back were Cuban percussion instruments in his suitcase, rumba rhythm patterns in his head, and ideas for a new composition. Learning Goals Students will have an answer to the question "where do composers get their ideas." They will develop this understanding by hearing the story of Gershwin's vacation trip, indentifying the tone colors of key Cuban percussion instruments he collected, and examining the form of Cuban Overture. Dancing the Rumba 1
If Time is Limited: Read the student worksheet out loud together, then listen to the music. Listening Activities Activity #1 Identify the origins of the music Materials: Recording
1. Listen to the music (0:00 to 1:00 or beyond). Do not reveal the title. 2. Ask students to identify places in the world where they think this music might have originated. They are likely to name places in Latin America, Spain, Africa, or the U.S. • Ask what they noticed about the music that prompted their suggestions. They may say that they heard certain rhythm instruments, rhythm patterns, syncopation, the dancing beat, etc. • Tell students that the music was inspired by the music and dance rhythms of Cuba; it is called the Cuban Overture. While no one may have guessed Cuba, there were likely responses that linked the music to Latin America. Students often have prior knowledge of how Latin American music sounds even though they might not be able to articulate the specifics. Activity #2 How did this music come to be written?
Materials: map of Cuba to display; 4 instrument pictures or actual instruments
Tell students about George Gershwin and about his February, 1932 winter vacation. Details about this story are included in the "About the Music" section below. 1. Locate Havana, Cuba on a map.2 Notice its relationship to the United States, just south of the southern-most tip of the state of Florida (Florida Keys).
2. When Gershwin went to Havana, Cuba in 1932, he heard music every day. When he came home, he wrote music inspired by what he heard. Play a longer excerpt from the music that vacation inspired, 0:00 to 1:00 and beyond. 3. Ask students if they recall the instruments Gershwin brought back from Havana. Write them on the board: bongo drums, claves (clah-vays; he called them Cuban sticks), maracas, and a gourd made into a guiro (wheer-o). Look at pictures of these instrument, or at real instruments if you have them in your school. bongos
gourd guiro
Listen for each of these instruments in the music starting at CD 0:35 (fade out after a minute). It can be hard to sort out individual tone colors when the full orchestra plays, but they are all there. The claves are the most prominent. 4. These instruments were unknown in U.S. orchestras of the 1930's. Gershwin hand sketched them on the opening pages of his score so conductors would know what he wanted. Here is what his sketches looked like.
Activity #3: Clave Rhythm in the Cuban Overture Materials: Claves and/or rhythm sticks, CD
1. Listen and identify the clicking clave rhythm pattern in the music. It is quite clear at CD 0:35. 2. In Latin American music the word clave means two different things. It is both the name of a musical instrument as well as the name of a syncopated pattern played by the clave instrument. • The clave rhythm pattern organizes time in Cuban music. The continuous five strokes of the pattern is the glue that holds the rest of the music together. • The clave originated in Africa where it also serves the same function in music. • The word clave is Spanish. It means 'code' or 'key' (as in a key to a mystery) or 'keystone' (the wedgeshaped stone in an arch that ties all other stones together). • The clave consists of five strokes. It can be played as a forward clave pattern of 3 + 2 tones, or a reversed 2 + 3 pattern. In a rumba, the pattern is a forward clave.
It sound like this: One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and..." Play the pattern with claves and rhythm sticks. Play along with the recording to help students find the pattern more easily. 3. Listen to the music from the very beginning and ask students to give a thumbs up when they hear the clave pattern begin. (0:35)
4. If you love Rock 'n Roll, notice that the 3 + 2 clave pattern is very much like the famous Bo Diddley rhythm pattern. It's fun to find it in his recordings, especially "Hambone." You can listen to the famous song and learn more at http://www.bodiddley.com/index.cfm/pk/content/pid/400531 Activity #4 The form and musical landmarks Materials: CD, copies of the outline
The structure of Cuban Overture is in three sections (ABA) with a short introduction and a closing section. The first and last sections include music developed form rumba dance rhythms, while the middle (B) section is slow, warm and expressive and full of characteristic "blue" notes. 1. Project a large version of the music's outline and help students follow along as the music plays. Pause and replay when you want to call attention to key landmarks. 2. Later, while working with a partner, ask students to independently follow the music's outline. Review the use of letters as the symbols that communicate musical forms such as A B A. Introduction
Loud (forte) exciting intro with bits and pieces of theme. Very little percussion.
Section A
• A rhythmic 5 measures sets up the A section. Listen for claves, guiro, maracas and bongos. Claves are playing the rumba pattern, • Main melody played by violins (0:39). • A contrasting melody within Section A is played (1:50). Horns start with long tones and flutes play the new tune. Then flutes and violins play the tune (2:12). • A section of short solos carries the music back to the main tune of the A section (2:57). Clarinet, trombone, oboe/English horn/bassoon carry the music back to the main melody. • Strings play the playful, but grand main melody of the A section (3:26) for a brief time. Then things quiet down and… …a clarinet plays a solo cadenza to carry the music towards the B section (3:58).
0:00 to 0:34 0:34 to 3:58
Transition 3:58
Section B 4:26 to 7:28
Section A 7:29
Coda 9:23
Softer, slower, gentler music, wistful and reflective. • Oboe and English horn also play solo. Claves play even eighth notes. • Then violins play a warm, sweet melody with triplets. • Thread of music weaves around each other. • A long crescendo carries the music back (6:52) to the A section. The rhythmically sparkling rumba dance returns, loud and fast (7:29). Cuban percussion play loud and clear. Instruments begin to stack up long tones, low to high, louder and louder, faster and faster (9:23). It all ends when everyone plays a final syncopated pattern – like an exclamation point.
Composer, George Gershwin George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898, the second of four children from a closeknit immigrant family. He began his musical career as a song-plugger on Tin Pan Alley, but was soon writing his own pieces. Gershwin's first published song, "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em," demonstrated innovative new techniques, but only earned him five dollars. Soon after, however, he met a young lyricist named Irving Ceaser. Together they composed a number of songs including "Swanee," which sold more than a million copies. In the same year as "Swanee," Gershwin collaborated with Arthur L. Jackson and Buddy De Sylva on his first complete Broadway musical, "La, La Lucille". Over the course of the next four years, Gershwin wrote forty-five songs; among them were "Somebody Loves Me" and "Stairway to Paradise," as well as a twenty-five-minute opera, "Blue Monday." …In 1924, George collaborated with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, on a musical comedy "Lady Be Good". It included such standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "The Man I Love." It was the beginning of a partnership that would continue for the rest of the composer's life. Together they wrote many more successful musicals including "Oh Kay!" and "Funny Face", staring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. While continuing to compose popular music for the stage, Gershwin began to lead a double life, trying to make his mark as a serious composer. When he was 25 years old, his jazz-influenced "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered in New York's Aeolian Hall at the concert, "An Experiment in Music." The audience included Jascha Heifitz, Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Stokowski, Serge Rachmaninov, and Igor Stravinsky. Gershwin followed this success with his orchestral work "Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody No. 2″ and "An American in Paris". Serious music critics were often at a loss as to where to place Gershwin's classical music in the standard repertoire. Some dismissed his work as banal and tiresome, but it always found favor with the general public. In the early thirties, Gershwin experimented with some new ideas in Broadway musicals. "Strike Up The Band", "Let 'Em Eat Cake", and "Of Thee I Sing", were innovative works dealing with social issues of the time. "Of Thee I Sing" was a major hit and the first comedy ever to win the Pulitzer Prize. In 1935 he presented a folk opera "Porgy and Bess" in Boston with only moderate success. Now recognized as one of the seminal works of American opera, it included such memorable songs as "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "Summertime." In 1937, after many successes on Broadway, the brothers decided go to Hollywood. Again they teamed up with Fred Astaire, who was now paired with Ginger Rogers. They made the musical film, "Shall We Dance", which included such hits as "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Soon after came "A Damsel in Distress", in which Astaire appeared with Joan Fontaine. After becoming ill while working on a film, he had plans to return to New York to work on writing serious music. He planned a string quartet, a ballet and another opera, but these pieces were never written. At the age of 38, he died of a brain tumor. Today he remains one of America's most beloved popular musicians.3
Books for students about George Gershwin: • Celenza, Anna Harwell (2006). Rhapsody in Blue. Charlesbridge Publishing. A beautiful picture book about the story of how this famous piece came to be written. Includes a CD of the music. • Venezia, Mike (1995). George Gershwin (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers). Children's Press (CT). Part of a series on composers. Photographs combined with cartoons
About the Music During the winter of 1931-1932, American composer, George Gershwin had a very busy schedule of composing and performing, so he decided to take a vacation. In February of 1932, he and his friends went to Havana, Cuba for several weeks. Gershwin described their visits to night clubs and dancing in Havana's hotspots as "two hysterical weeks in Cuba, where no sleep was had."
In Havana, Gershwin was immersed in the music and rhythms that flowed around him. During the day, it was music from the many street musicians and in the evening the music and dancing in the clubs. He saw, heard, and was intrigued by the Cuban percussion instruments that were not known in the U.S. and the famous Cuban rumba. When he came home, he brought back new ideas and a suitcase full of Cuban instruments. He was often called the "Latin from Manhattan." Dancers and street musicians in Cuba 4
Created for Geography of World Urbanization at Macalester College, 2004. http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog261/kashton/cubamap.htm
From the PBS series, American Masters, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/george-gershwin/about-the-composer/65/ http://usslave.blogspot.com/2011/06/cuban-rumbas-african-slave-roots.html
In 1932, George Gershwin took a vacation and went to Havana, Cuba. He brought four new percussion instruments back in his suitcase. You will hear them in Cuban Overture.
Claves (clah-vays) are made from two short wooden dowels (8 to 12 inches). A hard wood such as rosewood or ebony makes the best sound. In Afro-Cuban music they are used to play a syncopated pattern also called clave.
The güiro (gwiro) is a percussion instrument made from a gourd that has been carved or notched to create ridges. It is played by scraping the ridges with a stick. Guiros are also made from plastic, metal and wood.
Maracas, sometimes called rumba shakers, are often played in Latin American music. They usually come in pairs, and were first made from dried gourd or coconut shells filled with seeds or dried beans. They can also be made of leather, wood, or plastic.
Bongos consist of a pair of single-headed, openended drums attached to each other. The drums are different sizes: the larger drum is called hembra or female and the smaller the macho or male. Bongos are usually played by hand. The head of drums are made of animal skin or a synthetic stretched membrane.
Svara-Yantra, Cadenza & Third Movement ("Joy")
Shirish Korde Students will hear a concerto at the Young People's concert that will make them think they are in the middle of India. Svara-Yantra is colorful and dazzling music for solo violin, tabla, and orchestra. Learning Goals Students will think critically to describe and analyze the Cadenza, then make predictions about the Third Movement. They will also identify and comprehend characteristics of: • concerto form • a cadenza and the function of a cadenza in a concerto • the tone colors of the violin, tabla, & orchestra
A Sri Yantra from Yantra.com
If Time is Limited: Listen to the Cadenza noticing that the violin plays alone. Listen to the Third Movement and identify the three tone colors: violin, tabla drums, and orchestra. Learn that the composer is of Indian descent and has woven musical characteristic of India into his music. Listening Activities Activity #1 Describe the Cadenza in Svara Yantra Materials: recording, chart paper & markers
1. As a group, students are quite able to successfully describe the music using their prior knowledge and thinking skills. Everyone will know something; the group description will be quite detailed. cadenza: •
Write the question below on the board, play the first 2 minutes of the Cadenza, then ask for responses. As they talk, write their responses beneath the question. What do you notice? What's going on in the music?
Help them dig deeper with follow up prompts such as "what else to you hear?" and "tell me what you heard that made you say that?"
2. Summarize what you heard them say, then pose a second question. Do you have any questions about this music? What do you want to know?
1. A brilliant solo section of music; elaborate, and melody played with a flourish. 2. An extended virtuoso section for a soloist usually near the end of a concerto
3. Play the rest of the Cadenza, take their questions, and write them down on the board. You can prompt them to extend their thinking by asking questions like "What else might you want to know?" If the composer were standing right here, what would you ask him?" 4. Finally, ask them to speculate/discuss what this music expresses. What do they think the composer wanted them to imagine or think about when they hear it? 5. Congratulate students for thinking deeply and analyzing an unknown piece of music. Tell them that they were listening to the Cadenza from a concerto for violin and orchestra called Svara-Yantra. Activity #2 Make predictions about the 3rd Movement, ("Joy")
Materials: recording, dictionary, copies of the Prediction Writing Form
Students will use their critical thinking processes again to predict what they will hear in a musical movement titled "Joy." 1. Ask students to define the word 'joy.' When have they felt joy? Look up the definition and read it out loud. 2. Shirish Korde used that single word as the title for the 3rd Movement of Svara-Yantra. How do they think the music should and will sound? • Divide students into partners. Ask them to think, muse, cogitate, and talk about what they might hear, and write their thoughts on the "Making Predictions" form. 3. Reconvene and share predictions out loud. Summarize students' thoughts on the board. 4. Finally, listen to the 3rd Movement and ask students to describe what they heard in "Joy." Which of their predictions matched the actual music? Activity #3 Indentify characteristic of a concerto Materials: recording
Robin Scott, violinist, is performing with the Minnesota Orchestra. He is a recent past winner of the WAMSO (Volunteer Association of the Minnesota Orchestra) Competition.
1. The cadenza and "Joy" are movements of a concerto. Concertos are usually written for a solo (one) instrument and orchestra. Sometimes a concerto sounds like a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra. Other times, it sounds like a competition as the orchestra and the solo instrument vie for the spotlight. • The contrasts between a single instrument and a full orchestra and the variety and drama of the dialogue are the "big ideas" in a concerto. • This concerto for violin and orchestra has an additional solo instrument, the Indian tabla. • As you listen to "Joy," focus student attention on the solo violin tone color, string orchestra, and tabla tone colors. The first 25 seconds of music introduces all three. 0:00 to 0:11 – solo violin 0:11 to 0:17 – violin and tabla 0:17 on – violin, tabla, and orchestra
2. Students can identify when the orchestra plays, and when the two solo instruments play. (The orchestra plays in the beginning and the end of the movement; there is a long section for the tabla and violin in the middle.) Activity #4 Cultural roots of the music
Materials: recording, copies of composer information and "What is a Yantra?"
Students can investigate resources included with this lesson or search books and web sites to learn more. Here are some prompts and questions for an investigation of Svara Yantra: 9 Who is Shirish Korde, composer of Svara Yantra? 9 What cultures inspired this music? 9 What is a Yantra? What is its purpose? 9 What is a tabla and where is it from?
Composer Shirish Korde Shirish Korde, born in Uganda of East Indian descent, spent his early years in East Africa. He arrived in the United States in 1965, already well versed in the traditions of Indian and African music. He studied Jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston, composition and analysis with Robert Cogan at New England Conservatory, and Ethnomusicology, especially Asian Music (including Indian drumming with Sharda Sahai), at Brown University. Korde has composed five large-scale music/theatre works including Chitra and Rasa, which weave the ancient traditions of South and South East Asia into complex multihued frameworks. Rasa was awarded an NEA opera grant and was premiered in 1999 by the Da Capo Chamber Players and the New York Virtuoso Singers at the Sonic Boom Festival in New York. His opera/dance drama, Chitra, commissioned by the Boston Musica Viva, was presented by the Fleet Boston Celebrity Series in the spring of 2003, at the Tsai Performance Center, in Boston. Korde is celebrated for "integrating and synthesizing music of diverse cultures into breathtaking works of complex expressive layers" (Musical America). He is among "a few contemporary composers who have been deeply touched by music of non-Western cultures, Jazz, and computer technology and who has created a powerful and communicative compositional language" (Computer Music Journal). His distinctive music has been performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. Shirish Korde's compositions are characterized by a life-long search for a personal musical language, which is characterized by the influences of diverse musical traditions ranging from the throat singers of Tuva, and Vedic chanting of India, to the shimmering colors of the Balinese gamelan. Korde is currently Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at the College of the Holy Cross. 1
More About the Music (from the composer's program notes) Svara-Yantra, originally a collaboration between virtuoso violinist Joanna Kurkowicz and master tabla player, Samir Chatterjee, was premiered in Katowice, Poland by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2005. A reviewer called SvaraYantra, "a haunting work, richly imbued with Indian colors and musical tradition, which offers something unique and powerful with all manner of exotic and imaginative texture and color from both soloist and orchestra." 2 The music was inspired by the brilliant and passionate playing of Joanna Kurkowicz. Svara refers to pitches or notes in Indian music theory, but in this piece it means audible sound or shruti. Yantra is a term for geometric diagrams, usually consisting of intersecting triangles and circles, which are used to harness the mind in meditation. Svara-Yantra represents three sonic meditations on Raga and Tala. It is based on the AlapJor-Jhalla-Gat structure of North Indian classical music. Like an Indian Raga performance, the three movements in my piece form a continuum of tempos, from very slow in the first movement to extremely fast in the third movement." After an improvised cadenza which draws on themes from the first two movements, and composed by Joanna Kurkowicz, materials for the third movement are introduced. "Joy," the final movement is based on a composition by the jazz guitarist John McLaughlin and consists of an orchestral tutti in unison, followed by a violin-tabla duet cadenza and a return of the orchestral tutti. The third movement is dedicated to the violinist Joanna Kurkowicz, Samir Chatterjee, and John McLaughlin. Svara-Yantra was commissioned by Joanna Kurkowicz, and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and was premiered on November 27, 2005 in Katowice, Poland under the direction of Rubén Silva.3
What does the title mean? The title Svara Yantra is a combination of two words. In Indian music, svara refers to pitches or notes in the music. But it can also mean the actual musical or audible sound or shruti. (In Hinduism, the term shruti means "that which is heard directly" and refers to scriptures which have been directly revealed to humans by the gods.) A yantra is the yogic equivalent of the Buddhist mandala (a geometric designs (usually circular) symbolizing the universe, used as an aid to meditation). A yantra is a geometrical pattern made of several concentric figures (squares, circles, lotuses, triangles, points).
When these concentric figures are gradually growing away from the center in stages, it is a symbol of the process of evolution (gradually changing into a different and usually more complex and/or better) for humans. When they are gradually growing towards its center, it is a symbol of the process of involution (rolling or tuning inward; introspection). A yantra is thus a tool making the process of evolution conscious to the adept of Tantrism. It enables the adept to retrace his steps from the outward-directed world of multiplicity to the inward focus of unity. All primal shapes of a yantra are psychological symbols corresponding to inner states of human consciousness. Yantras are sacred symbols of the process of involution and evolution.4 Visit the http://www.tantra-kundalini.com/yantras.htm# to see an animation of the process of evolution and involution are symbolized in the tantra.
Based on text from the composer's website, http://www.shirishkorde.com/shirishkorde.html http://www.shirishkorde.com/shirishkorde.html 3 Based on information from the composer's website http://www.shirishkorde.com/shirishkorde.html, and the composers program notes in the score of Svara-Yantra 4 http://www.tantra-kundalini.com/yantras.htm# provides information about and many images of Yantras 1 2
The Tone Colors of Svara-Yantra: Tabla, Violin, and Orchestra The tabla is a percussion instrument from India. It is used in Hindu classical music and in popular and devotional music across the country. The word 'tabla' comes from the Arabic word for drum, tabl. It consists of two hand drums of contrasting size and tone colors. The larger drum, the bayan, is made of metal, had a deeper, lower sound, and is played primarily with the left hand. The smaller drum is the dayan. It is made of wood, has a higher pitched sound, and is played with the right hand. The tabla has been used in non-Indian music including heavy metal bands and on rap albums.1 The violin2 is the smallest member of the string family of orchestral instrument. Made primarily from wood, the top is spruce, back and neck are maple, and the fingerboard is made from very hard ebony wood. The instrument has four strings, various fittings, and an optional chinrest. The bridge lifts the four strings up over the violin belly and transmits the strings' vibrations into the hollow body of the instrument. Strings used to be made of animal gut (usually sheep), but now are usually made of metal or various synthetic materials. The bow is made of a long wooden stick strung with horse hair. bridge
Darien Summer School 3
An orchestra such as the Minnesota Orchestra is a large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including strings, woodwinds, brass instruments, and percussion instruments.
briannadeau.blogspot.com Coloring page from handipoints.com 3 dariensummerschool.com 1 2
Making Predictions
Making Predictions
We predict that "Joy" in Svara -Yantra will sound:
We predict that "Joy" in Svara -Yantra will sound:
Boléro Maurice Ravel In the early 1930s Ravel told an English interviewer: "I love going over factories and seeing vast machinery at work…It was a factory which inspired my Boléro. I would like it always to be played with a vast factory in the background." Jean-Louis Lassez
Notice that this is the actual snare drum pattern.
Learning Goal http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jeanlouis-lassez.html Students will learn about and demonstrate their understanding of four prominent characteristics of Boléro through the listening activities. Boléro: One of the oldest traditional dances in the history of Spanish dance. It is performed to music in ¾ time with a peculiar rhythm pattern. The music is extremely varied and full of "false pauses." The steps of the Spanish Boléro are close to the ground; with sliding, beaten, or retreating steps clearly struck on the floor.
If Time is Limited The teacher can read information about the music ahead of time, then have students listen for key characteristics highlighted in the timeline of the music. Listening Activities
Students can learn about Boléro by focusing on four prominent characteristics. Each activity will focus on one of the four: #1 – the never ending ostinato #2 – the sinuous, two part melody #3 – Ravel's orchestration; the role of the various instruments #4 – the long crescendo
Activity # 1 A hypnotic ostinato
Materials: recording, ostinato pattern notation to display
A snare drum supported by soft, plucked violas and cellos plays a crisp rhythm. 1. Direct students to listen to the first 29 seconds of music and describe what they hear. 2. Listen again and focus attention on the snare drum that plays a repeating pattern. Introduce the musical term 'ostinato' for the pattern. Tell them that this is a very famous rhythm pattern or ostinato, created by the French composer, Ravel, for the music called Boléro. 3. Look at the pattern and notice all the triplet figures. A boléro an old, traditional dance from Spain. Music for a boléro usually includes this pattern. 4. Chant this pattern using the Kodaly or other rhythm reading syllable system. • Pat the pattern on your laps, using alternative hands and chanting the syllables.1
Syllables: Ti tri‐o‐lay ti tri‐o‐lay ti ti, ti tri‐o‐lay ti tri‐o‐lay tri o‐lay, tri‐o‐ lay Hand pats R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
Finally, tap and whisper the syllables along with the recording.
Activity #2 A winding melody in two parts
Materials: recording, image of theme to display
Ravel's melody curves like snakes over the insistent rhythmic ostinato. 1. Listen to a solo flute play part A of the theme (0:10 to 0:51) and ask students to "draw" the melody in the air (a kinesthetic way to describe what they hear). Comment on their smoothly turning, and flowing gestures • • •
Listen again and move farther into the music, from the beginning through the clarinet solo (0:00 to 1:37). Direct students to again describe the melody by moving their hands, but to also think about descriptive words for the melody. Solicit their words and write them on the board. Use them often as you talk about the music. (It's okay to add a few of your own.) Also help them notice that they heard part A twice; played by a flute, then a clarinet.
2. Challenge them to figure out what happens next on their own. Start from the top, and play through 2:24. Some students will recognize that a new instrument is playing (a bassoon), and that the melody has changed. Call this new melody part B of the theme. • •
Ask them to make a quick prediction: if part A was played twice by two different instruments, will part B also be played twice by two different instruments? Listen through 3:08 and find out. (Yes, B is repeated by the higher Eb clarinet.)
3. You can also choose to display the theme notation included in this lesson. Help students follow part A and part B melody notation as the music plays.
Activity #3 An amazing orchestration Materials: recording, timeline of the music (copies or to display), buttons/pennies for marking their place Boléro is often cited as a model of masterful orchestration. Students can begin to develop a preliminary understanding of orchestration as they learn the piece. They will think about "How and why are the instruments a composer chooses important to the success of the piece?" (An alternative focus for this lesson is identifying Tone Color.)
1. Write the word 'orchestration' on the board. Ask student to guess what it might mean. Read what Leonard Bernstein said to youngsters about orchestration,2 and ask for further ideas about what 'orchestration' means. Develop a simple working definition, something like "what instruments a composer picks to use for the music s/he is writing. And how the instruments should play it." 2. Review what students already know: • The music starts with a snare drum ostinato and it continues • Part A of the theme is played once by a flute, and once by a clarinet • Part B of the theme is played once by a bassoon, and once by a higher (Eb) clarinet
Leonard Bernstein, from archives of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert, "What is Orchestration?"
"Today we're going to talk about a part of music that's really exciting and really fun — orchestration. Now, this big word means a lot of different things to a lot of different people; and we're going to try and clear up what it really means. Mainly it means how a composer goes about arranging his music for an orchestra to play; whether the orchestra has 7 people in it or 17 or 70 or 107, which is what we have here on this stage."
3. Continue exploring the music, section by section, for as long as it holds their attention. Return often to those BIG QUESTIONS, "What happens next? What instrument will Ravel choose? Why do you think he chose those instruments?" • •
Review the part they know, 0:00 to 03:08 and notice that so far Ravel has used only woodwind instruments to play the theme. Pose other questions for students to think about and discuss them. Solicit more questions they have. For example: o "Why does Ravel move the solo around to many different instruments? Why not stay with one or two? o Why did Ravel use all woodwind instruments in this first section of the music? o Why does the snare drum keep on playing the ostinato? Does it every change? (Help them notice that the volume is increasing.) o What else is going on?
4. After sharing their perceptions, ideas, and insights from the opening of Boléro, listen to the whole piece. Your goal is to help students focus on how Ravel continues to build interest and energy in the piece by changing the orchestration on each repeat. You can: • •
• •
Display the listening timeline included with this curriculum and help students follow along as Ravel's orchestration unfolds. Or divide students into pairs and provide a copy of the timeline for each pair. As they listen, direct them to move a marker along (a coin, button, paper clip?). You can guide them through the first time by displaying a large version of the timeline and pointing to each repeat of the themes. Or listen without the map and encourage students to jot down notes about what they notice throughout the piece. Make sure to take time to talk about what they heard and the discoveries they made!
5. After listening to all of Boléro, ask a student to read Bernstein's comments out loud again. As a whole group, decide what to add to the original definition of orchestration. There is a longer excerpt from the Bernstein "What is Orchestration?" concert in this guide.
Activity #4: One long crescendo Materials: recording
1. Ravel's successful orchestration was developed not only by moving the themes through an interesting series of instrumental voices. Students will also notice that the music grows in volume making one long crescendo. Changing dynamic levels in a piece of music is another orchestration choice composers can make as they create music. Here's a sonic image of the piece with its long crescendo. 3
2. Apply Ravel's idea of one long crescendo while singing a song, preferably one with more than one verse. See if you can change volume gradually through the whole song. Then try singing with one long decrescendo. 3. Listen and focus on how the music expands, increasing and swelling until it fills space with sound. Close your eyes to hear with more precision. Did you hear anything new? Activity #5 Boléro as a model for orchestrating a song
Materials: a familiar song, classroom percussion instrument including mallet percussion
After their study of Boléro, students can create an original orchestration of a well known song by applying Ravel's ideas. Begin by naming the aspects of Ravel's orchestration that can be replicated: an ongoing ostinato, long crescendo, melody that is first performed by a solo voices or instruments, paired instruments, a group of instruments, and finally, the full ensemble. Voices and mallet instruments can perform the melody and other percussion can be added to provide new tone colors for the orchestration. Make a graphic chart of the piece from beginning to end. Leonard Bernstein on Boléro
(From the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert Archives)
Leonard Bernstein had an amazing ability to frame complex concepts in simple language, metaphors, and examples. Here is an excerpt from the Young People's Concert on Orchestration. "So what I've decided to play for you is a piece that maybe is not the greatest example of composing in history, but probably is the most exciting orchestral exhibition in the history of music, the famous "Bolero" by Ravel. We're going to play the "Bolero" because it's such a marvelously clear example of how this big symphony orchestra can be used. And that's practically all it is; it's just one long tune repeated over and over, with the orchestration changing on each repeat, gradually getting bigger and louder and richer, adding to itself, growing and growing until it finally ends in the biggest orchestral scream you ever heard. But while it's going on, it gives you a chance to hear the orchestra in all its parts, in all its special combinations, and that it does in a way that no other piece can. The "Bolero" is built up in a very simple way - almost like something you can make with an Erector set. First of all there is a bolero dance rhythm that goes on and on, never changing, in the snare drums.
Now over this rhythm that never stops, we hear a tune - a long, smooth, snaky melody, sort of Arabic like very high-class hootchy-kootchy music. This tune is in two parts, which we'll call part A and part B. This is part A, you're hearing now on the flute. Then part A again, a little richer and fuller by the clarinet. Now comes part B, way up high on the bassoon. Now part B gets repeated on the little E-flat clarinet. Now, that makes one full section; and that's all the music there is in the whole piece. There's the oboe d'amore, playing part A now. Remember him, that woodwind cousin we talked about? Over and over again we'll hear part A twice and part B twice, and part A twice again, and so on, only with different instruments until the whole orchestra has been used up and shown off and tired out. But before it's over, you'll have heard all kinds of strange sounds, colors and combinations. And each time the orchestration changes…it gets louder and richer and bigger, until by the end everyone gets together for the big scream. It makes a really very exciting trip through the world of orchestration. 4 Extensions: • View visual art works inspired by Boléro. Look at Anne Adams piece, "Unraveling Boléro." Discuss what you notice. • Provide opportunities for students to use visual art to interpret all they know about Boléro using color, shape, and line, Create drawings or paintings prompted by the music. Play the music as your create a visual art work. • Write about Boléro; individual descriptions, reactions to the music, poetry, etc. that challenge students to put their understanding of the music into words.
Anne Adams,
Unraveling Bolero, 1994--a bar-by-bar representation of Ravel's Bolero Anne Adams was a Canadian biologist-turnedartist who died in 2007. Unraveling Bolero is her best-known work. Below is a description of the piece from The New York Times. Dr. Adams, who was also drawn to themes of repetition, painted one upright rectangular figure for each bar of "Bolero." The figures are arranged in an orderly manner like the music, countered by a zigzag winding scheme, Dr. Miller said. The transformation of sound to visual form is clear and structured. Height corresponds to volume, shape to note quality and color to pitch. The colors remain unified until the surprise key change in bar 326 that is marked with a run of orange and pink figures that herald the conclusion. www.abstractcomics.blogspot.com
More about Ravel and Boléro
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was born in Cibourne, a French seacoast town just across the border from Spain. Music was a constant companion during childhood. Ravel's mother sang to him and taught him many folk melodies. His father, an engineer and an amateur musician, encouraged his son's early interest in music. Young Ravel had a keen ear and a lively curiosity which led him to investigate all sorts of sounds. He recalled that he even "found music in the rhythmic click and roar of machinery when his father took him to visit a factory." When he was seven years old, Ravel began to study piano with teacher, Henry Ghys. Ghys wrote in this diary that day, "I am starting a little pupil, Maurice Ravel who seems to be intelligent." Ravel was interested in the piano and learned quickly, but he disliked practicing. In order to urge him on, his father agreed to pay him for each half-hour practice session. Ravel's early piano works first brought him to the public's attention. Though often compared to Debussy, he had his own musical personality. He volunteered his service in the 1914-18 war, but was rejected as medically unfit; he still joined the army as a truck driver. After the war he suffered from insomnia and nervous debility, but was still able to write wonderful music. Ravel's amazing ability to enter the world of children is reflected in his music. Perhaps it was his life-long interest in toys, especially mechanical toys. Or it may have been because he was a man of small stature, and was painfully aware and sensitive about being short and slight.
About the Music
Boléro was composed as a ballet by Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein. It is Ravel's most famous musical composition. Before Boléro, Ravel had composed large scale ballets, suites for the ballet, and onemovement dance pieces. Apart from such compositions intended for a staged dance performance, Ravel had demonstrated an interest in composing re-styled dances. Boléro epitomizes Ravel's preoccupation with restyling and reinventing dance movements. It was also one of the last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement. The composition met with great success when it was premiered at the Paris Opéra on November 22, 1928.The stage set was designed as the interior of a tavern in Spain. People dance beneath the brass lamp hung from the ceiling. In response to the cheers to join in, the female dancer has leapt onto the long table and her steps become more and more animated. Ravel, however, had a different concept of the work: his preferred stage design was of an open-air setting with a factory in the background, reflecting the mechanical nature of the music Boléro became Ravel's most famous composition, much to the surprise of the composer, who had predicted that most orchestras would refuse to play it. It is usually played as a purely orchestral work, only rarely being staged as a ballet.
http://www.tapartoche.com/morceaux/partitions/5387.gif Leonard Bernstein website at http://www.leonardbernstein.com/ypc_script_what_is_orchestration.htm 3 http://www.favorite-classical-composers.com/ravel-bolero.html 4 http://www.leonardbernstei.com/ypc_script_what_is_orchestration.htm 1 2
Bolero Theme Part A
Part B
The overall plan for the piece:
AA BB AA BB AA BB AA BB AB (modulation) Ending!
A timeline of Ravel's Bolero Time Intro 0:00
What's going on in the music?
Snare drum plays soft, crisp ostinato pattern supported by quiet violas & cellos playing pizzicato. Flutes play Part A of the melody in low register.
Clarinets repeat Part A of the melody. Snare drum continues.
Bassoon plays Part B of the melody. High pitched Eb clarinets repeat Part B and snare drum continues. The oboe d'amore plays Part A of the melody, soft and mellow. Violins and double basses continue but pizzicato a little louder. Part A is played by an interesting combination of instruments, flutes and a muted trumpet. Snare drum continues.
12:46 13:26 13:43
Muted trumpet plays along with the snare drum; music is louder/sharper. Tenor saxophone plays Part B with a smooth, slinky tone color. A high pitched soprano saxophone repeats Part B. Snare drum continues. Two piccolos, horns, and celesta play Part A in octaves. Part A repeated by more instruments: oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn, and two clarinets. Music sounds Asian. Muted trumpets play quick, accented notes. Strings add a fancy accompaniment. Snare drum continues and the crescendo expands. Trombone plays Part B. All the high woodwinds repeat B - bright and clear. From now on, the melody will be played by groups of instruments. Snare drum continues. Part A is played for the first time by the violins. A is repeated by two clarinets, tenor saxophone, AND violins playing in four sections. Snare drum continues. Violins again, playing Part B with the trumpets. Music sounds powerful. Brass play quick accents with the snare drum followed by trombones, soprano saxophone, and more strings: violins, violas, and cellos, playing the B melody in unison. Snare drum continues. The crescendo expands. A second snare drum now joins in and the ostinato pushes harder. Tension is high. Part A is dominated by the bright tone color of four trumpets. A is not repeated. Part B is played by almost all the instruments. During the B melody, the key changes for the first time!! C major goes to E major. Music sounds less tense – but only for 8 measures. Back in C major for the last four measures. All play as the loud cymbals, bass drum, and gong accent the music. Then with one loud chord, it all collapses.
An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise Peter Maxwell Davies Davies traces his ancestral roots to Scotland, but his music didn't reflect this until 1970. Looking for a quieter setting for composing, he began visiting Orkney. Davies wrote this music after attending a wedding on the Island of Hoy. An Orkney sunrise http://bogomip.net/scotland/ Learning Goal Students will be able to identify musical landmarks and connect them to the events in Davies' story of a wedding celebration.
If Time is Limited Read the "Read About…" activity sheet together and then listen to the music. Listening Activities Activity #1 The story in the music Materials:
Program music is created with the intention of suggesting a sequence of images or incidents. An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise is an example of program music because Peter Maxwell Davies described a series of events and a setting. 1. Before relating the title, tell students that there is a story in this music. Build anticipation by listening to the beginning of the piece (0:00 to 2:02). As they listen direct them to speculate or infer the possible events, characters, and settings. Talk about their thoughts, then listen again to connect the ideas back to the music. 2. Read aloud the composer's own words about what he wanted to convey through music. Ask students to retell it in their own words to check for understanding. New vocabulary might include wedding party, processional, inebriated (use your best judgment on this one*), personified, splendor, and bagpipes. Some students will be able to define them for the group, so ask first. Caithness is the Scotch mainland county just across the straits from the Orkney Islands. "The wedding party arrives at the hall out of violent weather. There follows a processional, after which the band tunes up for a wedding dance which builds to an inebriated (drop word if necessary*) climax. The guests leave the hall with echoes of the processional music in their ears, while the sun, personified by the full splendour of highland bagpipes, rises over Caithness." * Or substitute a word such as energetic, out of control, etc. 3. Relate the story to prior experiences students have had with wedding celebrations. What events do they remember? What sounds did they hear? Where was the party/reception held? 4. Finally, read the story summary once more, and ask students to respond to questions: • Did the composer's story match what you thought about when you first heard the music? • Did you hear anything in the music that sounds like a part of the story? (For example, the guests arrive in 'violent weather' and the music is loud and agitated.)
Activity #2 The music's context
Materials: map of Scotland, recording, copies of "Read About…"
To better understand the music, learn something about its context. 1. Where are the Orkney Islands? • Look at a map of Scotland1 and find the Orkney Islands. They are north of the mainland of Scotland. • Look at a map of Europe and notice where Orkney is related to other countries students know. • Read about the Orkney Islands in the "Read About…" pages included with this guide. 2. Why did Peter Maxwell Davies write a musical story set in the Orkney Islands? In 1971 Davies moved to Hoy, one of the Orkney Islands. His music was deeply affected by the dramatic landscape and atmosphere of Orkney. Davies once wrote that there is "no escape from yourself here, you just have to realize what you are through your music with much more intensity than in urban surroundings." His compositions reflect the change in his surroundings; many works have been inspired by Orkney, including An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise. He wrote it after attending the wedding of a friend in Hoy. Davies called it a 'picture postcard' in music.2 3. What traditional Scottish instrument did the composer include in the music? Near the very end of the music, a bagpipe takes on an important role. Its unique sound brings up the sunrise after the wedding. Learn about this interesting wind instrument, one of the oldest in the world. Consider assigning these questions as an independent inquiry project: • • • •
What are bagpipes? How are they played? From what are they made? What cultures have bagpipes?
Learn more in the "Read About…" pages. 4. What else makes the music sound Scottish? Many of the melodies in Orkney Wedding include a traditional rhythm called the Scottish snap. It is the trademark rhythm in Scottish melodies. The rhythmic figure occurs when the music moves from a short note on the beat to a longer note. For example, a sixteenth note to a dotted eighth note. The snap can be heard in folk songs, pipe melodies and marches. It makes the music sound Scottish. "Comin' Through the Rye" is a well known folk song that includes the Scottish snap. Listen to the oboe, then the clarinet play it near the beginning of Orkney Wedding (0:34). Activity #3 Listen to the music – connect it to the story
Materials: recording, outline image to display to the class or copies
Use the listening outline to guide students through An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise as they connect story events to musical episodes. The outline is printed on the next page for easier photo copying.
For a simpler version of the listening outline, see the "Real About…" pages. 1. There are many things to listen for: a story, the rhythmic figure, dances, sunrises and bagpipes. The first time, use the pause button to help students make connections between text and the music. 2. For subsequent listening, ask students to give a signal when they moved forward on the outline. They can move a marker (penny, paper clip, or another small object), or give the 'thumbs up' signal. About the Composer
With over 200 published works in every medium which are performed worldwide, Peter Maxwell Davies is acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time. He lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland where he writes most of his music. His major theatrical works include the operas Taverner, The Martyrdom of St Magnus and The Doctor of Myddfai; the full-length ballet Salome; and the music theatre works Eight Songs for a Mad King, Miss Donnithorne's Maggot and Vesalii Icones. His large output of orchestral works includes eight symphonies and thirteen concertos, as well as the highly popular An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise which was written as a commission for the Boston Pops Orchestra, and seen by millions of TV viewers all over the world at the Last Night of the Proms. He has also written a large repertoire of works for performance by children. Maxwell Davies is also active as a conductor. He was Associate Conductor/Composer of the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras for a ten-year period, and is Composer Laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, for whom he has written a series of ten Strathclyde Concertos. He has conducted many major orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Russian National Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Maxwell Davies works from recent decades include the music-theatre work Mr Emmet Takes a Walk which has received over 50 performances to date, the Antarctic Symphony (Symphony No.8), jointly commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra and the British Antarctic Survey, and Sea Orpheus (2009) commissioned for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's Brandenburg Project. Since 2000 the composer has placed a special emphasis on music for chamber ensembles and choirs, including Seven Skies of Winter (2003) for the Nash Ensemble and a String Trio premiered at the St Magnus Festival in 2008. In 1987 Maxwell Davies was knighted and in 2004 he was appointed Master of the Queen's Music, in which role he seeks to raise the profile of music in Great Britain, as well as writing many works for Her Majesty the Queen and for royal occasions.3 The composer's website is at http://www.maxopus.com/
A Listening Guide for An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise Part 1
ARIVAL Part 2
POLITE Procession
Snow, sleet, and swirling winds blow the guest about as they arrive and come in from the bad weather. Guests move forward politely to greet the bride and groom. They are received by the young couple. Everyone is calm and respectful. The guests drink a toast to the couple. Dancing begins.
Part 3
It's time to ramp up the merriment.
Dancing & Merriment
The guests dance many kinds of dances; some are graceful, others not so much. Things become wilder and less and less steady as the effects of the liquid refreshment takes over.
All leave the overheated hall and go out to the cold, cold night just before dawn. SUNRISE As they walk home, they watch the sunrise over Caithness (a county on the mainland of Scotland). Part 4
It is a glorious dawn!
• A flurry in the orchestra with strings that whip and lash about. • Then music settles down. • An oboe solo starts a processional melody. Other woodwinds pass it around. The music is soft, slow and a bit serious. Listen for the traditional Scotch snap, a trademark Scottish rhythm. • Strings play a dance that's a little louder and faster (1:52), but still polite. • A crescendo crashes through the music (2:36). Listen for the rim shot on the snare drum (2:52). It sounds like a champagne cork popping. • The music gets livelier. • Orchestra plays different dances in various moods from raucous to military to gentle (the latter featuring an extended solo for first violin). • There is a sudden shift of meter to 6/8 and some pretty unsteady dancing goes on. (3:52) • Things settle down for a while. Woodblock keeps time. • Snare drum pushes into a faster polka (5:34). • The solo violin plays a slow, almost sad song (6:36) interrupted by the rude brass (7:45). • Everything seems to be falling apart; horns "whoop" it up. • The music falls in and out of sync as the woozy orchestra reaches an 'inebriated climax.' It all sounds pretty unsteady. • Clarinet toots in the morning (9:53) • Oboe again plays calmly as in the opening. (10:17) • The brass swells (11:15), and a Scotch bagpipe calls the sun forth (11:41). • The bagpiper enters from the back of the hall and processes up the aisle to the stage, finishing in front of the orchestra.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MtDRXLZJ31I/TMP6XFyLDOI/AAAAAAAAAZs/4ql4P5fPTTE/s1600/Scotland+and+isl ands+2.gif 2 Based on information from Barbara Heninger's Redlands Symphony Orchestra program notes, http://www.barbwired.com/barbweb/programs/davies_orkney.html 3 Boosey Hawkes, http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2695&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biogra phy
Read About…
An Orkney Wedding, At Sunrise Composer Peter Maxwell Davies (Max to his friends) left the hustle and bustle of London city life and moved far away to one of the Orkney Islands. (The Orkney Islands are north of the mainland of Scotland.) On the tiny island of Hoy, Davies found a quiet place for composing music. He also found a way of life and a community that he loves. He wrote this piece, An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise, after attending a wedding on Hoy. It was quite a party, one that lasted all night long. When the guests were walking home, the sun was coming up. It inspired Davies to write this piece about a place he loves. This newsletter will tell you more about the music, the Orkney Islands, and the instrument that "brings up the sun." Where are the Orkney Islands? The Islands are just beyond the northern tip of Scotland, where the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. There are 70 islands, more or less. It is difficult to know the exact number because of the many tiny islets. Only 16 of the islands are inhabited.
Orkney lies at 59 degrees north latitude, only 50 miles south of Greenland. It should be colder, but because of the Gulf Stream the climate is temperate but wet. There is less than a 10 degree difference from average summer and winter temperatures. However, the wind blows a gale all winter long.
The islands total area equals 376 square miles. The largest island is called Mainland. Total population of all the islands is around 20,000 people, mostly living on Mainland. People have lived in Orkney for thousands of years. There are ruins and monuments in all parts of the islands. The first were created by Stone Age Orcadians, then by the Vikings in
the ninth century when Orkney became a part of the kingdom of Norway. 5,000 year old houses and tombs, Bronze-Age cemeteries, standing stones, Viking ruins, medieval
churches, and Renaissance castles are all found in Orkney. Orkney also has a rich tradition of folklore. The long, cruel and windy winters, isolation from a larger population, and the mystical landscape led people to gather indoors around the fire to tell stories and sing songs. Maxwell-Davies' music reflects the spirit of Orkney. Based on Information from OrkneyJar: the Heritage of the Orkney Islands, http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/index.html
Scottish Bagpipes You will hear the glorious sound of a mouthpiece bagpipe when the sun rises after the drone wedding party. Here are some things to know about bagpipes. Most people think blow of Scotland when pipe they hear the bagpipe, but they bag were played by chanter ancient civilizations all over the world. The first written record of the bagpipe dates back to Egypt in 100 BCE. Today bagpipes are used in festivals and celebrations, marching bands and for special occasions. There are different kinds of bagpipes. The Scottish Big Pipes are mouth-blown bagpipes. Bagpipers must have great lung-power. They must not only fill the bag with air when they blow into a pipe, they also have to keep filling up the bag with air all the while they play. The player plays the melody notes by covering and uncovering the holes on the chanter.
More about bagpipes: http://musiced.about.com/od/windinstruments/p/ba gpipes.htm Watch a bagpiper on YouTube, "Andrew Plays a Bagpipe Solo," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKQIdqjY9nI
The Story in the Music The composer created this music after he attended a wedding on his home island, Hoy. The music tells this story. As the sleet and snow are blown about by the swirling winds that are always whistling on Hoy, guests arrive for wedding. Nobody would pass up a celebration during such bad weather. They come in out of the wind, fix their clothing and smooth their hair. It is time to greet the bride and groom! The cheerful young couple welcomes the polite, respectful guests. All drink a toast to the young couple, and the dancing begins. After a while, the music grows louder and faster and the crowd gets merrier as they dance with gusto. The music plays many kinds of dances; some are graceful, others are not. The dancing grows wilder and less steady as the effects of the liquid refreshment takes hold. They dance the night away. But morning is near and it is time to leave. Guest walk out of the overheated hall into the cold, cold night just before dawn. As they walk home, they watch the sunrise over Caithness on the Scottish mainland. It is a glorious dawn!
Published on Dec 15, 2011


text:
Holy crap...update no-jutso, guys!
I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting. Life calls sometimes.
Here we...go.
Chapter 7: Survivors
Everything was dark for Violet.
The last thing she remembered was getting attacked by a changeling, of all things, and telling her father to run.
Her head was throbbing. Her wings ached.
But she felt...warm.
As her senses started coming back, she could hear the crackling of a fire a few feet away and could feel it's warmth.
A voice grunted and the sound of metal clanging was heard. The voice was a male. He sounded like he was working on something.
"Ugh..." She groaned and rolled over, but she found that her wings hurt just as much. "Argh..." She winced and opened her eyes. She found herself underneath a rock outcropping, the aforementioned fire illuminating the ceiling above her with a pale orange light. She could tell she was still in the desert.
She was lying down. She tried to lift up both her forehooves, but could only lift her right one. Her left one, when she looked down, was restrained by a familiar brown and tattered cloak acting as a sling.
"You'll wanna be careful there..." The voice said, grunting again. "You took a nasty beating...that forehoof that's all slung up? Broken in three places...don't mess with it..."
She turned to see who the voice belonged to and gasped. "You..."
Sitting on the other side of the fire was the stallion of legend, Blue Bass. He was looking at her across the fire, his golden eyes glinting slightly from the fire. "Me what?" Blue Bass looked away from her and grunted again. Violet found the reason for his grunting was him trying to remove the charred pieces of armor from his hooves. He removed one and grunted in pain, his fur underneath revealed to be charred, and threw it on the ground, making the metal clank.
"Did you...are you...?" Violet couldn't speak. She lurched forward and coughed violently and a little blood came out of her mouth.
"Don't talk so loudly..." Blue Bass spoke quietly to her. "You have a minor concussion and suffered some internal bleeding...honestly, I didn't think you would live..." The stallion sighed as he reached down, ripped some more fabric from the brown cloak he wore, and wrapped a slip of it around a wound on his forehoof. He used his mouth to pull the makeshift bandage into a knot, grunted in pain, and sighed. "I had to save at least one of you...and you were still breathing..." Blue Bass looked outside the outcropping and scanned the night sky. "Plus, those things are still out there in their warship...looking for stragglers..." He turned back around and narrowed his eyes. "So stay quiet..."
Violet nodded slowly, still in shock that she was right all along. The captain that had arrived the day before who had called himself Blue Bolt was actually Blue Bass, the stallion who saved Equestria all those years ago before she was born. She opened her mouth to speak. She had so many questions to ask Ace. But she fell silent remembering his orders and her health.
Violet took this opportunity to look herself over. She was covered in makeshift bandages from her multiple wounds, all from his cloak. She looked back at Ace, who was now standing up on all fours and stretching out his wings, which were intact for the most part. There were a few bruises here and there.
He felt her eyes on him and he looked over at her, "Violet, was it?"
Violet was confused. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him.
"Just nod. Yes or no?"
Violet blinked a few times, then nodded.
Ace nodded, "Right...just making sure..." He walked over to her side of the fire and stood next to her spot, looking down at her. "You paint a lot?"
He was looking down at her Cutie Mark, which was a paintbrush and colors. She nodded again with a slight smile.
Ace smiled. She blushed. She had never seen him smile before. "That's wonderful...I wish I could draw..."
Ace finally sat down next to her and stared out at the night sky. Finally, after a few moments, her frowned. "Did you..." He sighed heavily. "Did you have family back there?" He turned and looked at her, his golden eyes glinting again from the fire.
This took Violet aback. She looked down at the ground in front of her, a lone tear sliding off of her cheek and landing on the ground.
"Oh, no..." Ace sniffed, his mouth slightly agape. He gritted his teeth, smacked himself on the forehead in frustration, and shook his head. "I'm...I'm so sorry..."
She nodded while still looking at the ground, signaling that he was forgiven.
Violet shook her head again.
Violet snapped her head in Ace's direction, who was looking down at her with sorrow in his expression.
She sniffed, nodded furiously, and threw herself upwards, wrapping her good forehoof around Ace.
He grunted in confusion, but then slowly realized what had happened and patted her back with a forehoof. "I'm so sorry...I couldn't save everypony..."
She sniffed and buried her muzzle into Ace's shoulder. His fur felt hot in that area as the tears streamed out of her eyes stained it.
Violet hugged Ace tightly, shaking from her sobs. She felt him run a hoof through her mane uncertainly, something that made her cry even more. He was holding her like her father used to.
Instead of breaking away, Violet just nuzzled closer to Ace. She felt just a little bit safer in his embrace.
Blue Bass felt Violet's nuzzling and sighed, reminded of the times Dash had done the same. If he closed his eyes, he could almost picture him and Violet together, instead of him and Rainbow Dash...
"What am I thinking?" Ace thought as he held this mare he had only just gotten know.
And she hadn't even spoken that much.
A bush just outside the cave started to rustle fiercely. Blue Bass quickly threw away the mental picture, drawing and cocking his flintlock and holding Violet protectively.
"Whoever you are, don't even think about it!" Ace growled and narrowed his eyes, taking aim at the bush.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" A voice called out that was clearly not changeling. Slowly, a white stallion emerged from the brush, an alarmed look on his face. "I'm a friend! Don't shoot!"
Ace sighed and lowered his weapon, placing it on the ground and letting go of Vio. "Can't be too careful..." Ace flexed his wings and eyes the new pony mysteriously. "What is a pony like you doing all the way out in the middle of the desert?"
The pony, who had an electric blue mane and tail, stepped forward, eyeing Ace and Vio cautiously. "I came because I...well..." He paused and looked down. "I'm here because of Rainbow Dash. Ace..."
"Rainbow Dash...?" Ace blinked in confusion upon hearing his lover's name.
"She's worried sick," the stallion explained, eyeing Ace and Violet oddly. Ace cocked an eyebrow.
"How do you know Rainbow Dash?" he asked. "Who are you?"
The white stallion pursed his lips, looking off to the side for a moment before replying.
"My name is Fyre Bolt-"
Ace's eyes widened, and he lunged at Fyre Bolt. "RRRRAAAAAGH!"
Blue Bass forced Fyre Bolt to the ground, shoving the flintlock pistol beneath Fyre Bolt's chin. "YOU HAVE SOME NERVE SHOWING UP HERE!"
A drop of sweat rolled down Fyre Bolt's forehead as the barrel of the pistol dug into his neck. He could see Blue Bass twitching at the trigger, ready to pull it in an instant.
"Ace..." Fyre Bolt lifted up his forehooves. "I...I can explain..."
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't end you right now..." Ace growled as he pressed it harder against him.
Violet looked on in horror behind the pair, afraid of what was going to happen and confused as to what was going on.
"Ace..." she squeaked out, trying to get his attention before he went over the edge.
She was too quiet and was unable to grab his attention. Rage was blinding Ace, boiling up in him and wiping out all other emotion.
"I wanna help you!" Fyre Bolt suddenly blurted out, gulping nervously. "I...I wanna make amends! I don't want any hard feelings between us! Rainbow Dash felt awful! And so did I!"
"That's a tall order, Fyre Bolt!" Ace growled, leaning in closer. "I'm still waiting on that good reason!"
Fyre bolt opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Ace grabbing his head, a single drop of blood rolling down from the bite on his neck. Fyre was about to ask what was wrong, but Ace quickly pressed down with his pistol, practically suffocating him.
"Give...me...a...reason..." Ace hissed through his teeth. Fyre Bolt began to panic as the flint moved back just a tiny bit.
"You need me to get you out of this!" Fyre Bolt cried out, closing his eyes and preparing for the worst.
Ace had just about had it. He was about to end the stallion that ruined everything when the buzzing intensified, drowning out Fyre Bolt's words. He cried out, staggering backward and dropping the pistol. He placed a forehoof on his forehead and cried out again. He shook his head violently.
Violet rushed over to Ace and grabbed hold of him, putting her mouth near his ear so she could whisper to him. "Ace!"
Her words snapped Ace out of whatever influence he had been under, and he looked at her weakly. Fyre Bolt got up off the ground and dusted himself off, rubbing his throat.
"Blue Bass, Fyre Bolt," Violet whispered as loudly as she could. "I don't know what's going on with you two...maybe I don't want to. But we need to work together if we're going to get out of this mess."
"Yeah, okay," Fyre Bolt said hoarsely. "One one condition: no talking about what happened with me and Dash, okay?"
Ace scowled, shaking his head to clear the last of the buzzing. He locked eyes with Fyre Bolt, Violet looking on. "Fine. But this isn't over."
Fyre Bolt nodded. "I know it isn't."
Twilight Sparkle sat down in her library with who remained of the Elements of Harmony and sighed forlornly. "This is just a mess..."
"Twilight..." Applejack frowned at the sight of her friend struggling to comprehend the problem.
"I feel bad...I haven't felt this bad since the Nightmare incident..." Twilight placed a forehoof on her head, sighing again. "I can't...figure out a plausible way to fix this..."
"Don't give up, Twilight..." Fluttershy flew over and patted her friend on the shoulder. "A solution won't present itself right away...we just have to be patient..."
"Yeah, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said happily as she bounced over as well. "Fluttershy is right! Besides, it's not like a solution is going to trot through the front door!"
Suddenly, a loud knocking was heard from the front door.
"Ah'll get it," Applejack said, getting up and going to the door. She quickly peeked out the small window in the door, then pulled back, blinking. "Ah must be seein' things..."
Another series of knocks confirmed that Applejack was not hallucinating. Hesitantly, she opened the door. "Uh, howdy?"
"Hello...uh...ma'am." A green unicorn with a brown windbreaker, and a blonde mane and tail said to Applejack. Rarity was collapsed on his back, and behind him was...a robot.
"Look! A cowpony! That's so ironic, in't it?" The robot spoke with an accent.
"I was just wondering if...uhm...this was yours..." The green Unicorn asked, nodding back at Rarity.
Applejack gaped, first at the unconscious Rarity, then at the strange synthetic pony. She stood silent for just a bit too long for the unicorn's tastes.
"Riiiiight..." he sighed, turning to his companion and nodding to a house across the way. "Next house, Wheatley."
"Righto, mate!" the pony named 'Wheatley' said cheerily. "Y'know, still trying to get used to the whole 'mobile' thing. Never really thought about what it'd be like, 'cept for the rail, of course. I honestly..."
The pony's words faded as he walked away with his unicorn friend and Rarity. Applejack shook herself out of her shock and quickly called out after them. "Hey!"
The pair turned back to Applejack. "Yes?" the unicorn asked.
"That's my friend Rarity!" the cowpony told them, walking up to them. The unicorn and synthetic looked at one another, shrugged, and gladly traded off the unconscious Rarity.
"Well that's one mystery solved..." the green stallion sighed. "Now if only we could find Dan..."
Applejack's eyes widened in shock. Her eyes quickly ran down to the unicorn's cutie mark: a badge with "Sessions" written across the top!
"Well if everything were that easy, mate, where would the fun be?"
The stallion shook his head, and turned to leave. "Come on."
"Wait!" Applejack called out again. "Ya'll are lookin' for Dan?" She received two nods, one curt, one energetic, in reply. "Ah think ah can help with that."
The fire under the rock shelter where the ponies took refuge had long since gone out. Fyre Bolt, Violet, and Ace were sound asleep, as they had decided to make for Ponyville in the morning to warn the Elements.
Violet occasionally shiver as a cold desert wind blew by and would snuggle into her makeshift cast for warmth.
Fyre Bolt and Ace were sleeping opposite each other, the bad blood between them still fresh in their minds.
Ace turned fitfully in his sleep, as if he was experiencing a nightmare. He was breathing rapidly, a short growl punctuating his restlessness every now and then.
Suddenly, the blue pegasus sat up, his eyes wide. He looked around himself, at Violet, at Fyre Bolt, then quietly slinked away.
He took one last look back at them, then quietly gave a very...unsettling...chuckle.
He turned around, smirking crazily, and spread his injured wings, taking off, a stream of blood flowing down his head.
His eyes were shrunken down to small circles.
Small green circles.
"BROTHER!?" All four of mares in the library who were conscious yelled at once. Rarity was still KO'd on the couch.
John stared at all four of the mares, exchanging a look with Wheatley. "Yeah...I'm Dan's brother..."
Wheatley's optic narrowed. "Wait a second..." Wheatley trotted up to John and tapped him on the shoulder. "So then...I was right..."
"Right about what?!" John barked annoyedly at the robot.
"Dan got sent to magical pony-land!" He grabbed John's head and yanked it in the direction of Twilight Sparkle. "And now...and NOW...we're getting told he was sent here by a magical unicorn Princess!"
Twilight Sparkle gave the duo a look. "I'm a representative in a hierarchy..."
"Same difference, love..." Wheatley rolled his optic as John yanked himself free of Wheatley's grip.
"So...he's here?" John said, not sure what to make of this whole situation.
"Yesiree...yer brother's a darned legend here in Equestria..." Applejack gave a small smile and stepped forward.
"Is there gonna be an EIGHTH Element now!?" Pinkie asked with shock on her face.
"No, Pinkie..." Twilight shook her head, sighing.
"I...see..." John cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "And...what exactly did my bro do for you...horses?"
"Ponies..." Twilight corrected.
"Fine...ponies..." John scoffed.
"He saved us!" Pinkie said as she bounced up to the green unicorn. "A powerful god of Chaos returned from imprisonment and started attacking the capital city and then he discovered a new element and blah blah blah blah blah!"
John's eye twitched as Pinkie kept bouncing around and speaking a such a high speed. He didn't even know it was possible to talk like that.
He shook his head to regain his composure before Wheatley sighed, "Okay...could someone other than the crazy pink one explain what he did?"
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, "You'll have to excuse her..." She gestured to the chairs in the library as she, Fluttershy, and Applejack sat down while Pinkie kept bouncing.
John and Wheatley again exchanged another look before John shrugged and sat down next to the unicorn that had fainted and was still out, while Wheatley awkwardly positioned himself on the table.
Twilight gave the robotic pony a weird look before John waved a hoof from his spot, "Ignore him...he's...impaired..."
"Your horse-face is impaired!" Wheatley retorted, pointing a hoof.
This elicited a slight chuckle from Fluttershy before Twilight cleared her throat. "It all started fifteen years ago...when my friend Rainbow Dash was doing her rounds during weather patrol..."
Ace was surrounded by Royal Guards with their weapons drawn in the middle of the desert. He had no recollection of how he got there. In fact, he didn't have any control of his actions. Droplets of blood flowed from his head as he stood there, looking down.
"There he is, Corporal Redemption, sir!" A guard spoke up as his superior approached.
"What's...going on...?" Dan thought over the constant buzzing noise in his head. "Why...can't I...control myself?"
"Blue Bass?" A voice asked him and he heard the clopping of hooves stepping towards him. "Blue Bass? Is...is that you?"
"Yes! Yes, it's me!"
"Redemption, is it?" He spoke with a voice that wasn't his. It was scratchy and coarse, and...crazy-sounding.
"What the-!? This...this isn't me! Help!"
"A Red Hoof, no less...good for you..." Ace responded, slowly looking up at the Red Hoof. He was an orange Pegasus with a spiky orange mail and tail. His eyes widened as he locked eyes with Ace.
"W-what is it? Why are you scared? I'm fine! It's me!"
"I had great respect for the Red Hooves..." Ace said, smiling evilly. His teeth were alarmingly sharp and pointy for a stallion of his size.
"Since when did my teeth get so heavy and big?!"
The Red Hoof known as Redemption growled and drew a knife, pressing it to Ace's throat. "You did not answer my question!" He bared his teeth and scowled. "Are you or are you not Blue Bass?!"
Ace started to laugh maniacally. "Hahahaha...HAAAHHAHAHAH! Heeeehehehehee..." He smirked. "I was..."
"This guy is insane..." A nearby guard said.
Ace stopped laughing and slowly leaned over and looked at the guard who spoke. "Insane? You think..." He narrowed his evil-looking green eyes at the guard. "I'm insane?"
"Y-yes?" The guard responded, looking at Ace like he was a monster.
"GOOD ANSWER, MEAT!" Ace shrieked before bucking Redemption, taking his knife, and rushing towards the guard.
The real Ace faintly heard a scream.
He felt hot blood flow over the hoof that was clutching the knife.
Then, he heard no more except the buzzing.
Not even himself.
Redemption lay still on the ground, unmoving. He lifted his head up, slowly. His head was spinning. He must've hit it on a rock.
"That Red Hoof is alive!" A female voice hissed behind him.
"Hurry! Get him out of there!" A male voice sounded.
"Whu-what?" Redemption murmured, trying to roll over and get a look at who was talking.
"Shh!" A blue mare with weird ears and a purple mane said to him while a white Pegasus with a blue mane and tail slowly lifted him. "Stay quiet!" She winced as a guard cried out from getting killed.
"Ugh..." Redemption leaned back and felt himself being lifted up by the two Pegasus ponies.
As everything blacked out, he heard the two talking. "Violet, we need to tell Rainbow Dash about this!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't remember how long she'd been flying at the Wonderbolt training field. With no emotion in her violet eyes, she flew through the obstacles and through the cloud loops like clockwork, not paying attention to anything around her. Her talk with Fyre Bolt didn't go so well. He stormed off to go help Dan when she didn't want him to. Occasionally, however, a stray tear would stream down her face and fly down to the ground.
Her most recent tear splashed down at the hooves of Captain Spitfire. She gazed up at rainbow Dash with worry in her eyes.
"She still out here?" A rough, scratchy voice behind her signaled the arrival of Soarin', her coltfriend and co-captain.
"Yeah..." Spitfire sighed as Soarin' sat beside her. "Something is most definitely wrong with her...it's been three hours non-stop...even she can't keep up with herself at this rate..."
"What should we do?" Soarin' asked.
"Just make sure she doesn't die when her wings finally give out and she falls..." Spitfire sighed, leaning against Soarin's shoulder.
Rainbow Dash, however, was not going to stop anytime soon.
She needed to get him out of his mind, and non-stop training was the prime way to do so.
Or so she thought.
She still loved him, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't change the fact that he was back.
And that she had screwed up.
She stopped flying abruptly.
Spitfire and Soarin' leaned forward to see if they could get a glimpse at what was happening.
She whipped her head around and looked out towards the desert. The sadness in her eyes was gone. It was replaced with a combination of worry and determination.
"Whoa..." Soarin' muttered.
Rainbow Dash felt like something was very wrong. It was a weird feeling. Something she hadn't felt since...
Her pupils shrank in worry.
She quickly flew down to where Soarin' and Spitfire were sitting, landing with a heavy thud in front of them. Soarin' fell backwards as Spitfire stood up. "What's the matter, Dash?"
"Ace is in trouble!"
"ACE!?" Both Soarin' and Spitfire barked, Soarin' sitting upright.
"I can feel it..." Dash said, again gazing out at the desert. "We need to go save him, now!"
"Waitwaitwait..." Spitfire waved a hoof. "Ace is back!?"
"Your coltfriend that went to Zebrica? It's been years!" Soarin' said with shock.
"I'll explain later...for now, we're mobilizing the Wonderbolts!"
Spitfire stared at Rainbow for a moment before sighing, "Is that what...this is all about?"
She whipped her head to look at her Captain, "This?"
She gestured at Rainbow with a forehoof. "This."
Slowly, she nodded. "Yeah...
"Then we have no time to lose."
Hooray! Abother update after many months of inactivity. I'll try to get more out as soon as I can!
Violet (c) BloodyOkami
Fyre Bolt (c) Robsa990
And thanks to robsa for the amazing art. If you wanna see it, go to FiMFiction.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
September 4, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog September 4, 2017
For many, Cohesion policy comes down to direct results visible just around the corner, in close proximity, namely new roads, refurbished buildings and professional trainings teaching new skills. However, my colleagues and I have decided to take a step back and embrace the policy with a […]
June 26, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog June 26, 2017
In a context of reduced trust in the democratic institutions due to the financial, economic and migration crises and in view of the 7th Cohesion Forum, taking place in Brussels on 26 and 27 June 2017, Professor John Bachtler, director of the COHESIFY project, and fellow […]
June 22, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog June 22, 2017
Within EU institutions, there is an increasing perception of the need to revisit the European approach to growth and revive the European social model, introducing a stronger dimension of social equity in public policies and increased protection of social rights for EU citizens and residents. […]
June 13, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog June 13, 2017
One of the key elements of the Europe 2020 Growth and Jobs Strategy is to promote employment through entrepreneurship and self-employment.
June 7, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Events June 7, 2017
COHESIFY was represented at the INFORM and INIO network of EU Cohesion policy communicators held on 30 May – 1 June in Burgenland, Austria.
June 6, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog June 6, 2017
The relationship between Communitarian policies and citizens' identification in the EU values has been treated in the literature by several studies. They focused, for instance, on the impact of the introduction of the common currency or the Erasmus program, claiming that it is through actions of […]
May 31, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog May 31, 2017
The EU officials, well aware that trust in the European project is fading, have been struggling to catch the attention of national audiences. As many initiatives and policies that influence the everyday lives of Europeans go unnoticed, more and more efforts are made to ensure that […]
May 17, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog May 17, 2017
Relief! France is not the new falling domino in a wave of populism that Europe was afraid of seeing. It elected a 39-year-old president, a republican monarch embodying hope, a revival in the face of the breakdown of traditional parties and the rise of extremes.
May 15, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Blog May 15, 2017
EU Cohesion Policy, supporting a variety of projects that support regional economic development and contribute to betterment of quality of life, can be considered as a tool that is contributing to the development of a 'sense of community' among the EU citizens and shaping the perceptions […]
April 26, 2017
Published by Anna Frankowska at Events April 26, 2017
The COHESIFY partner Central European University together with the Regional Studies Association (RSA) is organising a workshop on "Cross-border regions & inter-regional policy transfer in the past, present & future" which will take place in Budapest on 29 and 30 June 2017.


text:
Today I turned on my PD-5WS-DV via Alexa and the bulb blew. The bad news is that it looks like it took out my switch as well. The green light on the switch is no longer illuminated and no breaker was tripped. Is there anything else I should check?
Today I turned on my PD-5WS-DV via Alexa and the bulb blew. The bad news is that it looks like it took out my switch as well. The green light on the switch is no longer illuminated and no breaker was tripped. Is there anything else I should check?
I_would_assume_nothing. Very possible there was an iffy connection somewhere in the wallbox that went south the same time you tried using it. I would open up the switchbox and check all connections- I've found more than once that a loose splice caused the problem and tightening the wirenut properly fixed the issue.
I just re-read the post. Not sure about the switch you listed, but it's possible it's a no-neutral-required device that relies on a lamp to complete the circuit required to power the switch. Replacing the lamp with a known good one should correct all of your issues. I'd start there.
Good luck
That switch needs a load (good light bulb) to function as it does not have a neutral. The caseta line is very durable, it is very unlikely the switch was damaged by the bulb blowing. Older dimmers would sometimes fry when bulbs went but I have never seen it happen with Caseta. If the bulb doesn't solve the issue call Lutron support. I am pretty sure the switches Have a 1 year warranty.
RadioRa2 PSP Level 2 Platiunum
Caseta "Pro" Installer
My Systems:
RadioRa2 with QS Shades, Sonos, Harmony, Nest, Alexa and HomeKit
Caseta with Harmony, HomeKit, Nest, QS shades, and Alexa.
I installed a new switch (that Lutron graciously provided under warranty) and had the same result. Since this switch was a 4-way setup prior to my Caseta install I tightened the connections in the other two switch boxes, though I would not characterize any of the connections as loose. After doing that the new switch worked. I then changed out the new switch for the old one and it worked!
So, I'm not really sure what happened. It's hard to believe that the moment that the table lamp bulb blew a connection loosened in one of the boxes. It seems more likely that a loose connection blew the bulb, even though none of them seemed loose enough to cause a problem.
Update-in my case replacing the bulb with a Caseta certified bulb reactivated my Lutron switch and is working again!