Randi Ruff Listening Map Lesson Plan Grade: Middle School Objective: The student will listen and follow along with the map to better get an idea on the phrasing and shape of the Christmas tune. Also, the student will engage in a group discussion about the origins on many common Christmas tunes, reading from a handout and discussing them in class. Curriculum: National Standards Materials: Listening map, CD and stereo, handout and quiz Web address: http://www3.pair.com/montrsmu/index.html Procedure: The Chicago Christmas CD will be playing overhead when the class comes in. I picked the Chicago version because of it’s great chords and use of instruments. The map will be passed out and we will listen and follow along with the CD. I will ask the class what they heard…anything in particular that caught their attention. Is it traditionally arranged? What is different? What instruments did you hear? Was there a chorus? Is there a pattern in the phrasing and if so, what is it? We will discuss all of this, then listen to it again. It’s not too long in length and this gives them a chance to listen for things that we talked about. After the final listening we will discuss the song and get any other opinions on the tune. We will also read the handout that I pass out. I found a website that gave a brief history of many of the common Christmas carols we know. We will read about each carol and discuss the song. Some have a wacky background, so it will be fun. After all have been reviewed, I also found a little quiz that is based on the same information given. We will do this in class, or perhaps with partners…it depends on how much of the information seems to be sinking in and how well behaved the class is today. They will complete the quiz and turn it in to me with their name on it. Supplemental: This lesson has lots of history about the different songs that have been sung for generations around the holidays Evaluation: Through group discussion, and reading of the materials I can assess the students on both activities. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! The music is from the second chorus of a contata by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing. The words are from a hundred years earlier, written in 1739 by Charles Wesley whose brother, John, founded the Methodist Church. "Hark, how the welkin (heaven) rings," he originally wrote. A colleague, the Calvinist Whitefield, substituted the familiar opening line over the protests of the author. In 1855, after both Wesley and Mendelssohn were dead, Dr. William Cummings put the words and music together in spite of evidence that neither author nor composer would have approved. Silent Night Silent Night was written on Christmas Eve in 1818 in Oberndorf, Austria. One common story of this carol was that the organ at St. Nicholas Church was broken, and the repairman could not get there in time to fix it, but recent research has found no evidence in the church records or elsewhere to back this up. Joseh Mohr, the assistant pastor of the church, had written a poem, "Stille Nacht" in 1816. On December 24, 1818 he gave the poem to his friend the church organist, Franz Gruber. Gruber immediately composed the melody and arranged it for two voices, choir, and guitar in time to be performed that night at the Midnight Mass. By 1955, Silent Night had become the most recorded song of all time What Child Is This This melody is the beautiful Greensleeves. It dates from Elizabethan time, possibly even earlier. The song was first registered in 1850 to Richard Jones with lyrics that were neither religious nor respectable. Shakespeare mentions it by name in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in which is it played while traitors are hanged. In 1865 William Chatterton Dix (English) wrote "The Manger Throne", three verses of which became "What Child Is This." Deck the Halls The music is an old Welsh melody. Mozart used it in a piano and violin duet in the 1700's. The words are believed to be American from the 19th century. Jingle Bells The words and music were written in 1857 by James Pierpont for a Thanksgiving program at his church in Boston. It was so well received that the children were asked to repeat it at Christmas. It has been a Christmas song ever since. Away in a Manger The first two verses of "Away in a Manger" were originally published in a Lutheran Sunday school book in 1885. Two years later, James R. Murray published it as "Luther's Cradle Hymn," thus creating the misconception that Luther had written it. Although some attribute the words to Luther, they are usually considered American anonymous. Some credit the music to Murray; others think he merely harmonized an old German folk song. the words are frequently sung to the tune of the Scottish song "Flow Gently Sweet Afton." The First Noel Sometimes given the English spelling, Nowell, it first appeared in print in England in a collection of William Sandys (1833). The words and music are traditional. Most think it is from 16th or 17th century France; others claim it never had any French origins and is very English O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) This carol is sometimes attributed to John Wade, a British exile living in France. Otherwise it is considered to be an anonymous Latin Hymn. Around 1751, Wade put the text with music, probably by John Reading (English). In 1853 the familiar translation first appeared, attributed to Rev. Frederick Oakley. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen When Scrooge, in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", heard this cheerful carol, he grabbed a ruler and the singer fled in terror. It is traditional English going back to the 16th or 17th century. The usual harmonization, like that of "The First Noel" is from Sir John Stainer (1840-1941). Jolly Old St. Nicholas This traditional American carol is generally considered anonymous, although it may have been written by Wilf Carter. Wilf Carter was also known as cowboy singer Montana Slim It Came Upon A Midnight Clear The words for this American carol are based on a poem written by Unitarian minister Dr. Edmund Sears in 1849. The following year, inspired by the poem, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer as well as editor and critic for the New York Tribune, wrote a melody called "Carol" to which the words were adapted. Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night) This carol was written by Adolphe Charles Adam (1803-1856), the French composer best known for his ballet "Giselle." At the time, it was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it for lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion." The French text is by Cappeau de Roquemaure; the English by American clergyman John Sullivan Dwight (18121893). The Christmas Music Quiz How much do you know about some of the most popular Christmas carols? If you can answer all of these questions without having read the historical notes first, you can give yourself the ranking CarolMaster! 1. Neither composer nor lyricist would have approved of which famous Christmas carol, assembled after their deaths? _____________________ 2. Which carol may have been written by cowboy singer Montana Slim? _____________________________ 3. Which carol (melody) was composed by an editor and critic for the New York Tribune?___________________________________ 4. Which beautiful carol was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it for lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion"? [Hint: It's composer is most famous for his ballet Giselle.] ___________________________________________ 5. Which carol was originally composed for guitar, along with two voices, and choir, because, according to some, the church organ was broken? [It was composed on Christmas Eve and ready in time for Midnight Mass!]_______________________________ 6. When Scrooge hears this song in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol," he grabs a ruler and the singer flees in terror. Which carol is it? _________________________________ 7. Which carol gets its melody from a song that is mentioned in Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor"?________________________ 8. Which song was originally written for a Thanksgiving program? _____________________________________ Quiz Answers 1. Hark the Herald 2. Jolly Old St. Nick 3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 4. O Holy Night 5. Silent Night 6. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen 7. What Child Is This 8. Jingle Bells