THE PIONEER VALLEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
WHAT
IS
A SYMPHONY?
A STUDENT WORKBOOK FOR 4TH GRADERS
NAME
____________________________
SCHOOL ____________________________
Can you imagine a day without music?
We live in a world surrounded by music. We hear "recorded" music
coming from the radio, TV, movies, CDs, downloads and the like. Where
do you hear music? (Make a list.)
We may also hear music "live" if we are in the audience—that is, if you
are there when the music is performed. Where have you heard "live"
music? (Make another list!)
Some of you may also perform music. We all sing, and some of you play
one or more instruments. Although you can sing or play alone (solo), it's
a lot more fun to do it in a group. Here are a few kinds of musical
groups:
•
•
•
•
School choruses
bands and orchestras
rock, jazz and country music bands
church choirs
What other kinds of musical groups can you think of? What kind of
group do you belong to or would you like to join?
One large musical group that we have in this region is the Pioneer Valley
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (PVS). Maybe you heard this group
live last year as part of your school's music program or perhaps you have
gone to a PVS concert. The orchestra celebrates its 75th year in 2014. It
gives 5 or 6 concerts a year, and generally has more than 60 people
playing in each concert. We'll say more about the PVS later, but for now
let's talk about what a symphony orchestra is.
1
What is a symphony orchestra?
• IN SIZE: the orchestra is large and uses between 60 and more than
80 players on a number of types of instruments.
• INSTRUMENTS USED: the largest group are bowed strings (violin,
viola, cello, bass). Other sections are blown woodwinds (piccolo,
flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, bassoon); brasses (trumpet,
French horn, trombone, tuba); hit percussion (timpani, snare
drum, chimes, triangle, xylophone). Other instruments may also
called for by the composer of a piece. Electronic instruments are
not generally used.
• The pieces are fairly long and are generally divided into sections
called movements.
• Each piece has been written by a composer especially to be played
by symphony orchestras. The composer provides both a musical
score (showing all the parts in the piece) and single parts for each
individual player.
• The orchestra is led by a conductor (also called the maestro) who
uses a stick (baton) and looks at the score of the piece being
played.
• Symphony orchestras have a long history going back more than two
hundred years. Over that time the size of the orchestra and the
type of pieces played have changed. The most common types of
pieces played in symphonic concerts have been symphonies and
concertos.
2
Here are some instruments found in a typical symphony
orchestra.
Write the name of each instrument next to its picture. Then circle each
instrument and connect it to the name of its family:
STRINGS
WOODWINDS
BRASSES
PERCUSSION
3
Does a symphony orchestra play only symphonies*?
•
•
•
The pieces that an orchestra plays are called its repertoire.
Symphonies and concertos are a major part of a symphony
orchestra's repertoire. Most concert programs will feature at least
one symphony and/or a concerto.
Symphonies feature the orchestra alone. They generally have four
movements. An example is Beethoven's famous 5th Symphony.
Concertos are pieces in which the orchestra plays along with one
or more solo instruments. Concertos generally have three
movements.
There are many other types of pieces that orchestras play, including:
• Pieces with singers and chorus: oratorios, masses, Christmas
music, operas. Several times a year the Pioneer Valley Symphony
and Chorus perform major choral works.
• Ballet music such as Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.
• Opera performances (the orchestra usually sits below the stage, in
what is called the pit.)
• Shorter works such as overtures and tone poems like Prokofiev's
Peter and the Wolf, Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice (which also
appears in Disney's movie Fantasia) and Strauss' The Merry Pranks
of Till Eulenspiegel.
• Music from movies like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and The Polar
Express.
___________
*The word symphony has two different meanings. It can describe a
particular type of musical piece, the symphony, such as Haydn's 101st
Symphony, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, or Shostakovich's 9th Symphony.
Symphony also describes a particular type of orchestra, such as the
Boston Symphony Orchestra or the Pioneer Valley Symphony. Not all
symphony orchestras have the word "Symphony" in their name. In New
York City, the major symphony orchestra is named the New York
Philharmonic.
4
The "Classical" Period
The earliest symphonies regularly played today date from around 1750,
in what is called the Classical Period (around 1750 to 1800).
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). The best known of
the early classical symphonic composers is Joseph
Haydn, who wrote 104 symphonies. He is often
called "the Father of the symphony.” The
standard symphony written by Haydn had four
movements that varied in speed (tempo) and
style. The order of movements ran something
like this:
• An opening fast movement with a tempo like Allegro (fast), Presto
(quite fast) or Vivace (very fast).
• A slower, song-like movement, Andante (walking speed) or Adagio
(quite slow).
• A dance-like movement in 3/4 time, called Minuet and Trio.
• A final fast movement, often a form with a tune that keeps coming
back, known as a Rondo.
In the Classical Period the typical Haydn score called for strings (two
sections of violins, and a section each of violas, cellos and basses); winds,
usually in pairs: woodwinds (flutes,
oboes, clarinets, and bassoons) and
brasses (French horns, trumpets);
percussion (usually only timpani,
although occasionally a bass drum or a
triangle). In concertos a solo
instrument (usually a piano or
harpsicord, or a violin) was, of course,
added to the orchestra.
In Haydn's time symphonies were not
usually played in public concert halls,
but in the elegant music rooms of
aristocrats. Haydn spent 30 years as a
household musician in the court of the
Esterhazys, a noble Hungarian family.
5
Haydn’s music is filled with little jokes, like bird songs and, in a string
quartet called “The Frog,” an imitation of croaking amphibians. In his
“Farewell” Symphony, not everyone finishes playing at the same time.
The musicians play to the end of their parts, blow out the candle on their
music stands, and leave one by one. Eventually there is only a single
player on stage. It’s said that Haydn was suggesting to his patron that his
orchestra should be allowed to leave for vacation on schedule.
In his old age Haydn moved to the Austrian city of Vienna, which was
also home to two other famous symphony composers, Mozart and
Beethoven. Mozart was a friend and sometime student of "Papa Haydn";
when Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 he began studying with Haydn.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1792). Mozart showed his
musical genius at a very early
age. When he was six years old
his father Leopold took Wolfgang
and his older sister Nannerl to
royal courts all over Europe. The
children played duets, and
Wolfgang would improvise and
do stunts by himself. He would
play with the keys covered with a
cloth, name notes and chords
with his eyes closed, or sing.
People in the courts loved it.
Mozart composed music in all forms
throughout his short life: quartets, quintets,
concertos, dances, operas, as well as
symphonies. He wrote his first symphony
when he was six, and his 41st and last, the
“Jupiter,” in 1788, three years before he died
at the age of 35. His later symphonies are
part of every symphony orchestra’s repertoire. You may have seen Amadeus, a movie
based on Mozart’s life.
6
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
Beethoven composed only nine symphonies,
but they tended to be longer, more powerful,
and more complicated than Haydn’s and
Mozart’s. The first movement of his 6th
Symphony, the “Pastoral,” describes the
“Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in
the country.” It is followed by a movement in
3/4 time called “Happy gathering of country
folk” which is interrupted by a thunderstorm!
The timpani, cymbals and bass drum create
such a realistic storm that it can even scare a
dog who hates thunder. Beethoven’s last
symphony, the “Choral,” takes more than an
hour to perform and includes a chorus and four solo singers in its famous
final movement, the Ode to Joy.
The Nineteenth Century or "Romantic" Period
The 19th century in music history is called the "Romantic" Period.
Following the later works of Beethoven, many important 19th century
composers wrote fewer but "bigger" symphonies, ones that were longer
and used more musicians. They also added new or "improved"
instruments to the orchestra, such as the saxophone, bass clarinet,
contrabassoon, valved brasses, and all kinds of percussion instruments
like the xylophone. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote four
symphonies, Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904) nine, and Peter Illyich
Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) six.
The French composer Hector Berlioz (18031869) wrote symphonies in the form of “program
music”—they told stories. His “Fantastic
Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist”
includes a march to the guillotine which ends
with the blade falling, followed by a series of
pizzicato (plucked string) notes representing the
rolling of the severed head into the basket. The
last movement, a wild Allegro, is called “Witches’
Sabbath” and uses strange sounds like having the
string players hit their strings with the wooden
part of their bows, an effect that is called col legno (hit with the wood).
7
By the end of the 19th century, the Viennese
composers Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) and
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) were writing huge
symphonies that required very large orchestras
and might take an hour and a half to perform. By
1910 Mahler had written his 8th Symphony, which
came to be called “the Symphony of a
Thousand”—so called because the number of
instrumentalists and singers needed on stage
totaled more than 1,000 people.
The orchestral score called for 2 piccolos, 4
flutes, 4 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 B-flat clarinets,
at least two E-flat clarinets, 4 bassoons, 1 contrabasson, 8 horns, 4
trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba and another brass group with 4 trumpets
and 3 trombones. The percussion section included timpani, cymbals,
bass drum, tamtam (Chinese gong), triangle and bells, with a
glockenspiel added at the final rehearsals. Keyboard instruments were an
organ, a harmonium, and a piano. Plucked stringed instruments included
2 harps (4 would have been better), a celeste, and several mandolins.
The string sections were all huge. There were two full choruses with 400
singers each, a children’s choir, and 8 solo singers.
Here is an old photograph of the 8th symphony’s first American
performance (premiere) in Philadelphia in 1916. There were 1,068
performers.
8
The Twentieth Century "Modern" Period
The 20th century is known as the “Modern” Period. Since the end of the
19th century composers of many nations have continued to write
symphonies as well as concertos, ballet music, descriptive tone poems,
and movie scores. The works may have one movement or several. They
may be for small or large orchestras and use different combinations of
instruments.
Three of the 20th century’s most
famous symphony composers were
Russian: Stravinsky, Prokofiev and
Shostakovich. Igor Stravinsky
(1882-1971) became famous for
ballets (Firebird, The Rite of Spring)
that were performed in Paris. He
composed three symphonies; one
adds a chorus to the orchestra. He
left Russia in 1920, then lived in
Switzerland and France. As World
War II began, he moved to the U.S.,
where he composed all kinds of music in a variety of styles.
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed 7
symphonies, as well as operas, ballets and
concertos. You may have heard his narrated
story, Peter and the Wolf. He called his first
symphony the “Classical,” using modern
techniques as he thought Haydn might have done
had he lived in 1917.
Dmitri
Shostakovich (1906-1975) wrote his
first symphony at age 19 and his 15th at
the age of 65. Throughout his life he
had trouble with Soviet authorities, and
particularly with Josef Stalin, the USSR’s
longtime premier. The second movement of his 10th symphony is a violent
scherzo, said to be a portrait of Stalin
who had died as Shostakovich was
composing the work.
9
Twentieth century musical styles in America
include many types of orchestral music.
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) created a
distinctly American style using rhythms and
melodies from jazz and folk music. His
Symphony no. 3, written from 1944-46,
became very popular, as have his ballet
scores (Appalachian Spring, Rodeo).
William Grant Still (1895-1978) wrote the first
symphony by an African-American that was played
by a major orchestra. The Rochester Philharmonic
premiered it in 1931. Another early AfricanAmerican composer of symphonies was James P.
Johnson (1894-1955), a famous stride pianist and
composer of the 1920s hit tune, Charleston.
There are too many talented composers to list here,
but you might like to listen to one of the 8
symphonies of Philip Glass (b.1937), who writes in a
style that is called minimalism.
In 2012 the Pioneer Valley Symphony
performed the 3rd Symphony by Zeke
Hecker, who plays oboe in our
orchestra. Now we’re at the beginning
of new century, and a new period in
music—so new that we don’t have a
name for it yet!
10
What is a Pioneer Valley Symphony concert like?
Every year the PVS usually plays 5 or 6 concerts in a large hall like the
Greenfield High School auditorium. Each lasts between 1½ and 2 hours,
and the program for each concert is different. The program will often
have pieces in different styles. In a way, it’s like a meal with several
different dishes. Usually a shorter piece opens the concert. It is often
followed by a concerto with a soloist. There is a break—the
intermission—so the audience can stretch their legs a bit, and then a
final big piece or several smaller ones end the concert.
Here’s an example of a PVS program, played on Saturday, May 21, 2011:
A Summer’s Day
Lewis Spratlan (b.1940)
Double Concerto, *op.102
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Nicholas Kitchen, violin
Yeesun Kim, cello
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Symphony No. 5, *op. 67
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
“A Summer’s Day” was written in 2008 by a Pioneer Valley composer who
lives in Amherst. The piece describes a day in the composer’s life, and
includes sounds that can be heard through an open window—a distant
pick-up basketball game (a percussionist even bounced a real
basketball), his typing at a computer (which eventually crashes), and the
songs of crickets in the evening.
Brahms wrote the Double Concerto for two instruments, a combination as
rare today as when it was written in 1887. Beethoven wrote his Fifth
Symphony in 1808.
There were 68 players in the orchestra, including a piccolo, an English
horn, a bass clarinet, a contrabassoon, and a harp (in “A Summer’s Day”).
______________
* op. is short for opus, the Latin word for “work.” Many composers add
an opus number to each work, so you can tell the order in which his
works were published. From this we know that Brahms wrote his Double
Concerto near the end of his career, and that Beethoven wrote his 5th
symphony somewhere in the middle of his life.
11
How do the PVS players get ready for a concert?
Our players live all over the Pioneer Valley, from Greenfield to Springfield,
and from Vermont and Connecticut as well. Many drive 20 or 30 miles to
get to rehearsal. Some of them are your teachers. Some are lawyers and
judges. Some are doctors and scientists, carpenters or high school
students. We all play for the fun of it, and don’t get paid for what we do.
Each Wednesday night from Labor Day until our last concert in May, we
meet in the town of Hadley. Maestro Paul Phillips drives all the way from
Providence, RI, where he is a professor at Brown University.
For each concert there are between 6 and 8 rehearsals, mostly on
Wednesday evenings, running from 7:30 to 10:00 pm. The first week we
are given our individual music parts; the conductor has the full score. We
"sight read” the parts as best we can, following the conductor’s beat.
After the first rehearsal, we all go home and practice our own parts by
ourselves, trying especially to learn the hard parts. Each following
Wednesday night we rehearse together. Maestro Phillips works on the
difficult sections with us, sometimes going more slowly, sometimes
asking only one or two parts to play until they have learned the rhythm
properly, or get the notes in perfect tune.
The week of the concert, we rehearse in the auditorium. A soloist comes
to one or two rehearsals, and we finally hear what the whole concerto
sounds like. We have to watch the conductor’s baton very carefully so
that we stay together with the soloist. Finally, the “dress rehearsal” (this
is what the final rehearsal is called, though it doesn’t have anything to do
with what we wear) is over, and the next night we appear on stage,
dressed in our concert clothes, and wait eagerly for Paul Phillips’ opening
downbeat.
12
13
14