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National Symphony OrchestraYoung People’s ConcertAnkush Kumar Bahl, Conductor

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A T R I P T H R O U G H T H E K E N N E D Y C E N T E R ’ S H A L L O F N AT I O N S

Performances for Young Audiencesis made possible by

David and Alice Rubenstein are thePresenting Underwriters of the NSO.

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Composers, Orchestras, and Music!Hundreds of years ago, the world was introduced to theorchestra. It was love at first sound. Everyone was captivatedby the never-before-heard sounds of some 20 to 100 musiciansplaying together. Before the orchestra, classical music was forgroups of three (trios) or four (quartets)—tops! The inventionof this much bigger musical group meant bigger musicalpossibilities, and the world’s imagination went wild. Composersall across Europe were inspired to try their hand at creatingsymphonies for the orchestra and pushing classical music tonew limits.

Who are composers? Composers are peoplewho write or “compose” music. Composers getmusical ideas from many sources. Somecomposers create music that captures a specific

time or place. Others are inspired by an emotion—or theymight want to tell a story or paint a picture with music.

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The Composer’s ToolboxEvery composer uses basic tools to write music. One ispitch (high notes and low notes). Another is rhythm(long notes and short notes.) Once you mix the high andlow notes with the long and short notes, you’ve writtena melody!

Some other tools in a composer’s toolbox are tempo, major andminor keys, and dynamics. Composers might also adjust the speed atwhich the music is played using tools with Italian names, like andantefor “slow,” allegro for “fast” and accelerando, meaning to accelerateor “get faster.” Through our Listening Activities and at the concert, you’lllearn more about these tools while you hear the music of composersfrom many different countries across Europe. Listen carefully and you’resure to hear the international language of music.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (pronounced MO-tzart) was anambitious young composer who wanted to write music likeno one else in the world. He did it by writing music thatwas perfectly constructed—and by capturing his ownplayful personality in the melodies.

Mozart (1756-91) was a child prodigy—someonewith extraordinary ability or talent at a youngage. He could play the piano beautifully whenhe was only four years old and completed hisfirst symphony at age eight!

AustriA — The waltz!The Alps! Apple strudel!For a small country, Austriahas had a huge impact onEuropean culture and onclassical music.

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The Composer’s ToolboxWhen composers work with pitch,they have many notes to choosefrom: high notes, low notes, and allthe notes in-between. To travel from

one note to another, composers might take smallsteps or giant leaps. They might even climb,crawl, hop, scoop, wiggle, or drop to get fromone note to another.

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The Composer’s ChallengeMozart challenged himself to writemusic that sounded different fromanything that came before it. Heselected his notes very carefully,

and he chose how to get from one note toanother even more carefully. Go to the “Woofersand Tweeters” Listening Activity that introducesMozart’s Symphony No. 29 andlisten for how Mozart useshigh notes, low notes, andall the notes in-between.

Edvard Grieg (GREEG) wanted his music tosound like all his favorite Norwegian folktunes and dances. His most famous work tellsthe story of a folk hero named “Peer Gynt”(ghint). Peer is a mischievous boy whoseadventures include an attempt to steal aprincess from a mountain filled with trolls.

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The Composer’s ToolboxComposers decide on the rhythmof their melodies by combining longnotes and short notes into patterns.Rhythms happen at the same time

as the steady beat. (You can clap along to thesteady beat!) Sometimes they match, andsometimes they don’t. The tempo refers to thespeed at which the music is played. Some songsare played quickly. Some are played very slowly.And some get faster all the time.

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The Composer’s ChallengeGrieg’s challenge was to writemusic that told a clear story withoutusing any words. Grieg used rhythmto help tell the story of Peer Gynt

tiptoeing through the mountain and being chasedby trolls. Jump to the “Oh, No! Trolls!” ListeningActivity that introduces Grieg’s “In the Hall of theMountain King” and listen carefully to hear howrhythm, steady beat, and tempo help totell the young boy’s story.

NorWAy — Vikings! Fjords!Trolls! Located on thenorthernmost border ofEurope, Norway is famousfor its cold weather, skiing,beautiful scenery, and theNorse myths handed downfrom the early Vikings.

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raised in amusical home,

Grieg (1843–1907) was “discovered” when hewas 15 years old by a famous violinist whopersuaded his family to send him to musicschool.

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Everyone knows what it feels like to be sad, but whatif you wanted to write music that expressed emotionswithout using words? Benjamin Britten’s “SentimentalSaraband” from his Simple Symphony, is based onmelodies sketched in his childhood notebooks.

Britten (1913–76)was another childprodigy who

played the piano and viola and composed musicwhen he was only five years old.

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The Composer ’s ToolboxAnother tool in the composer’stoolbox is mood. Britten wrote hismelody in a minor key. Songs in amajor key sound bright, hopeful,

and happy. Music composed in a minor key cansound dark, sad, and even scary sometimes.

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The Composer ’s ChallengeBritten wanted to compose musicthat expressed emotion withoutusing words. This Listening Activityasks you to compare the sound of

familiar melodies in a major key and a minorkey. Then, you’ll listen to Britten’s “sad tune” andtry to identify what makes it seem sad. Is it onlythe minor key? What instruments did he choosefor his melody? How did he use the other toolsin his composer’s toolbox?

ENGLANd — Big Ben!The Beatles! Fish and chips!England sits inside the unitedKingdom, an island off thenorthwest coast of Europe.

dmitri shostakovich (duh-MEE-treeShaw-stah-KOH-vitch) used his music to paint apicture of his war-torn homeland. As a boy, Shostakovichwatched as rulers fought for control of Russia. HisSymphony No. 10 recalls his memories of the tanks andsoldiers he saw in the streets of his homeland, and thedetermination of the Russian people to find freedom.

The Composer ’s ToolboxOne more tool in the composer’stoolbox is dynamics, where thecomposer tells the musicians howloudly or softly to play the music.

Small changes and big, sudden changes can bevery effective. Shostakovich liked to go from loudto even louder, and from very loud to incrediblyquiet. This helps make his music very exciting forthe audience.

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The Composer ’s ChallengeShostakovich's challenge was tocompose music that sounded as ifyou were living through a war. Makesure you watch your ears when you

go to the Listening Activity. Examine whathappens when sound changes its dynamic fromsoft to loud—and from loud to louder—whilelistening to Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.

shostakovich (1906–75) began piano lessonswhen he was eight years old and enteredmusic school at age 13.

russiA — The Kremlin!Troikas! Snow, snow, andmore snow! russia is thelargest country in the worldand is the birthplace ofmany of the world’s mostbeloved writers, painters,and composers. 77

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Hall of NationsThe Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nationsdisplays the flags of all countries onfriendly (diplomatic) terms with theUnited States, in alphabetical order.When you visit the Kennedy Center,choose your favorite musicalselection from the program, identifythe country of its composer—andthen look for the flag that connectswith your favorite piece of music!There is more about the Hall ofNations— and more about theconcert program—online atwww.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/kc-connections/a-world-of-music

David M. RubensteinChairman

Michael M. KaiserPresident

Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education

Christoph EschenbachMusic DirectorNational Symphony Orchestra

Additional support forPerformances for YoungAudiences is provided by thePresident’s Advisory Committeeon the Arts, Capital One Bank, theCarter and Melissa CafritzCharitable Trust, The ClarkCharitable Foundation, Fight forChildren, Inc., Mr. James V. Kimsey,The Kirstein Family Foundation,Inc., The Max and Victoria DreyfusFoundation, Inc., Linda and TobiaMercuro, The Morris andGwendolyn Cafritz Foundation,Park Foundation, Inc., Mrs. IrenePollin, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr.Jan A. J. Stolwijk, The Theodore H.Barth Foundation, Inc., the U.S.Department of Education, and theVerizon Foundation.

Major support for the KennedyCenter's educational programs isprovided by David and AliceRubenstein through theRubenstein Arts Access Program.

www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge

Cuesheets are produced byARTSEDGE, an education programof the Kennedy Center. ARTSEDGEis a part of Verizon Thinkfinity, aconsortium of free educationalWeb sites for K-12 teaching andlearning.

Learn more about Education at theKennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education

The contents of this Cuesheet do not

necessarily represent the policy of the U.S.

Department of Education, and you should

not assume endorsement by the Federal

Government.

© 2011 The John F. Kennedy Center for the

Performing Arts

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Before the concert, your teacher will share musical selections from theprogram. Listen to the music and do the listening activities. You’ll enjoythe concert more if you’re familiar with the music.

Things to Know about a Concert� An orchestra is a group of musicians who play different instruments.There are four sections or “families” of instruments: strings (includingviolin, viola, cello, and bass); woodwinds (including flute, oboe,clarinet, and bassoon); brass (including trumpet, horn, trombone, andtuba); and percussion (including timpani, snare drum, and xylophone).

� The conductor is a person who leads the orchestra. Conductors usetheir right hand to tell the orchestra the tempo (speed) to play, andtheir left hand to indicate the dynamics (loud or soft). Some use aslender white stick called a baton (buh-TAHN) as they conduct. At theconcert, watch how the conductor communicates with the musicians.

� After an orchestra is seated, the leader of the violins, known as the“first violinist” or “concertmaster,” bows to applause and takes his orher seat. This person then asks the principal oboist to sound an “A”note, to which the entire orchestra tunes. Watch for the first violinistat the beginning of the performance and greet his or her entrancewith applause.

Enjoy the performance!