Celebrations

In the BSO Schools’ Concerts, three of the pieces you will hear are all about celebrating!

The three pieces are:

Dmitri Shostakovich Festive Overture

Errollyn Waller Mighty River

Ludwig van Beethoven Ode to Joy

Dmitri Shostakovich Festive Overture (1954) Errollyn Wallen – Mighty River (2017)

- 1906 – 1975 - Russian composer and pianist - This piece is all about celebrating the 37th anniversary of the

Russian Revolution. This was when the Russians seized power and overthrew the Russian Provisional Government

- He completed this overture in just three days!

Ludwig van Beethoven – Ode to Joy (1822-24, lyrics written in 1785)

- 1770 – 1827 - German composer and pianist - This piece is celebrating hope and humanity and encompassing

a vision that everyone will be equal in the world. - The words are written by a poet called Friedrich Schiller but Beethoven

adapted the words into his final movement on his final symphony

- This piece is to mark the two-hundredth anniversary (bicentenary) of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in England.

- She has been awarded an MBE by the Queen for her services to music

- This piece includes contemporary classical techniques which were made known in 1871 by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African-American group

When you come to the concert we will all be singing these words together, filling the room!

“Hear our voices join together, hear us sing in harmony

Let our song rise to the heavens, only hope will set us free When the darkness seems to surround you, we are the stars that light the way

Hear our voices join together, singing for a brighter day When the darkness seem to surround you, we are the stars that light the way

Hear our voices join together, singing for a brighter day!”

Birthdays and Anniversaries

In the Schools’ Concert, a lot of the pieces you will hear BSO playing are to celebrate the composer’s birthday or an anniversary of a momentous occasion!

100 years since Lili Boulanger’s death

- 1893 – 1918

- French composer

- First female to win the Prix de Rome composition prize in 1912

- She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease which ended her life at the early age of 24

- D’un matin de Printemps translates to Of a Spring Morning so picture a spring morning when you’re listening to this piece and think about how Boulanger is painting a

picture of a spring morning through music

100 years since the birth of Leonard Bernstein

- 1918 – 1990

- American composer, conductor, author, pianist

- Driving composer for film and theatre music, including West Side Story, Peter Pan, Candide

- His music includes elements of jazz and bridged the gap between classical and popular music

- West Side Story is a musical that is inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story is set in New York City and explores two

gangs from two different ethnic backgrounds. The music accentuates the dramatic acting and dancing.

- Symphonic Dances Finale (1961) – this is the finale from the show West Side Story. It incorporates themes from all the songs

throughout the show including ‘Somewhere’ and features a recurring note that reiterates the tragic ending.

- Candide Overture (1957) – this overture is the introduction to an operetta (small opera) written by Bernstein. The time signatures

in this piece change regularly which make it feel unsteady.

The Greeting Prelude written by Stravinsky (1955)

- You will all recognise this piece; in fact, it is a big orchestral arrangement of a well-known tune. See if you can work out how it resembles the song everyone knows so well.

125 years since Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra begun

It has been 125 years since Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra formed and we are celebrating this birthday with our Celebration 1-2-5 Schools’ Concert!

Have a look at the BSO Timeline to see all that has happened in the last 125 years!

YEARS

Became known as

Bournemouth

Symphony

Orchestra

Kirill Karabits

starts as

Principal

Conductor

Marin Alsop

becomes first

female

Principal

Conductor

BSO Participate

department is born

– bringing music

beyond the concert

hall into the whole

community

Television debut at

Winchester

Cathedral

Played for the

Queen and Prince

Philip at the Royal

Albert Hall,

London

First performance

at Winter Gardens

as Bournemouth

Municipal

Orchestra

The home of the

orchestra:

Lighthouse,

Poole’s Centre

for the Arts,

opens

Bass Ten was

created – the

orchestra’s first

ensemble to visit

schools

Appearance at the

BBC Proms

First

orchestra in

the world to

have a

professional

disabled-led

ensemble

Make your own timeline!

Now you have learnt all of the information it is time for you to make your own timeline of the pieces we are playing and what you can remember about each

piece!

Here’s the list of pieces and the dates they were composed, you will need to put them in chronological order:

1. Shostakovich Festive Overture (1954)

2. Lili Boulanger D’un matin de Printemps (1917-18)

3. Beethoven Ode to Joy (1822-24) – the lyrics were written in 1785

4. Errollyn Wallen Mighty River (2017)

5. Stravinsky Happy Birthday The Greeting Prelude (1955)

6. Bernstein Symphonic Dances Finale (1961)

7. Bernstein Candide Overture (1957)

Try to include on the timeline:

- Whether the piece is written for celebration of an event or an anniversary/birthday (some can be both!)

- What the piece is written about

- A fact about the composer

- Add one of your favourite pieces of music with a date and a fact, or even a musical event you have attended!

- Most of all, have fun with it and make it creative, you could try to draw the composer!