On Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th May, all of our KS2 pupils will be visiting the Lighthouse to watch and take part in a special schools' concert by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Above, there is a link to the resources page where you can watch the videos and practise your song, makaton signing, body percussion, dance and instruments. There are three things pieces EVERYONE needs to know and these are the videos that will help you:
1a) I Wanna Dance - Makaton signing and teaching video (10 mins)
1b) I Wanna Dance - full run of song with Makaton signing (4 mins)
2a) Dance of The Night - body percussion teaching video (10 mins)
2b) Dance of The Night - body percussion full run (3 mins)
3a) Dvorak Slavonic Dance - choreography teaching video (7 mins 30)
3b) Dvorak Slavonic Dance - full run of piece with choreography (you might want to adjust the play back settings on the video to a speed of 0.75 for this one!) (4 mins)
There is also an instrumental teaching video for Dance of The Night if you are playing the ukulele or the recorder at the concert.
Below, you can watch some recordings of some of the pieces you will hear at the concert. All of the music is inspired in some way by dance. Enjoy!
The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss
André Rieu & his Johann Strauss Orchestra playing "The Beautiful Blue Danube" (An der schönen blauen Donau) by composer Johann Strauss II. Recorded live at Empress Sisi's castle; Schönbrunn Palace Vienna, Austria with dancers from the famous Austrian Elmayer Dancing School. Clip from the DVD "André Rieu At Schönbrunn, Vienna".
Dance of the Knights by Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet - The Royal Ballet)
Taken from his 1935 ballet Romeo and Juliet, Dance of the Knights, also known as Montagues and Capulets, is one of Sergei Prokofiev’s most iconic works. The piece is also included in Prokofiev’s second suite of ballet music from Romeo and Juliet. In the ballet this music accompanies a fateful encounter between the two rival houses and then the first time that Juliet meets Romeo at her family’s masquerade ball.
Libertango by Astor Piazzolla
This performance is by Moscow City Symphony. Libertango is a composition by tango composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla, recorded and published in 1974 in Milan. The title is a portmanteau merging "Libertad" (Spanish for "liberty") and "tango", symbolizing Piazzolla's break from classical tango to tango nuevo.
Louise Farrenc, Symphonie n° 3, "Scherzo Vivace"
Born in May 1804, French composer, pedagogue and concert pianist Louise Farrenc learned under some of the best including Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Ignaz Moscheles. She also received composition lessons from a professor at the prestigious Paris Conservatoire. The classes were private at the time, this was because women weren’t allowed to attend the Conservatoire for composition lessons. Alongside a number of overtures and a large oeuvre of piano music, Farrenc also composed 3 symphonies during the 1840s. The third was composed in 1847 and is a bold statement from the once piano-exclusive composer.
Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was he first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin.
National Orchestra of Wales - Sugar Plum Fairy
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales, play the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky Join the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in fourteen special interactive music clips introduced by Grant Llewellyn and Andy Pidcock using Makaton signing and Widgit symbols. You can also see the beautiful celeste being played.
Sally Beamish: Reckless
Sarah Frances Beamish OBE (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community. This video is a recording bt the Scottish Symphony Orchestra and features an introduction to the music from their conductor Chloe Van Soeterstède.
Dvořák: Slavonic Dance Number 8
SImon Rattle conucting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886. Originally written for piano four hands, the Slavonic Dances were inspired by Johannes Brahms's own Hungarian Dances and were orchestrated at the request of Dvořák's publisher soon after composition. The pieces, lively and full of national character, were well received at the time and today are considered among the composer's most memorable work
SLAVONIC DANCE No. 8 IN G MINOR (FURIANT), OP. 46 - Antonín Dvořák - Odin Quartet - SPO S42E19
An alternative version of this piece to inspire our young string players!
ABBA - Dancing Queen
ABBA are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. Their hits are many and include Waterloo, Super Trouper, Fernando, Money Money Money and Mamma Mia . The film and West End show 'Mamma Mia' is based on Abba's Music.