Composer Study 2010-2011

Composer Study—2010-2011 School Year
How to do use this study guide:

These instructions are only a guideline that can be changed to suit your individual needs. The
steps I list below are the way we plan to use this study guide. Each composer will be studied for
four weeks at a time. A variety of sources and media will be used to study these composers in
depth. The links and sources that can be used for each composer will be listed within the page
that composer is on. Below I will list generalized sources and their uses.
Week 1: Introduce the composer and read biography. Do map work locating where they were
born, and/or where they lived during the peak of their lives. Listen to several pieces and discuss.
Did they like the piece? Why or why not? What was their favorite part? How does it make them
feel?
Week 2: Watch a Youtube video(s) of a live playing of the music. Listen to a podcast (if
available for that composer) Listen to several pieces and discuss.
Week 3: Watch a Youtube video(s) of a live playing of the music. Listen to a podcast (It will be
listed under other sources and materials if this particular resource is available for the composer
that is being studied). Listen to several pieces and discuss.
Week 4: Watch a Youtube video(s) of a live playing of the music. Listen to a podcast (if
available for that composer) Listen to several pieces and discuss. Do activity sheet for the
composer from classicsforkids if one is available. (It will be listed under other sources and
materials if this particular resource is available for the composer that is being studied).
Biographies: Each composer biography could be found be clicking on the composers on this
page.
http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/composers_period.asp
For more in depth information you can search http://www.wikipedia.org/
Music: I downloaded a lot of my music from Limewire http://www.limewire.com/

The site Allmusic has a lot of free music for each of the composers.
Go to: http://www.allmusic.com/ and search the composer you are interested in. Click on the Works
tab to see a list of works by that composer. Click on the piece you want to listen to and it then opens
to another page where you choose an album. From each album you can listen to various pieces from
the composer of your choice.
Podcasts and Activity sheets: The podcasts and activity sheets are not available for all of the
composers I have in this study guide. If there is some available it will be noted on the composer
page under ‘Other Sources and Materials’.
http://www.classicsforkids.com/podcasts/classicsforkids2.xml
http://www.classicsforkids.com/activitysheets/
Youtube videos: I compiled a bunch of videos from Youtube and grouped them together to
make Playlists. http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/p The composers
are listed on the right side. Click on each composer to see the group of videos for them.
All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Composer Study: Weeks 1-4
Composer: Hildegard von Bingen
Date of Birth: January 1, 1098 (approximate)
Date of Death: September 17, 1179
Country of Birth: Germany
Style of music most noted for: Liturgical, Plainchant
Most Famous Piece: Ordo Virtutum
Biography
Hildegard von Bingen (Hildegard of Bingen) was a German nun who established her
own convent, and was famous for her prophecies and miracles. In addition to writing
poetry, she wrote books about religion and medicine – and she composed music. Only
77 songs of hers remain after all these years.
Biography from: http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=70
Pieces we listened to:

 O Virga Ac Diadema Purpurae Regis
 Sed Diabolus
 O Euchari In Leta Via
 O Viridissima Virga, Ave
 Unde Quocumque
 O Frondens Virga
 Deus Enim Rorem
 Karitas Habundat
All music from VISION The Life and Music of Hildegard Von Bingen
Other Sources and Materials
Several Youtube videos for Hildegard Von Bingens’ compositions. None are live
singing, but they have some beautiful pictures in the videos.
Available at my youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw4 - p/c/A59E95F4D986F7E9
Two movies are also Hildegard Von Bingen: In Portrait
and Vision - Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen which is a 2009 German film.

Composer: Arcangelo Corelli
Date of Birth: February 17, 1653
Date of Death: January 8, 1713
Country of Birth: Italy
Style of music most noted for: Violinist/Baroque Composer
Most Famous Piece: Concerto Grosso in D Op.6, No.6
Biography
Corelli was born in Italy a month after his father’s death. Since his family was
prosperous, he and his brothers and sisters were well educated. Arcangelo first took
music lessons from a local priest. When he decided to become a professional violinist,
he went to Bologna. Later, he worked in Rome, where he had several patrons,
including a famous Roman, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. Ottoboni held regular Monday
evening concerts at his palace, to which visiting dignitaries and famous musicians
were invited.
Corelli was conductor at these events, and as such met all sorts of celebrities. First
and foremost, Arcangelo Corelli was a violinist. He introduced a new style of playing
called cantabile, meaning singing or songlike, and taught a whole generation of
violinist-composers, including George Frederick Handel and Antonio Vivaldi. His
own solo performances were legendary and he toured throughout Europe, amazing
his audiences with his beautiful tone.
As a composer, Corelli is known as the first composer to do away entirely with the
old church modes and write only major-minor tonalities. He wrote music almost
exclusively for string instruments, including trio sonatas and violin sonatas. He is also
known for his collection of concerti grossi, a form that he developed and popularized.
Because of these works, the concertos of Vivaldi, Handel and Bach were made
possible.
Corelli was famous, respected and admired during his lifetime and died a wealthy
man in 1713.
Pieces we listened to
 Concerto grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 8 “Christmas”
 Church Sonata, Op. 3 No. 1
 Sonata for Violin and Continuo in D Minor, Op. 5 No. 12
 Concerto Grosso in F Major, Op. 6 No. 9
Other Sources and Material: VOX Music Masters CD The Stories of Vivaldi & Corelli
Youtube videos at my channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/7ECBA5C8A0F007DB

Composer: Henry Purcell

Date of Birth: March 7, 1659
Date of Death: November 21, 1695
Country of Birth: England
Style of music most noted for: Organist/Baroque Composer
Most Famous Piece: His Opera Dido and Aeneas
Biography
Henry Purcell, who lived during the Baroque era, was one of the greatest English
composers of all time. As a youth, he studied under some of the finest English
musicians of the period. In 1679, he was appointed organist for Westminster Abbey,
where he is buried.
Purcell was also an organist for the Chapel Royal, the royal instrument keeper and a
court composer. He wrote many works for church use, including anthems and settings
of the liturgy and was also known for his songs, instrumental music, one opera, Dido
and Aeneas, and music for stage productions. Despite the fact that he was an
organist, he wrote little for this instrument.
 Music from Dido and Aeneas
 Queen Mary's Funeral Music
 The Golden Sonata: Sonata No.9 in F Major, for 2 violins, viola da gamba and
keyboard.
 Rondeau (short but I really like it)
 The Fairy Queen
Other sources and activities

Some great videos from youtube that I posted to my channel. An act from the Fairy
Queen as well as a live playing of Queen Mary’s Funeral March. It looks like a funeral
procession being played in the context it was meant for and has a lot of impact.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/0E0D415EB6CC6EB5

Composer: Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
Date of Birth: October 10, 1666
Date of Death: June 27, 1729
Country of Birth: Paris, France
Style of music most noted for: Baroque Harpsichordist
Most Famous Piece: Les Pièces de Clavecin
Biography
Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre was the daughter of Claude Jacquet, an organist and
harpsichordist who taught all his children – boys and girls – to play. Elizabeth played
and sang so well that French King Louis XIV allowed her to perform in public at a time
when women weren’t allowed to do that. She started performing in court when she
was 5, and only left to get married to another keyboard player, organist Marin de La
Guerre.
Like most harpsichordists of her day, Elizabeth was well known for her improvisations.
She was the first woman in France to write an opera, and also wrote sonatas and
cantatas, which were new forms at the time.
 Music for harpsichord, Book 1, Suite No.1 in D minor
 Sonata for 2 Violins, cello se piace/obligato & organ, No.2 in C minor
 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 1 in D minor
 Suite in A minor (from Pièces de Clavecin, 1687)
 Suite in G minor (from Pièces de Clavecin, 1687)

All music is from: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:7497~T2B
Click on the piece you want to listen to from link above. It then opens to another page
where you choose an album. From each album you can listen to various pieces from
Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.
Videos from my Youtube channel of Live playing from Elizabet Jacquet de la Guerre’s
works.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/E5CC3DAAFB709A61

Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
Date of Death: - July 28, 1741
Country of Birth: Venice, Italy
Style of music most noted for: Baroque Violinist/Composer
Most Famous Piece: The Four Seasons Concerto
Biography
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, which is where he spent most of his life. His
father taught him to play the violin, and the two would often perform together.
Antonio continued to study and practice the violin, even after he became a priest. He
was called the "Red Priest" because of his flaming red hair. However, after a while, his
bad asthma kept Antonio from saying Mass.
After that, Vivaldi spent all his time writing music and teaching. He taught at an
orphanage for girls, and wrote a lot of music for the girls to play. People came from
miles around to hear Vivaldi's talented students perform the beautiful music he had
written.
Many people think Vivaldi was the best Italian composer of his time. He wrote
concertos, operas, church music and many other compositions. In all, Antonio wrote
over 500 concertos. His most famous set of concertos is The Four Seasons.
 The Four Seasons Concerto - Autumn
 The Four Seasons Concerto - Winter
 The Four Seasons Concerto - Spring
 The Four Seasons Concerto - Summer

Videos from my Youtube channel of Live playing from Antonio Vivaldi’s works. As well as
a 6 part (9 minutes each) video series on his life. Available at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/5A5533EB0041171A
Four podcasts about Vivaldi available from:

http://www.classicsforkids.com/podcasts/classicsforkids2.xml
Activity sheet: http://www.classicsforkids.com/activitysheets/April2008.pdf

Composer: Georg Philipp Telemann
Date of Death: June 25, 1767
Country of Birth: Germany
Style of music most noted for: Baroque/Orchestral/Concerto
Most Famous Piece: Arguably Der Getreue Musik Meister
Biography
Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg, Germany. He came from a long line
of ministers, so everyone expected him to become one, too. But as a kid, he learned to
play several musical instruments, and taught himself to compose.
When Telemann went to the university in Leipzig, he was supposed to study law and
forget about music. But his music-loving roommate found out that Telemann was a
composer, and arranged to have one of his pieces performed. The next thing
Telemann knew, he was writing music for the biggest church in town.
For a while, Telemann was a court composer, but eventually he got tired of working for
counts and dukes. So he became a municipal music director -- first for the city of
Frankfurt, and then for Hamburg, a very important German port.
Unlike many composers, Telemann was famous and appreciated in his day. He was
friends with most of his fellow composers, and was godfather to one of Johann
Sebastian Bach’s sons: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach has his middle name!
 Viola Concerto in G major – allegro
 Concert Suite in D major for Orchestra and Viola da Gamba
 Methodical Sonata No. 1 in G minor
 Trumpet Concerto in D major – Harlequinade
 Two Violin Sonata 1, movement 1
 Two Violin Sonata 1, movement 2

Most music from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Philipp_Telemann
Videos from my Youtube channel of Live playing from Goerg Philipp Telemann’s works:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/242414E80DBE1945
1 podcast available at: http://www.classicsforkids.com/podcasts/classicsforkids2.xml
Activity Sheet: http://www.classicsforkids.com/activitysheets/April2010.pdf

Composer: Georg Friedrich Händel
Date of Birth: February 23, 1685
Date of Death: April 14, 1759
Country of Birth: Halle, Germany
Style of music most noted for: Baroque Operas & Oratorios
Most Famous Piece: Handel’s Messiah (Hallelujah chorus)
Biography
Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany. But since he spent most of his
professional life in England, he's better known as George Frederick Handel.
Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father (who was a barber
and surgeon) was not. There's a story that Handel smuggled a clavichord -- a VERY
quiet instrument -- into the house so that he could practice in secret. Handel's father
insisted that his son become a lawyer, until the day that Handel sat down at the
keyboard and dazzled a duke. The duke convinced Handel's father to let his son
study music.
What Handel really loved was opera. At the time, Italy was the place to learn about
that, so Handel went to Italy for four years. After he got home to Germany, he was
hired as court composer to a prince. But he immediately asked for time off to go to
England, where people really liked Italian opera. (When the English got tired of
opera, Handel built a whole new career for himself composing oratorios.)
Through a strange set of circumstances, Handel's princely German employer wound
up becoming king of England. When he got to London, he didn't need to hire a court
composer, because he found his court composer from Germany -- namely Handel --
was there!
 Water Music
 Music for the Royal Fireworks
 Messiah “Hallelujah chorus”
 Organ Concerto No. 16 in F Major: Larghetto affetuoso
Music from:VOX Music Masters “The Story of Handel in Words and Music”

More music from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel
Videos from my Youtube channel of live playing from Goerg Frideric Handel’s works:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/71A6FEBBC0C68778
4 podcasts available at: http://www.classicsforkids.com/podcasts/classicsforkids2.xml
Activity Sheet: http://www.classicsforkids.com/activitysheets/June2008.pdf

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Date of Death: July 28, 1750
Country of Birth: Eisenach, Germany
Style of music most noted for: Baroque composer/Organist
Most Famous Piece: Toccata And Fugue In D Minor
Biography
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, where his father was a town
musician. Bach came from a long line of composers - over 300 years' worth of Bachs
all worked as professional musicians. By the time Johann was 10, both his parents
had died, so he was brought up by his older brother, who was a church organist.
Johann became a very good organist, too.
Johann Sebastian Bach held three major jobs in his life: first he worked for a duke,
then for a prince, and finally, he became director of music at the St. Thomas Church
and School in Leipzig, Germany. Even though his job in Leipzig kept him very busy, in
his spare time, Bach conducted a group of musicians who liked to get together to
perform at a local coffee house.
During his lifetime, people thought of Bach as just an ordinary working musician. No
one really knew much about his music until 100 years after his death, when another
composer, Felix Mendelssohn, conducted a performance of Bach's St. Matthew
Passion.
Bach is now seen as one of the greatest geniuses in music history. He wrote all kinds
of music -- for organ and other keyboard instruments, orchestras, choirs, and
concertos for many different instrumental combinations.
 Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
 Minuet in G Major
 Orchestral Suite No. 3 Air on a G String
 Suite For Solo Cello No 1 In G Major, Violin, Cello Concertos
Videos from my Youtube channel of Live playing from Johann Sebastian Bach’s works:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/B2F46DAA7EA11A36
4 podcasts available at: http://www.classicsforkids.com/podcasts/classicsforkids2.xml
Activity Sheet: http://www.classicsforkids.com/activitysheets/September2008.pdf

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti
Date of Birth: October 26, 1685
Date of Death: July 23, 1757
Country of Birth: Naples, Italy
Style of music most noted for: Baroque Keyboard Sonatas
Most Famous Piece: 550 Keyboard sonatas esercizi
Biography
Nothing is known about the early life of Domenico Scarlatti. Although he was probably
trained by his father, Alessandro, who was a professional musician. Although he was
born in Naples, Scarlatti moved first to Venice and then to Rome, where he worked for
several members of royalty and became friends with Arcangelo Corelli. He lived in
Spain for the last 28 years of his life and incorporated some of the aspects this
country’s music into his works.
Scarlatti is noted for the keyboard sonatas (he wrote over 550 of these!) that were
composed for his royal pupils. Each of these pieces is designed to teach a particular
aspect of keyboard performance such as hand crossing, rapidly repeating notes, and
arpeggios.
 Sonata in E major K. 20, Presto
 Sonata in F Minor K. 69
 Sonata in E major K. 380, Andante comodo
 Sonata in C major K. 159 , Allegro

Wikipedia has 8 audio files to hear compositions from Scarlatti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Scarlatti
Much more music options are found at:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:7937~T2
Click on the piece you want to listen to from link above. It then opens to another page
where you choose an album. From each album you can listen to various pieces from
Domenico Scarlatti.
Videos from my Youtube channel of Live playing from Domenic Scarlatti’s works.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarawatsonim?feature=mhw5 - p/c/B498626ECE746CBC


Composer Study 2010-2011

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Composer Study 2010-2011

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Composer Study—2010-2011 School Year

How to do use this study guide:

Music: I downloaded a lot of my music from Limewire http://www.limewire.com/

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Pieces we listened to:

Other Sources and Materials

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Composer: Henry Purcell

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

Four podcasts about Vivaldi available from:

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

Other sources and activities

All rights reserved, S Watson 2010

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