Text Set Jenny Shirley

Standard: National Core Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 11:
! Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical
context to deepen understanding.
! Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the
other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.
1. Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Picasso, P. (1937). Guernica. Retrieved from

http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp
Readability Levels: N/A
Suitability: Grade 8+
Annotation: This is one of Pablo Picassos most famous paintings. He created it in
response to the Nazis bombing of the Spanish city of Guernica. While there
are many different interpretations of the elements of this piece, each is heavily
tied to the current events of the day and the culture of the Spanish, specifically
the Basque, people.

2. bombing of Guernica by PBS

Stoner Productions. (1999) bombing of Guernica. Treasures of the World: Stories

behind masterworks of art and nature. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/guernica_nav/gnav_level_1
/1bombing_guerfrm.html
Readability Levels: 9.2 Grade Equivalency on Flesch-Kincaid scale
Suitability: Grades 9+ or High School Level
Annotation: This text describes the Nazi Bombing of Guernica from many
perspectives, including some eyewitnesses. It describes the atrocity on a
individual level for the Basque people living in Guernica, as well as its impact
in an international context. Finally, the event is presented as an example of
the Nazi militarys destructive tactics. This text would be used as a precursor
to Pablo Picassos painting Guernica, pictured above.

3. Back Home in Derry performed by Christy Moore, Lyrics by Bobby Sands

Rebel, M. (2009, January 13). Christy Moore-I Wish I Was Back Home In Derry
[Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCch_W2Ro38
Readability Levels: 6.3 Grade Equivalency Gunning-Fog Score
90.2 Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease
Suitability: Grade 7+
Annotation: At face value, the text of this song is about Irish Prisoners in the 19th
Century who travelled in harsh conditions to Van Diemens Land to serve
their sentences. However, the historical context of the texts origin changes
the meaning. The poem was written by Bobby Sands, one of the Irish Hunger
Strikers in the 70s and 80s who demanded prisoner-of-war status. Taking
this into consideration, Sands poem was a social commentary on the poor
prison conditions in which he and his fellow inmates were being kept. For
these reasons, I would probably review this song in a high school setting, since
there are so many levels of meaning to the text.

4. Republican hunger strikes in the Maze prison by BBC History

BBC. (2014). Republican hunger strikes in the Maze prison [Video file]. Retrieved
from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/republican_hunger_strikes_maze#p0
0kk1n6
Readability Levels: 7.4 Grade Equivalency on Flesch-Kincaid scale
8.9 Grade Equivalency Gunning-Fox Score
Suitability: Grades 9+ or High School Level
Annotation: This video provides a concise overview of the reasons that the Hunger
Strikes began in the H-Block Prisons. It lists the strikers sentences, demands,
and the community response in Ireland and abroad. A march in support of the
strikers is shown in the film, emphasizing the cultural impact at the time. It
also shows a fife-and-drum band being featured as part of an event with
political aims, highlighting the impact music can have on current events.

5. Bobby Sands Mural on the Falls Road in Belfast, artist unkown

(1981). Bobby Sands [Mural]. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein Head Office, Falls
Road. Image retrieved from http://www.traveladdicts.net/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/Northern-Ireland-Belfast-Troubles-murals-BobbySands.jpg
Readability Levels: N/A
Suitability: Grades 7+
Annotation: This mural is one of many painted on the sides of buildings
throughout Belfast in response to the 1981 Irish Hunger Strikes. While it is an
artifact of this dense and controversial time in Irish History, it is on the lighter
side of the issue, focusing more on the greater, overarching, symbolic aspects
of the conflict. For this reason, I think this mural would be an appropriate
artifact to use to discuss these historical events with a slightly younger age
group.

6. Bobby Sands Biography

Bio (2014). Bobby Sands Biography. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved from
http://www.biography.com/people/bobby-sands-20941955#synopsis
Readability Levels: 9.6 Grade Equivalency on Flesch-Kincaid scale
Suitability: Grades 10+ or High School Level, for content
Annotation: The Biography of Bobby Sands gives a factual context to the evidence
presented in the previous three sources, in poem/song, mural art, and
historical video. The text provides a summary of his life, and describes in brief
the events leading up to the Hunger Strikes referenced in the previous
sources. Putting a face, a family, and a life story to Bobby Sands, the person,
will hopefully allow students to gain an additional perspective on the
historical events that surrounded his life.

7. Music and the Holocaust: Biography of Olivier Messiaen

Meyer, G. et al. Olivier Messiean. Music and the Holocaust. Retrieved from
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/camps/westerneurope/messiaenolivier/
Readability Levels: 10.5 Grade Equivalency on Flesch-Kincaid scale
Suitability: Grades 11+
Annotation: This biography gives context to the source that follows, Messiaens
Quartet for the End of Time. The music and context provided here present a
unique perspective on the events of World War II, Nazi Germany, and the
Holocaust. The article depicts the conditions in the Camp in which Messiean
composed and performed his piece, through the lens of an artist.

8. Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen

Chen, M. (2011, November 29). Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time [Video file]
Music by Messiean, O. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYpBHc8px_U
Readability Levels: N/A
Suitability: All Ages
Annotation: Composed while Olivier Messiaen was imprisoned by the Nazis in
Stalag VIII A, Quartet for the End of Time premiered in January 1941 under
the most trying of circumstances: freezing temperatures, inferior instruments,
and the wretched conditions of life in a POW camp (Sonoma State
University). This instrumental chamber piece is one of the most cited works
influenced by the evils of Nazi Germany and the holocaust.

9. Tin Pan Alley by Brittanica

Tin Pan Alley. (2014). In Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/596493/Tin-Pan-Alley
Readability Levels: 17.4 Grade Equivalency on Flesch-Kincaid scale
Suitability: Grades 9+ or High School Level
Annotation: This text describes an area of New York City, which was the center of
music publishing. The popular music of the day primarily originated from
publishers in this area. Musicians flocked to this corridor of the city with their
original compositions, hoping to get their works published. This source could
provide a great parallel for students to the modern day trends of aspiring
popular music in LA, or aspiring country artists in Nashville.

10. The Changing Role of the Piano by Danielle Baldassini

Baldassini, D. (2010, March 1). The Changing Role of the Piano. Blast Magazine.
Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/guernica_nav/gnav_level_1
/1bombing_guerfrm.html
Readability Levels: Gunning-Fog Score 15.1
Suitability: Grades 9+ or High School Level
Annotation: This informative article provides perspective on the relevance on
Piano in popular culture over time. I think it would be interesting to use this
article as a jumping point from which to juxtapose other instruments. I also
think the foundation could be used to provide some background
encouragement for studying all different types of instruments, regardless of
their current popularity.