Didactic concert

Now we are going to prepare our own educational concert. We will tell our classmates about our incredible journey in time by performing some of the compositions we’ve been rehearsing.

Welcome! Everybody is invited to take part in our journey in time through music. We will learn about great musicians, how people used to shake their booty in the Renaissance or the music our parents and grandparents used to listen to. Are you ready to let your imagination fly?

Music exists since the beginning of time. For example, in the Palaeolithic period people used stones, sticks or rope to imitate sounds from nature, and to send messages with the animals’ horns. They even created the first instruments like the musical bow. This was used to hunt but they modified its use. And it sounds like this… Does anyone want to try?

After some centuries the first civilizations like the Chinese or Indian appeared, until the Greeks arrived and laid the foundations for our music. We’ll see how music sounded at that time. This piece is called Seikilos epitaph and was found carved in a stone. The musical notes were similar to the letters.

After the Greeks and the Romans, who copied them, music kept on flourishing.

We reach the Middle Age where monks were in charge of copying and playing music. It was then when the first scores, as we know them today, appeared.

With the arrival of the Renaissance music was used in castles to liven up parties and to accompany the dance. We’ll see how the body was moved in those parties with a pavane. Imagine a castle and a huge ballroom where music starts to be played…

With so much dancing, are you tired yet? No! Let’s continue our musical journey.

The Baroque period introduced us to the first great musicians and the most famous ones. Do you know any of them? One of them had many children and he is considered the father of heavy metal music! Does anybody know who we are talking about? Johan Sebastian Bach! He was just brilliant!

Now we reach the period of reason, the Classicism. It does not mean that you have to agree with everybody, it is just that at that time reason was more important than feelings. Everybody was a bit rigid! Mozart, child prodigy, was one of the most important composers. As there were no TV, radio or video games people needed some form of entertainment. Composers realized they could tell stories using music. That’s how opera appeared. Mozart composed one of the most important operas, in German! The Magic Flute!!! The story is tells how The Queen of the Night asks prince Tamino to rescue princess Pamina from the villain Sarastro. He will be helped by Papageno who falls in love with Papagena. At the end everything gets mixed up and the villain is the Queen of the Night. Finally Tamino manages to rescue Pamina. How thrilling!

And now you may be wondering… what does a flute have to do with the story? Well, to be able to get to where Pamina is, Tamino will have to overcome some tests and he will be able to do so thanks to the magic flute. Let’s see the moment when Papageno falls in love with Papagena…

How beautiful love is! Feelings stay afloat and so we reach the Romanticism where we could listen to Chopin, Schuman or Schubert.

All of them show in their music how they feel: sadness, happiness, love… Piano was one of the favourite instruments. To be considered someone cool you had to have a piano at home and know how to play it!

At the end of the 19^th century composers changed their mind and decided to reflect in their music their impressions of what they feel, see and hear. It seems a bit complicated, doesn’t it? We’ll listen to one of the pieces by Debussy, the most important musician from Impressionism. Let’s see who is able to find out what he was thinking of.

The piece is called Clair de Lune! In its melody we are taken to a full moon night!

And with so much beauty we leave this period and reach the 20^th century that was a time of political instability and two wars. All of this was reflected in art and therefore in music, which was more and more complex and difficult to understand. It was so different from the music of previous periods!

In these years there were also some composers who were concerned about compiling all the songs and pieces that were performed in villages. This was called traditional music, like our muiñeiras. In Australia one of these songs was Waltzing, Matilda!. It is about a tramp who steals a sheep, people find out and the police chase him. The end of the story is not a very good one. Let’s listen to it…

Besides this music, popular music also emerged. Who hasn’t ever heard of jazz, rock, funk, pop or breakdance?

Who knows The Beatles, Queen or Metallica? Those were the days! Such lively groups!

One of these groups was ABBA, a Swedish quartet who played pop. Let’s listen to one of their hits: I have a dream…

Apart from this one, they have many others like Mamma Mia. I’m sure you know this one as the title of a musical. Musicals are the modern version of operas: music, story and dance; all in one. From the twenties musicals have become more and more successful. Some of the most famous are The Lion King, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz, Fame, West Side Story and many more! One of the great classics is Cats, a story about the different types of cats: the rascal, the handsome, the lazy, etc. It’s a very peculiar story. Let’s listen to Memory…

And to finish this journey, remember: Music is to be listened and enjoyed!