Lesson Overview:
In this lesson about music inspired by the spooky and bizarre, students will learn about orchestra “program music” by exploring the works of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saëns. Students will learn about Symphonie Fantastique and Danse Macabre, identify and analyze the musical terms and concepts in each piece, and then write a short story and create a class mural based on their listening experiences.
Length of Lesson:
Five to six 45-minute periods
Notes:
This lesson can be used with Grade 4, but is recommended for Grades 5-7.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- explore the genre of orchestral program music, by learning about the Romantic-period composers, Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saëns
- explore the literary inspirations for program music
- identify elements of music, including theme, tempo, and dynamics, and detect their use in music excerpts
- write a short story, based on their perceptions of the musical events in a symphony
- create group murals, based on their visual perceptions of the musical events in an orchestral tone poem
Supplies:
For the teacher:
- CD recordings (see Media Sources)
- CD Player
- Computers with Internet access and RealAudio or Windows Media Player capability
For the student:
- Pencil and paper
- Large roll of white poster paper
- Pencils
- Black, white, and flourescent crayons
- Tempera paint
- Brushes
- Large plastic buckets for water
- Old shirts for painting smocks
Instructional Plan:
Part I
Warm Up
Begin class with an introduction to the genre of “program music” – that is, music which contains a descriptive title or is meant to be accompanied by a program, which describes the images or message portrayed in the music. The genre reached its epitome during the Romantic period. The web site, Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids, contains a good explanation of this period, with audio examples. During the Romantic period, composers were greatly inspired by literature and theater, and used melodies and themes in their music to represent specific characters, both from fiction and from their own lives.
Hector Berlioz, one of the best-known Romantic composers, composed several program symphonies and orchestral works that were based upon the works of dramatists and poets who inspired him. At the time he wrote Symphonie Fantastique, his most famous work, he was fascinated by theater and the works of Shakepeare, particularly Hamlet and Macbeth.
Have students read about the background of Berlioz’s piece using the Listening to Symphonie Fantastique guide. You may wish to explain the similarities between Shakespeare’s Macbeth, its first scene containing three grotesque witches, and the fourth movement, “Dream Of A Witches’ Sabbath”, of Symphonie Fantastique.
Camille Saint-Saens is another famous composer from the Romantic period. His Dance Macabre is a symphonic tone poem, a single-movement orchestra work which expresses an idea or story. The atmospheric, spooky music was inspired by an old superstition common in France for many centuries. Have students learn more about the background of the piece by reading the beginning of the Listening to Danse Macabre guide.
Guided Practice: Listening Skills
(Note to Teacher: Prior to this lesson, you and your students should have some familiarity with the instrument families in an orchestra, using basic musical terms, and how to practice active music listening skills. ARTSEDGE has lessons on the string family, brass family, woodwind family, and the percussion family.)
Play the fourth and fifth movements of Symphonie Fantastique. (Note: The total playing time for both movements is approximately fifteen minutes.) Have students listen, then give their first "fresh" thoughts about what emotions and images the music evokes in them, and why. Distribute the music vocabulary handout, and discuss the definitions. Encourage students to use music vocabulary in their discussion about the emotions and images evoked by listening to the music. Using the Listening to Symphonie Fantastique guide, have students listen again to the piece. This time, pause the music several times, and instruct students to jot down adjectives and brief phrases that describe how the music makes them feel. Have students share their descriptors (you may find that students come up with the same or similar words). Write students’ descriptors down on an overhead or flip-chart.
Explain to students that they will each write a short story, inspired by their perceptions of the musical events in the fourth and fifth movements of Symphonie Fantastique. Since they are writing “scary stories”, encourage students to use figures of speech like exaggeration and hyperbole, simile and metaphor, and personification. The Web site, Figurative Language, has good explanations and examples of these literary devices. Students should also include the following elements in their story: description of the setting and mood, at least one character, and a conclusion.
Have students begin writing their short draft, using the list of brainstormed adjectives and images as a beginning point. Allow students to take their story draft for homework. Remind students that their story ideas do not have to be far-flung and grand; many times, the best ideas for a scary story come from the details of everyday life, your own “backdoor”, so to speak. Examples may include a past experience from one’s own life,a family or local superstition, or a dream or nightmare. Tell students that if they use their own perspectives or experiences, their stories will be more vivid and original.
Independent Practice
Have students continue working on their draft. Play Symphonie Fantastique in the background as they work. Remind students of rules of good writing, including proper grammar and punctuation. Students should turn in their rough draft, which will be returned the next class with feedback and comments. Focus your comments and feedback on the imagery used and the structure of the story - does the story have a plot, at least one developed character,a description of setting or mood? Have students separate into small groups, and use peer review for suggestions and additions to their story draft. Remind students that feedback should always be positive. Students will then continue working on their stories, completing the final version by the next class.
Once students have completed the final version of their stories, have them view the video clip Understanding the Music: Symphonie Fantastique. The clip contains details about the original story that was the inspiration for the music. Engage students in a discussion about the story elements (character, plot, etc.), and have them compare and contrast the actual story with their own short stories.
Part II
Guided Practice: More Listening Skills
Play excerpts from Danse Macabre. This work was inspired by a poem, by Henri Cazalis, based on an ancient French superstition: each year, at midnight on Halloween, “Death” emerges to play his violin, encouraging the dead to dance for him. Distribute copies of Listening to Danse Macabre, and listen to the piece again, pointing out the particular parts of the poem and story synopsis that correspond to specific elements in the music.
Have students read through the questions in the listening guide, and discuss their answers. One of the principles of program music is that a melody, instrument, or theme can illustrate a character or situation. In literary terms, this is called personification. For example, the solo violin in Dance Macabre represents Death; the xylophones represent the dancing skeletons; and the oboe represents the rooster, crowing to announce sunrise. Discuss with students how these vivid musical pictures, conjured up by unique combinations of sounds and instruments, might translate into actual pictures. You may wish to have students view the video clip, Understanding the Music: Danse Macbre, in which NSO Assistant Conductor Emil de Cou shares some intriguing facts about how musical sounds effects are created.
List on a large piece of butcher paper the main “characters” in Danse Macabre. Have students discuss what each character looks like, what the setting (the graveyard) looks like, which elements are explained by the music (such as the wind) and which elements are implied (nightime). Write these items on the butcher paper. Divide students into groups of at least 4-5 each. Explain to students that each group will create a mural depicting their visual interpretation of Danse Macabre.
Independent Practice
Have Danse Macabre playing in the background as students begin to work in groups on their murals. Give each group several sheets of large piece of paper on which to begin sketching the image for their mural. Students should only use pencil at this point. Allow students to work on mural sketches for remainder of class. During next class, have students continue working on murals. They can use crayons and tempera paint to incorporate color, details, and depth to their murals. A helpful hint for creating “spooky pictures”: if students outline their drawn lines in white or black crayon, the paint will not stick to the lines because of the waxy surface, making the lines stand out. This is an effective way to create spooky images because the outlined elements really "pop out" in the mural.
Encourage students to incorporate imagery and emotion in their images. Are their images realistic or exaggerated? How? Guide students in discussions about how the placement of each image, color choice, shape, and emotional expression will affect the mural's emphasis, balance, and overall mood or theme. Once murals are completed, display them on the walls in classroom. Have each group present and discuss their mural, and how they visually created different interpretations of the same piece of music, Danse Macabre.
Assessment:
Use the Assessment Rubric to assess your students’ work.
Extensions:
Students can compare and contrast the literary imagery in their spooky short stories with the visual imagery in their spooky murals. Allow students to prepare a dramatic presentation of their short stories, using Symphonie Fantastique, Danse Macabre, and other Halloween-appropriate pieces as background music and inspiration.
Sources:
Print:
- Hitchcock, H. Wiley and Sadie, Stanley. The New Grove Dictionary of Music. 4th Edition. London: Oxford University Press, 1993.
- Randel, Don Michael. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. 2nd Edition. Boston: Harvard College, 1986.
Media:
- Hector Berlioz. Symphonie Fantastique. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan. DG. 429 511-2
- Camille Saint-Saëns. Danse Macabre. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyung Wha Chung. DR. 425 021-2
Web:
Authors:
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ARTSEDGE
The John F. Kennedy Center
Washington, DC
