Download Molly on the Shore for Secondary music students (pdf 1.94 MB)

MOLLY ON THE SHORE – PERCY GRAINGER
Performed by Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Secondary Showcase Song to Symphony
5 March 2015
The resource content has been designed as teaching notes and activities for students in years 7 – 12
in preparation or as follow-up to attending a QSO Concert or as a stand-alone resource.
The Composer – Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
Web sites
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Born on 8 July 1882 in Brighton, Victoria,
Australia.
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The International Percy Grainger Society
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Toured as a pianist at the age of 12 and then
went to Germany and London to study as a
pianist and composer.
Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne. The
museum was set up by Grainger in 1930s.
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Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Good friend Edvard Grieg inspired Grainger
to study and gain inspiration from folk
songs.
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Grainger gathered folksongs from many
countries and composed using these
melodies as inspiration.
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Died in 1961. His body was flown to
Adelaide where he is buried.
Interesting Facts
•
The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA have approved
the name Grainger named after Percy Grainger for
one of the craters on the planet Mercury.
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Grainger’s father was an architect in Melbourne and
designed the Princes Bridge.
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Percy Grainger was also an artist and seriously made a
decision to follow music rather than art. He learnt from
Frederick McCubbin (Heidleberg School of Australian
Art) and was also good friends with artists, Tom
Roberts and Norman Lindsay.
The Composer – Percy Grainger – Famous Compositions
Percy Grainger
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Country Gardens. This composition was based on the old English Song English Country Gardens.
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Irish Tune from County Derry. Grainger uses the Irish melody also known as Danny Boy or
Londonderry Air. Performed by Melbourne String Ensemble.
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Children’s March (Over the Hills and Far Away). Vision of children from around the world and though
all eras.
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Shepherd’s Hey. Showcase traditional style performances with piano accordion, Violin (fiddle),
guitar and Irish bagpipes with orchestra accompaniment (starts at 2:40).
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Tribute to Stephen Foster. Featuring American folk songs with choir and unusual “instruments” such
as glasses of water and a marimba played with a violin bow in the slow section.
Molly on the Shore – Percy Grainger’s Composition
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Composed in 1907 as a birthday present for his
Grainger wrote to Frederick Fennell about composing
Molly on the Shore,
mother.
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Grainger originally composed this for string quartet
or string orchestra (double bass added).
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In 1920 it was then arranged for both concert band
and orchestra.
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Features woodwind section and opens with clarinet.
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Arrangement of two contrasting reels, Temple Hill
and Molly on the Shore.
"in setting Molly on the Shore, I strove to imbue the
accompanying parts that made up the harmonic texture with
a melodic character not too unlike that of the underlying reel
tune.
Melody seems to me to provide music with initiative, where
as rhythm appears to me to exert an enslaving influence.
For that reason I have tried to avoid regular rhythmic
domination in my music - always excepting irregular
rhythms, such as those of Gregorian Chant, which seem to
me to make for freedom.
Equally with melody, I prize discordant harmony, because of
the emotional and compassionate sway it exerts”.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Listen and Watch
Percy Grainger
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Molly on the Shore performed on piano – follow the piano score.
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Molly on the Shore performed on violin and piano.
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Molly on the Shore performed by an orchestra.
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Molly on the Shore performed as a Celtic reel.
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Grainger plays Pergodas by Claude Debussy and speaks about Debussy’s inspiration
from Javanese music. This was recorded in 1948.
Molly on the Shore - Original Irish melody
Molly on the Shore
Percy Grainger used two Reels (dance melodies) from County Cork in Ireland to create the composition, Molly on the Shore.
Molly on the Shore is No.902 in the book The Complete Petrie Collection of Ancient Irish Music edited by Sir Charles Villiers
Stanford.
Temple Hill – Original Irish melody
Temple Hill
Percy Grainger used two Reels (dance melodies) from County Cork in Ireland to create the composition, Molly on the Shore.
Temple Hill is No.901 in the book The Complete Petrie Collection of Ancient Irish Music edited by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.
Molly on the Shore – the elements
Molly on the Shore is a dance melody
and originally written for a ‘fiddle four
some’ (string quartet).
Key of G Major (note F#)
1st and 2nd time endings
Anacrusis
Time signature is 4/4
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http://thesession.org/tunes/3741
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http://www.percygrainger.org/prognot7.htm
which means 4
crotchet beats in
each bar.
Repeat signs.
Find the other
repeat sign.
The tempo for this dance, and in Percy
Grainger’s composition is Presto.
Presto means very fast.
Find the triplets.
4th beat of this bar is the
Play 3 notes evening
anacrusis at the
in the beat.
beginning of the melody
Molly on the Shore – Instrumentation for full orchestra
Woodwind
Percussion
Piccolo
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side drum
2 Flutes
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Cymbals
2 Clarinets
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Glockenspeil
2 Bassoons
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Xylophone.
Brass
Celeste
4 French Horns
Hawkes Resonaphone (like a
2 Trumpets
Bass Glockenspeil or a marimba)
3 Trombones
Strings
Tuba
Violin
Percussion
Viola
Kettle Drum (Timpani)
Cello
Double Bass
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
Opening – the melody
The tempo (or speed) of Molly on the Shore is Presto – Lively and fast.
Percy Grainger is renowned for using unusual combinations of instruments in his compositions. In Molly on the Shore the
melody is introduced by the viola .
Read the melody written in alto clef.
How fast can you play the melody?
The cellos keep the beat.
The alto clef is used by the viola.
Middle C is written on the middle line.
The first note is a B
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
Opening – the melody (cont.)
The cellos and double basses then take over the melody followed by the bassoons. They are all low sounding instruments.
The higher strings are playing an accompaniment on the 2nd and 4th beats.
Read the melody written for cello and double bass and one octave distance in bass clef.
The bass clef is used by the low sounding instruments
including double bass, bassoon, trombone and tuba.
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
The Accompaniment
Percy Grainger wrote at the beginning of the piece :
“N.B. Keep 4 beats ( l l l l) hammering away in every bar throughout the piece, even in the soft bits.”
The violins, often the instruments which plays the melody, pluck notes to the beat as the accompaniment to the melody.
Play the accompaniment or listen for the accompaniment pattern in the music.
The strings, when they do not have the melody, use pizzicato – plucking the strings with the fingers to play the notes on the
beat.
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
The middle section
Finally the violins, then flutes take a turn at the melody while the clarinets and bassoons keep the beat “hammering away”.
The brass make their appearance with the trumpets playing a counter melody and horns, trombones and tuba joining in.
The melody is continuing and then the Timpani (also called the Kettle Drums) appear….
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
The middle section (cont.)
The second violins introduce the second melody taken from the Irish melody Temple Hill. Again, it is unusual for the second violins to
take the lead over the first violins.
Glissando (gliss,.) slide from the 1st note to the 2 nd note
Tied note –
the sound is
held for the
required
number of
beats.
Long notes played by the flutes, violas and cellos and dynamics marked pianissimo very soft, give this section a different feel.
For how many beats are the tied notes held?
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
The middle section (cont.)
The keyboard instruments, Glockenspeil, Celeste and Resonaphone (like a bass Glockenspeil) take over the steady beat.
Glockenspeil
Celeste
Molly on the Shore – About the Music
The Ending
The instrumentation becomes thicker with all instruments playing.
Just before the end, all instruments except for the strings stop playing.
The strings play with mutes (con sord) and also double pianissimo ppp very, very soft and then decrescendo getting softer.
Staccato (stacc.) short and detached
Decresendo –
gradually getting softer
All instruments then play the last chord quadruple fortissimo ffff, very, very loud.
Australian Curriculum – Music
Molly on the Shore – Percy Grainger
Elements of
Music
Foundation
to Year 2
Rhythm
Beat
Crotchet, quaver
Fast Presto
Pitch
Pitch direction
Dynamics &
Expression
Years
3 and 4
Years
5 and 6
Years
7 and 8
Time signature
Triplet
chromaticism
Quaver, semi-quaver
Beat sub-divisions
Melodic shape
Treble clef
Staff
G major scale
Bass clef
Forte, piano
(de) crescendo
Fortissimo, pianissimo
and gradations
Accent
Articulation
Pizzicato
Arco
Form and
Structure
Introduction
Same/different
patterns
Repeat sign
1st & 2nd time bars
Theme, motif
phrase
Folk Song (Reel)
Anacrusis
Timbre
How sound is made
Recognise orchestral
instruments by sound
Viola
Clarinet
Recognise
instrumental groups
Texture
Melody
accompaniment
Patterns
2 or more voices
Contrast of texture
Responding
Alto clef
Identify instruments
by name and sound
production.
Orchestration
beat and rhythmic
patterns
Creating
Performing
Years
9 and 10
Keep beat
Rhythmic patterns
Playing melody
Australian composer
Historical context
Celtic music
.
Awareness of
ensemble
Prepared by Pam Lowry, Education Officer
Queensland Symphony Orchestra