Download Gustav Holst and The Planets - Handford Hall Primary School

Gustav Holst and The Planets
The Planets Suite
Gustav Holst
1874 - 1934
IAL about a famous composer’s life
• Gustav Holst was an
English composer and
music teacher for over
20 years.
• Most of the music he
composed was original,
but he had influences
from Hindu spiritualism
and English folk tunes.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
Holst was born into a very musical family. His
grandfather was a harp composer and teacher;
his father was an organist, pianist and
choirmaster, and his mother was a singer.
Clara Holst
Gustavus von Holst
Adolf Holst
IAL about a famous composer’s life
As a child, Gustav was taught the piano and violin.
This is Holst playing the violin.
This is Holst’s piano. You can see it in the
Holst Birthplace Museum. He composed
The Planets on this piano.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
Gustav was a sickly child. His eyes were weak, but
no-one realised that he needed to wear glasses.
His chest was weak and he suffered from asthma.
When he was young, Gustav hated playing the
violin, but enjoyed playing the piano.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
Unfortunately, Holst also had pain
in his hands, so it made practising
the piano very difficult and painful.
After leaving school, he got his
first job as an organist and
choirmaster.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
He became a student at the Royal College of
Music, where he studied composition.
Unfortunately, the pain in his right hand became
worse. Playing for a long time
was impossible and he had to
accept that he would never be a
professional concert pianist.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
Holst decided to take up the trombone. It would
allow him to play in orchestras, and he could earn
some money. Also, the
experience would be useful to
him as a composer. Perhaps, he
also
thought that playing the
trombone would help to
strengthen his chest and lungs.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
• Holst wrote The Planets Suite between 1914
and 1916.
• Each of the seven movements is
named after a planet of the Solar
System and its corresponding
astrological character.
IAL about a famous composer’s life
1. Mars - the Bringer of War
2. Venus - the Bringer of Peace
3. Mercury - the Winged Messenger
4. Jupiter - the Bringer of Jollity
5. Saturn - the Bringer of Old Age
6. Uranus - the Magician
7. Neptune - the Mystic
IAL about a famous composer’s life
Holst did not compose a piece of music about
Pluto, as Pluto was not discovered until 1930.
Colin Matthews, a recent composer
created a piece of music called
Pluto: the Renewer. This is
sometimes played alongside Holst’s
Planet Suite in concerts.
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Mars is the Roman god of war and
bloodshed, whose symbol is a spear and
shield.
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Watch video clip: Watch Mars here
While you listen, draw a picture of how
the music makes you feel.
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
In this piece of music, you hear a lot of
string or bowed instruments.
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Holst gave an instruction for the
instrumentalists to strike the string with
their bow, rather than draw it across the
strings. This gave the string instruments
a more percussive sound.
See a demonstration of col legno here
http://datadragon.com/education/instruments
/strings.shtml
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Space Music
• Many modern pieces of music for space
films have been based on Mars, the
bringer of war.
• Listen to this piece of music, and see
what instruments you can hear.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjM
NNpIksaI
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
How does it sound similar to Mars the
bringer of war?
What does it make you think of?
How does it make you feel?
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Group Activity
• Make a tissue box banjo
– Make a 2 inch hole in one end of the box.
– Insert a kitchen roll tube 3 inches in and
tape in place.
– Tape down 4 elastic bands stretched
around the box, covering the centre hole.
– Experiment with different widths and
lengths of bands.
– Pluck the strings with your fingers.
IAL how a stringed instrument
works
Plenary
• Groups to demonstrate their
banjo.
• Discuss what difference
different sized elastic bands
made to the sounds created.
IAL what timbre is
Venus was the Roman goddess of love and
beauty.
Watch Venus here
IAL what timbre is
Venus was written to be the opposite to
the music of Mars.
Mars used very loud instruments such as
con legno strings and brass. He
therefore chose different instruments
for Venus.
IAL what timbre is
• The timbre in music is the distinctive
quality of a sound or instrument. This
is why you can sometimes recognise
certain instruments in a piece of music.
• Holst decided that Venus should have a
peaceful and soft timbre, in contrast
to the harsh booming timbre of Mars.
IAL what timbre is
• Holst chose a celesta to be the
main instrument in this piece.
• The celesta looks similar to an
upright piano or a large wooden
music box.
• The keys are connected to
hammers which strike a
graduated set of metal plates,
which are suspended over
wooden resonators.
IAL what timbre is
• The sound of the celesta is
similar to that of a glockenspiel,
but it has a much softer and
more subtle timbre.
• This quality gave the
instrument its name. Celeste in
French means ‘heavenly’.
IAL what timbre is
• Sometimes, people refer to timbre as the
‘colour’ of the music.
• Listen to a bit of the music again with your
eyes shut.
• What colour does it make you think of? Why?
• Which colours do you associate with peace?
IAL what timbre is
Group Activity
Using a variety of percussion instruments,
sort them into groups, based on their
timbre or colour.
IAL what timbre is
Plenary
• Children to choose an instrument and
describe its timbre, either using
descriptive words on its quality of tone
or colour.
• Does everyone agree on colour chosen?
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
Mercury was the messenger-god of
Jupiter, the god of games, business and
story-telling.
Watch Mercury here
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
Mercury, the winged messenger has been
described as flitting about, not unlike a
cosmic butterfly.
Listen to an extract again:
What instruments can you hear?
How can you tell?
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
Some woodwind instruments are played by
vibrating one or two wooden reeds,
whereas others are blown directly into
the mouthpiece.
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
• Mercury consists of mainly woodwind
instruments, that pass from one to
another.
• Woodwind is the section of the orchestra
that makes a noise when breath is blown
along it. Woodwind instruments are
virtually straight, and are made of wood or
plastic with some metal.
http://datadragon.com/educati
on/instruments/winds.shtml
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
Individual Activity
We are going to create an oboe out of a drinking
straw.
• Cut the top of the straw to make a ‘reed’.
• Pinch the end of the straw between your thumb
and index fingers. Blow across the top end, but
don’t blow into the straw.
• Alter the pitch by moving your thumb and
fingers up and down, while you keep pinching the
straw.
 Challenge: Cut 5 straws of different
lengths and tape together to make panpipes.
IAL how a woodwind instrument works
Plenary
Did your straw work?
What do you need to do to make a high or
low sound?
How would this work on a woodwind
instrument?
Demonstrate how the recorder works, and
the pitch produced, based on the number of
holes covered.
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the
king of heaven and Earth, and of all the
Olympian gods.
Watch Jupiter here
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
• The music to Jupiter the Bringer of
Jollity has been used many times in
recent English history.
• It was used as the tune to a very
famous English poem, ‘I vow to thee my
country’, which is now what it is most
well-known for. Christians often sing it
as a hymn in church.
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
• The first verse of I vow to thee my
country was played at the wedding of
Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1982.
• The second verse was played at Princess
Diana’s funeral in 1997.
• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=i+v
ow+to+thee+my+country+lyrics&view=detai
l&mid=635DB6D5D5AAD7B28373635DB6
D5D5AAD7B28373&first=0&FORM=NVPF
VR
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
• It is also used for the ‘World in Union’,
the theme to the Rugby World Cup.
• The music has a very royal and
patriotic feel, which is why it was
chosen for this purpose.
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
Group Activity
Listen to The World in Union, looking at
the lyrics (words) and well as learning
the tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANW
XW65zH28
IALT sing a song based on
Gustav Holst’s Jupiter
Plenary
Which of the human values does The
World in Union remind you of?
Homework
To learn The World in Union for a
performance later in the term.
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of
agriculture.
Watch Saturn here
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
• After all the excitement of Jupiter,
Holst decides to change the mood.
• Saturn becomes a slow march, showing
time going on, or someone or something
ageing.
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
http://www.desymus.org/ExplorerConcert/
Explorer_2011-12_Holst.html
• At first, two alternating strange sounding
chords are heard from flutes and harps.
• Then a slow melody (tune) is played by the
double basses.
• The music gradually gets faster as the
trombones play a 4-beat pattern.
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
http://www.desymus.org/ExplorerConcer
t/Explorer_2011-12_Holst.html
• The music becomes louder and more
agitated. Bells clang and the loud brass
instruments play.
• After the loud climax, the music ends
much more peacefully.
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
Group Activity
• To use a variety of instruments to
compose a short piece of music to show
the passing of time.
• You could use:
– Volume/dynamics to vary the feeling
– Different types of instruments
IALT understand how music can show
the passing of time
Plenary
• Groups to perform their compositions
to the class.
• Constructive criticism encouraged.
– Ensure school rules are followed at all
times.
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
Uranus was the first ruler of the
universe and the god of the sky. He was
the husband of Gaea, the goddess of the
earth.
Watch Uranus here
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
• Holst used a pattern called a motif or motive
throughout Uranus.
• It is used like a repeating pattern in a story,
and helps to join different sections of a piece
of music together.
• Uranus has a 4-note motif. Different
instruments play this motif throughout the
piece.
• http://www.desymus.org/ExplorerConcert/Exp
lorer_2011-12_Holst.html
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
• Classical composer Beethoven famously
used a 4-note motif in his 5th
Symphony:
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
• Motifs have also been used in films,
particularly space-themed ones such as
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Aliens communicate with humans using a
5-note motif:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=clo
se+encounters+of+the+third+kind+music&v
iew=detail&mid=C8D41A23F60AD9C05CA
4C8D41A23F60AD9C05CA4&first=0&FO
RM=NVPFVR
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
Group Activity
Create your own motif that could be used
throughout a longer piece of music.
– Your motif should be up to 6 notes long
– You could use different instruments
– You could use an echo effect
IAL how a composer uses a motif to
create harmony
Plenary
Perform your motif to the class, explaining
why you chose the instrument(s) and the
notes used.
IALT understand how a fade can be
used to end a piece of music
In Roman mythology, Neptune was the god
of the water and the Sea.
Watch Neptune here
IALT understand how a fade can be
used to end a piece of music
• Neptune was one of the first pieces of
orchestral music to have a fade-out
ending.
• Fading is a way to reduce the sound, so
the music doesn’t just end.
• Holst wanted Neptune “to be repeated
until the sound is lost in the distance.
So there was no difference between
sound and silence.”
IALT understand how a fade can be
used to end a piece of music
• ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles is an
example of a long fade-out coda
that lasts more than 4 minutes.
• Video/audio clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp
UzrOlEs1I
IALT understand how a fade can be
used to end a piece of music
Group Activity:
• Create a short musical composition,
either singing or with instruments.
• Create a fade-out at the end.
– The fade should repeat at least 4 times
before ending
IALT understand how a fade can be
used to end a piece of music
Plenary:
• Perform your compositions to the
class.
• Encourage constructive criticism.
– Ensure the schools rules are followed at all
times.
IALT create my own composition based
on ideas used by Gustav Holst
Pluto was the god of the underworld.
He was also known as Hades in Greek
mythology.
Watch Pluto here
IALT create my own composition based
on ideas used by Gustav Holst
• Pluto the Renewer was not
composed by Holst, as it was not
discovered until nearly 20 years
after he wrote The Planets.
• In 2000, Colin Matthews, an English
composer, wrote Pluto the Renewer
as an additional ending to the suite.
IALT create my own composition based
on ideas used by Gustav Holst
• Unfortunately, six years later in
2006, Pluto was removed as a
planet, and re-classified as a ‘dwarf
planet’.
IALT create my own composition based
on ideas used by Gustav Holst
Independent/Group Activity
• Create a composition, based on space. Ideas
could include the Solar system or aliens.
• You could include some musical ideas used by
Holst:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Motif
Fade-out
Timbre
Variety of instruments
Dynamics
Pitch
IALT create my own composition based
on ideas used by Gustav Holst
Plenary
• Perform your compositions to the
class.
• Encourage constructive criticism.
– Ensure the schools rules are followed at all
times.