Download a Word version of this pack.

Teaching pack
Interactive Schools Concert
Mozart – Horn Concerto No.4
Soloist: Naomi Atherton
Thursday 18 October 2012
The Coronation Hall, Ulverston
NEW CONCERT TIME: 1.15-2.15pm
How to use this pack:
Sections of this pack are designed for your class to explore individually, or in small
groups. There are some suggested questions for each section, but you could also use
the information and ideas as a starting point for further music, creative writing or
history based activities.
The concert at Coronation Hall will be specially presented for Key Stage 2 pupils, and
won’t require any prior knowledge for children to play a full part. You’re welcome to
use this pack either before or after the performance, whenever you feel it will be most
useful to your class.
The Coronation Hall and Manchester Camerata are happy for you to copy, share and edit this
pack as you wish. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future resources,
please contact [email protected].
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Despite only living until the age of 35 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed a vast
amount of music and his innovations in a number of different musical styles has led to
him being regarded as one of the greatest Western composers.
Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756 as the seventh child of Leopold and Maria Anna
Mozart, Wolfgang began to show considerable musical talent at a very early age. His
father was a relatively famous composer and violinist in his own right and had a big
influence on his son’s musical progress.
By the age of four, Wolfgang had already learnt a number of
pieces on the piano and had begun composing. The earliest
known compositions were two miniatures written in 1761
when he was only five years old. During his childhood,
Mozart performed along with his father and sister Nanerl to
a number of important European ambassadors, undertaking
five tours of Europe between the ages of 7 and 17, travelling
to countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland and
England.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
During this time Mozart composed a number of works ranging from solo piano pieces
and string quartets to concertos to chamber symphonies, incorporating the different
musical styles which he encountered on his travels. Touring Italy intermittently
between 1769 and 1773, Mozart became especially familiar with Italian Opera, creating
two successful operas of his own Mitridate and Lucio Silla. Mozart continued to write
operas throughout his life with the most famous being The Marriage of Figaro and The
Magic Flute.
After his touring years, Mozart returned to Salzburg taking a
court role, enjoying one his most creative periods composing
four violin concertos, four keyboard concertos and a number of
symphonies. However, he became tired of court life and
became one of the earliest musicians to work without a patron,
instead earning his income through commissions.
Shortly after leaving Salzburg for Vienna, Wolfgang fell in love
with the singer Constanze Weber and they married in 1783.
Together they had six children however only two survived into
adulthood. Being a virtuosic pianist, Mozart attempted to
finance his family through performing concerts however he
Mozart circa 1782
began to run into financial trouble. Problems with money
continued until his death however he was still able to live a relatively lavish lifestyle to
remain within upper class artistic circles.
As well as financial difficulties, illness also defined Mozart’s later life. Years of travelling
led to the contraction of a number of diseases such as smallpox, pneumonia and
tonsillitis however in November 1791 Mozart became severely ill. He had been working
on a Requiem Mass which had been commissioned by Count Walsegg-Stuppach for his
late wife and attempted to complete it despite his condition. The work was to remain
unfinished as on 5th December 1791 Mozart died. The exact cause of death has never
been confirmed however the most likely explanation is that it was rheumatic
inflammatory fever.
Despite Mozart’s relatively short life, he left a great legacy and his music often viewed
as the embodiment of the Classical style: balancing beauty, strength, entertainment
and joy. His mastery of many different styles, solo repertoire, string quartet, chamber
ensemble, concerto, opera and symphony, illustrates his exceptional talent and has led
to him being regarded as the most ‘universal’ composer in the history of Western
music.
Concerto
A concerto is a type of musical composition which usually features a single solo
instrumentalist with an orchestral accompaniment. The aim of a concerto is to show
off the technical skills of the individual performing as well as illustrating the musical
potential of the instrument being played.
Traditionally a concerto consists of three movements: two faster outer movements
with a slow lyrical middle movement. Towards the end of the first movement a
cadenza is often performed which is an unaccompanied section where the performer
improvises on the musical themes of the work. A cadenza usually ends with a trill
which is when the soloist alternates between two notes in very quick succession.
Listen Now: Website
Ostinato
An ostinato is a short melody or pattern of notes which is repeated a number of times
at the same pitch. An example of this is the snare drum part in Ravel’s Bolero which
repeats this two bar pattern over 160 times:
Ravel Bolero Snare Drum Rhythm
Listen Now: Website
French Horn
The French horn (or horn for short)
consists of a very long brass tube, which
curls round and round. Originally made
from hollowed-out animals' horns, the
horn was used for signalling, notably for
hunting. The player puts their hand in the
bell to change the sound of the
instrument, and gets different notes by
pressing down valves, which block off
holes.
A modern French Horn
Originally Mozart would have written his Horn Concerto No.4 for natural horn
which had no valves. To change notes the performer would have had to have
excellent lip control as they didn’t have valves to help.
The French horn is unique among other brass instruments as it uses the left
hand to press down the valves and has the widest playing range in the family
spanning around 4 octaves.
The hunting horn ancestry has often been alluded to in compositions as can be heard
in third movement of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.4 which you will hear in the concert
or in Wagner’s Ring cycle with Siegfried’s horn call.
Listen Now: Website
Mozart Horn Concerto No.4
The piece you’ll hear at The Coronation Hall is Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.4. It was
written in 1786 whilst Mozart was living in Vienna and was composed for the soloist
Joseph Ignaz Leutgeb. The piece explores the melodic capability of the horn but also
the technical ability of Leutgeb as shown in the third movement.
The work follows the conventions of the classical concerto with three movements. The
speed and feeling of each movement, is called its tempo and can be identified using
Italian terms.
Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.4 looks like this:
Movement 1
Movement 2
Movement 3
Allegro Moderato
Romanza (Andante Cantabile)
Rondo (Allegro Vivace)
Very quick, playful
In a singing style, at a walking pace
Fast and lively – rondo structure
Romanza
An instrumental Romanza (or Romance) is a movement which is in a ‘romantic’ style.
The term descends from vocal romances which originated in Spain and Italy during the
15th Century which were simple melodic tunes. A romance does not necessarily
describe love – it relates more to the musical style of the piece.
With its vocal background, an instrumental Romance can be recognized by its lyrical
style usually in a slow tempo - see if you could imagine any words which would match
the tune.
Rondo Form
A Rondo is a musical form or structure which is based upon a short tune which
returns a number of times in the piece. The opening melody (named Section A) is used
as a separator to the other musical sections (Section B, C etc.). A Rondo continues as
long as the composer wants but after each new section the first melody must
reappear.
The structure of each section of a Rondo is:
A–B–A–C–A–D-A
etc.
- Can you count how many times Section A appears in the 3rd Movement of Mozart’s
Horn Concerto No. 4?
In the concert you will learn a way of remembering the main melody of the 3rd
movement through adding these lyrics to the piece:
Oh this is a popular tune you know
With a lively feel and a fast tempo
Mozart’s French Horn Concerto
With a famous hunting tune, Tally-Ho!
Listen Now: Website
Instruments of the Orchestra
For a video introduction of the instruments of the orchestra visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/sections-in-an-orchestra/8974.html
Or watch the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Benjamin Britten’sYoung Person’s
Guide to the Orchestra which gives a more thorough exploration each instrument of
the orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFFqxnQBuI
Strings
The largest section of the orchestra is the string section which
consists of the violin, viola, ‘cello and double bass. They have a
very diverse role often being at the heart of the orchestra. Whilst they
look similar they have very different sounds with the smallest
instrument, the violin, being the highest in pitch and the double bass
being the lowest in pitch. To play a string instrument you draw a
horsehair bow across the strings, or by plucking or tapping the strings.
Woodwind
The instruments in this family all used to be made of wood, which gives them their
name. Today, they are made of wood, metal, plastic or some combination. They are all
basically narrow cylinders or pipes, with holes, an opening at the bottom end and a
mouthpiece at the top.
The mouthpieces for some woodwinds, including the clarinet, oboe and bassoon, use a
thin piece of wood called a reed, which vibrates
when you blow across it. The clarinet uses a single
reed made of one piece of wood, while the oboe
and bassoon use a double reed made of two
pieces joined together. Just as with the stringed
instruments, the smaller woodwinds play higher
pitches while the longer and larger instruments
play the lower notes. The woodwind family of instruments includes, from the highest
sounding instruments to the lowest, the piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon.
Brass
The brass family of instruments can play louder than any other in the orchestra and
can also be heard from far away. Like the woodwind family, brass players use their
breath to produce sound, but instead of blowing into a reed, you vibrate your own lips
by buzzing them against a metal cup-shaped mouthpiece. The mouthpiece helps to
amplify the buzzing of the lips, which creates the
sound. Most brass instruments have valves to
change notes however the trombone has no valves
and changes note by moving the position of the
slide. Tightening or loosening the lips allows the
brass player to change pitch. The orchestral brass
section commonly includes the trumpet, French
horn, trombone and the tuba. In Mozart’s Horn
Concerto No.4 however there is no tuba in the
score.
Percussion
Percussion instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit,
shaken, or scraped. Some percussion instruments are tuned and can sound different
notes, like
the xylophone, timpani or piano, and
some are untuned with no definite pitch,
like the bass drum,
cymbals or castanets. Unlike most of the
other players in the orchestra, a
percussionist will usually play many
different instruments in one piece of music.
Despite the large number of instruments in
the section Mozart’s 4th Horn Concerto only
features one type of percussion: Timpani
Questions
Read through the information about Mozart above to find the answers to the following
questions.
How old was Mozart when he wrote his first compositions? _____________
Where was Mozart born? _____________
Name three countries Mozart visited on his European tours:
_____________
_____________
_____________
Who did Mozart write his 4th Horn Concerto for? _____________
How old was Mozart when he died? _____________
Name one of Mozart’s operas: __________________________
How many movements does a concerto normally have? _____________
What was the horn originally used for? __________________________
What is an ostinato? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
About Manchester Camerata
Manchester Camerata is one of the UK’s leading chamber
orchestras and is celebrating its 40th Anniversary for the 2012-2013
season. The orchestra performs regularly at a number of areas
across the North West and the current principle conductor is Gábor
Takács-Nagy.
Camerata’s award-winning education programme uses the power of music to
inspire young people to reach their full potential. Each year more than 10,000
people from schools and communities across the North West take the lead in
projects alongside Camerata musicians and composers, digital artists, poets, visual
artists, film artists, architects, dramatists, engineers and dancers to create new art.