Music belongs at centre of curriculum, study argues | Education | guardian.co.uk

Music belongs at centre of curriculum, study argues | Education | guardian.co.uk

Music belongs at centre of curriculum, study argues | Education | guardian.co.uk

Music belongs at centre of curriculum, study argues | Education | guardian.co.uk

Comedy Conductor

Thanks to Helena who made use of this very funny clip during her lesson today.

Consolarium

Consolarium

Amadinda - artists, instruments and recordings from Uganda

Amadinda - artists, instruments and recordings from Uganda

Thanks to Postgraduate student Cat McKelvie for introducing our class to this field of music making.

Curriculum for Excellence - Assessment and achievement

Curriculum for Excellence - Assessment and achievement

Sacco and Vanzetti, America, 1927.

I was watching a concert on Sky Arts given by Ennio Morricone and the Orchestra of Rome. The venue was St Mark's Square in Venice and when the song 'Here's toYou' started, there was such an overwhelming reaction from the audience that I realised that the song must have a special significance for Italians. So, I decided to find out some more about the song and what it was about.


Here is one version of the song.
Ennio Morricone's song for the film Sacco and Vanzetti.

Another version of the song is available here.

This is a very powerful song about two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, wrongly accused of murder and armed robbery, who were sentenced to death and executed on 23 August, 1927. This case became a significant landmark in American legal history as many people lost faith in the legal system of the 'land of the free', as they considered that a great injustice had been done to these two innocent men. Read the full story here.

Details of the trial.

Through this song and its emotional content, we can explore some of the important issues that arose from the case.


The Music

Ennio Morricone's song is in the style of a Passacaglia or Ground Bass - a repeated bass line, over which are added many melodic strands as the piece builds to a climax. There are many examples of this type of composition, the most famous is probably Dido's Lament, 'When I am Laid in Earth' from Dido and Aeneas by the English composer, Henry Purcell. Morricone uses the full range of instruments available to him including keyboards, percussion and drumkit. The vocal parts are layered one on top of the other but the main melody of the song is heard throughout.



Lyrics for 'Here's to You'

Here's to you Nicola and Bart
Rest forever here in our heart
The last and final moment is yours
That agony is your triumph

The last line is taken from the words of a statement attributed to Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

"If it had not been for these things, I might have lived out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have died, unmarked, unknown, a failure. Now we are not a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life could we hope to do such work for tolerance, for justice, for man's understanding of man as now we do by accident. Our words--our lives--our pains--nothing! The taking of our lives--lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fish-peddler--all! That last moment belongs to us--that agony is our triumph."

The version of the song that appears here, courtesy of Youtube, is in the key of C major so it poses few problems for classroom instruments such as keyboards, guitars and Bass guitars. The drumkit rhythm is also quite straightforward. Keyboards can emulate the sound of the organ that Morricone uses by selecting a light Church organ tone such as Yamaha's Brite Organ. There are four separate parts for organ in the arrangement that I have included here so there can be one player to each part. The parts are numbered by the order in which they enter. Part 1 is the lowest, 4 the highest.

Players could take one part each. Advanced players could tackle more than one part at a time, perhaps parts 1 and 4 together, which would suit someone who has experience of playing the Piano and is comfortable playing music for both hands. Although this represents more of a challenge, non pianists could also tackle two parts at the same time because of the repetitive nature of the music.

Each part plays for a full 8 bars before the next part comes in. Once part 2 enters, it continues until the end. Listen for the careful interplay among the parts in the version of the song in the clip above.

Part 3 requires some careful counting, always moving on beat 2 of the bar.

Once the song has been learned, create another version of the song. Perhaps make use of the strands of counterpoint or produce a new melody that fits over the Ground Bass. Add different instruments and voices. Sing the melody that you have learned from the video.

Is there anything from the background information that catches your imagination?
Could you compose another song to complement the original?
Do you know or can you find out about other miscarriages of justice? What about other high profile court cases in Britain?


Other examples of Ground Bass are: Canon by Pachelbel (serious version , comedy version by Rob Paravonian), the final movement of Variations on a theme of Haydn, Op 56 a, by Joannes Brahms.

This wonderful piece of music is based around the bass line which accompanies the first statement of the theme around which the whole work is composed. The final passacaglia movement begins at 1' 23" into this clip.