SUBJECT: Responding to the musical elements
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Standards
Students will perceive and analyze an artistic work. They will interpret the composition’s intent and meaning, and begin to discuss the work’s effect on the listener and performer.
Other resources: The 2014 Music Standards from the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards
1994 National Standards for Music Education
2016 Illinois Arts Learning Standards
2019 – Texas Music Educators Association/TMAC k-12 Music Curriculum standards
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify repeated occurrences of a musical idea and use them to illustrate how unity is created within a musical selection.
- Examine how variety in music sustains our interest in selected musical examples.
- Analyze, through listening examples, how musical compositions “work” using the concepts of unity and variety.
- Discuss how George Frideric Handel uses dynamics and timbre to achieve variety in music compositions.
- Define and describe the following musical terms: cadence, composition, dynamics, ensemble, movement, solo, and timbre.
Preparatory Activities
10 minutes
- Review chapter on Unity and Variety
- Review the definitions of the following musical terms:
- Composition
- Movement
- Ensemble
- Cadence
- Dynamics
- Timbre
- Solo
Class Activities
Share selected popular music examples and help students discover and apply the Unity and Variety concept they learned about the performer's role.
Lady Gaga - Million Reasons (Live At Royal Variety Performance)
PALO! "Al Monte" - Salsa Jazz Funk
Resources/Materials
- Unity and Variety Chapter
- Listening Guide for “See the Conquering . . . “
- Score to Judas Maccabaeus (select one) –
- IMSLP files: Page 173 – 175 of Original Score – in English
- Edited by Friedrich Chrysander: Page 132 – 134 – in German
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
TIME
Whole Group Instruction
- Listen to “See Here the Conqu’ring Hero Comes” as original score is displayed.
- Selected student or teacher calls each musical idea as it appears. Have student(s) follow the melodic line. For non-music readers, point out the movement of the line to help determine melodic contour and points of rest.
- Compare and contrast Idea A and Idea B using the Listening Guide and audio
- Differences in melodic contour
- Similarities in points of rest
- If possible, teacher should play V7 - I cadences for the students
- Point to the cadential resting points (mea. 8, 16 and 24) and compare this with the Listening Guide
- Discuss differences between measures 4 and measures 8 – why is measures 4 not considered the end of Idea A?
- Play different cadences in measures 4, 8, 12 and 16 – which sound like “resting points”, which do not? Speculate as to why.
15-20 minutes
Group Practice/Small Group Instruction
- Divide the class into small groups
- Instruct each group to identify the cadential points by circling the specific measures.
- Students should indicate why the specific measures were selected.
- Discuss and view the overall form as seen on the original score and/or heard on the recording – (keep overhead score on).
- Idea A
- Idea B
- Discuss how the dynamics, texture, or timbre in each iteration of Idea A and Idea B are similar, or different. Create list on the board of each idea.
- Idea A
15 - 20 minutes
Closing Activites/Summary
- Report findings of the small group discussion back to the class.
- Try to reach agreement as to 1) where cadential points occur, 2) overall form of the work; and 3) how dynamics, texture, and/or timbre change or stay the same with each iteration.
- Speculate as to why the title of the composition is listed in 2 different ways: “See Here the Conqu’ring Hero Comes” and “See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes”
10 minutes
Evaluation/Assessment 5 = Best
- Were students able to correctly identify cadential points in the work? 5 4 3 2 1
- Were students able to identify the number of times each musical idea occurred?
- Were students able to describe ways in which Handel created variety? 5 4 3 2 1
Extension/Enrichment/Re-teaching/Accommodations
- Use the “buddy-system” to include special learners within the small groups.
- Apply the same approach to another music composition, i.e., “Maria” from West Side Story, “Amazing Grace”, Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker Suite, “II. Dance of the Reed Pipes.”
- Have students create a Listening Guide to another music composition chosen by the class.
- Have students create a Listening Guide to a music composition of their choice.
Composer: George Frideric Handel
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"Judas Maccabaeus: See Here The Conqu'ring Hero Comes"
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
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"West Side Story: Act I: Maria"
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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"The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: VII. Dance of the Reeds"