Music for Special Occasions GCSE

Task 1 -  Brain Storm  What is a Special Occasion?

Births, Marriages and Deaths!  Birthdays – every one has sung ‘Happy Birthday’

Other popular birthday songs……….  Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen – Neil Sedaka – 1961 –  Popular hit, fast tempos  Strong double bass  Happy Birthday – Stevie Wonder – early 1980’s  Tribute to African American Human rights – Martin Luther King

Births……  John Tavener – English Composer  Wrote a short piece to celebrate the birth of a nephew  Words taken from a poem by Blake

Royal Births……..  Henry Purcell ( )  Short poems or Odes set to music  The trumpet shall sound

Deaths  Purcell – opera Dido and Aeneas  Lament for Soprano and string group – expressing suffering  Also music for the state funeral of Queen Mary  Diana’s funeral  Candle in the Wind

Important Ceremonies  Coronations  Anthems  Marches (Crown Imperial March)  Fanfares  Many different styles  Early to Modern

Fanfares - Task  Listen to following extracts of music. Describe what you hear, paying attention to: 1. Instrumentation 2. Tonality – Major or Minor ? 3. Pace – Fast/Slow 4. Rhythm 5. Type of occasion – royal, film etc Answer questions on the listening sheet.

Main Features  Usually Brass and Percussion  Used as an Introduction or Prelude  Major (Major Key)  Loud Dynamic – Regal Sound  Repeated rhythmic and melodic patterns

Group task  In groups compose a short 8 bar fanfare, to be performed to the rest of the class at the end of the lesson  Remember to use some of the techniques discussed earlier in the lesson.

International arenas  Olympic Games – Olympic Fanfare  FIFA World Cup  Rugby – Cwm Rhondda (Wales)  Rugby World cup anthem (World in Union)  Catatonia – International Velvet (nationalist)