Activities

1. Listen to a piece of music originally written for strings or orchestra that is played by a brass band. What are the differences in sound and texture? What qualities of the original scoring are missing? What new qualities does the brass band bring?

2.
a) Try to listen to the folk songs that Bartók recorded in his native Hungary and then listen to his 'Hungarian sketches' (1931) or 'Hungarian Peasant Songs' (1933) both written for orchestra. How does he use the themes of the folk songs in his orchestral work?
b) Take a folk tune that you are familiar with (or better still, record somebody singing one) and incorporate sections of the melody and/or rhythm into a composition of your own.

3.
a) Steve Reich's works use recordings of the human voice. Listen to 'It's gonna rain' (1965) and 'Different Trains' (1988). What does he do with the voices he recorded? What effect does this have on the listener?
b) Try to incorporate a recording of someone speaking in your next composition. Chose a person with a special quality to their voice such as a young child or an elderly person. Chose one or two phrases only and think of the effect you want to create before you start.

4. Listen to 'Ebony Concerto' by Stravinsky (1945) and the 'Suites for Jazz Orchestra' by Shostakovitch (1934 and 1938). What important elements of jazz do these composers bring to their compositions? Think about the instruments they chose for the pieces. Shostakovitch used instruments not usually heard in a symphony orchestra. Try replacing some of the instruments you used in one of your compositions for a different or more unusual one. How does it change the piece you originally composed?