The Partners in Crime Lemony Snicket (also known as Daniel Handler) is a popular children’s author who wrote the story The Composer Is Dead plus the 13 books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, among other works. Snicket’s friend, Nathaniel Stookey, is a composer who is very much alive and creating new musical compositions all the time. His work has been performed by some of the world’s most well-known orchestras.
75 Musicians Led by One Conductor At today’s concert, conductor Edwin Outwater will lead the 75 members of the National Symphony Orchestra in playing the music. Conductors develop their own ways to communicate with musicians. Some use a slender white stick called a baton (buh-TAHN) as they conduct, while others do not. Generally, conductors use their right hand to tell the orchestra the tempo to play, and use their left hand to tell the musicians how loud or soft to play.
A Good Audience … • Stays seated. • Stays quiet. • Watches and listens carefully. • Claps at the end when the (live!) conductor turns around.
Wait! There’ s More! Musical Instrument “ Petting Zoo” Enjoy hands-on fun with the instruments that the musicians will play on stage. At 12 noon and 2 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Atrium on the Terrace Level. A project of the Women’s Committee for the NSO.
Kids’ Chat
After the 3 p.m. performance, stick around to ask questions of the concert artists on stage.
David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President
Iván Fischer Principal Conductor, National Symphony Orchestra Christoph Eschenbach Music Director Designate, National Symphony Orchestra Washington Gas is the proud sponsor of the NSO Family Concerts.
The NSO Family Concerts are supported through a generous endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Verizon Foundation, Mr. Martin K. Alloy and Ms. Daris M. Clifton, the Estate of Joseph R. Applegate, the Carter and Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Clark Charitable Foundation, Clark-Winchcole Foundation, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Fight for Children, Dr. and Mrs. Ronald A. Paul, The President's Advisory Committee on the Arts, National Committee for the Performing Arts, and Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk. Illustrations from The Composer Is Dead written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Carson Ellis.
Music by Nathaniel Stookey Lyrics by Lemony Snicket Presented in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, a program of the Kennedy Center Education Department. ARTSEDGE is a part of Thinkfinity.org, a consortium of free educational Web sites for K-12 teaching and learning. www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org For more about the performing arts and arts education, visit www.kennedy-center.org /education The U.S. Department of Education supports approximately one-third of the budget for the Kennedy Center Education Department. The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2010 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Please recycle this Cuesheet by sharing it with friends!
The Perfect Pitch Web Site After the concert, get to know the instruments of the orchestra even better at artsedge.kennedy-center.org/perfectpitch.
Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by
ho Can Solve WThis Perplexing Murder Mystery?
Welcome boys and girls to a musical whodunit. Did you bring your detective hat? We need to find out who killed the composer!
The Crime S tory We begin with the very suspicious death of a composer (writer of music). An inspector arrives to investigate. He believes someone in the orchestra is behind the crime, and he starts to question the members about their whereabouts the night of the murder. One by one, they all explain their alibis (excuses, or reasons they couldn’t have murdered the composer). Will the inspector solve the mystery?
Meet the Unusual Suspects
The Concert Program
Rather than people, the suspects are the instruments in the orchestra. They are divided into four groups called families—because group members share common characteristics.
The main piece of music you’ll hear today is The Composer Is Dead. This music includes a story by Lemony Snicket that will be narrated by the music’s composer, Nathaniel Stookey. The two friends wrote this work together to help people have some fun while learning about the instruments of the orchestra.
• The strings, wooden instruments on which sound is created by plucking with the fingers or drawing a bow across strings, include the violin, viola, cello, and bass. The harp is also in this family, but it is played only with the fingers, never with a bow. • Woodwinds create sound by blowing air across an opening or through a reed (thin woody grass). This family includes the flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. • Brass instruments are made of metal and are played by buzzing and blowing into a mouthpiece. They include the trumpet, trombone, French horn, and tuba. • Percussion instruments, played by striking, shaking, or scraping, include cymbals and timpani.
Listen for …
Before the orchestra performs The Composer Is Dead, it will play several pieces of classical music by other (dead!) composers. Listen carefully to see whether you can recognize parts of this music when they are performed later. • Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner (VAHG-ner) • Funeral March from Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica” (EH-row-ee-ka) by Ludwig van Beethoven (BAY-toh-vuhn) • Trauermarsch (Sorrowful March) from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor by Gustav Mahler (GOOZ-tahf MAH-ler) • Allegro moderato from Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert (SHOO-bert) • Symphony No. 6: Finale by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (pee-YO-tur ILL-ee-itch cheye-KOFF-skee)
• the deep, menacing brass notes played right after the narrator says “the composer is dead.”
• the sounds of instruments or families when they respond to the inspector.
• “The Witches’ Sabbath ” from Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz
• the reasons the inspector suspects different instruments.
• how the music creates different moods, from calm to festive to scary.
• Funeral March from The Composer Is Dead by Nathaniel Stookey • The Composer Is Dead by Nathaniel Stookey; lyrics by Lemony Snicket
(BARE-lee-ohz)
To close the performance, the orchestra will play “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt Suite No.1 by Edvard Grieg (greeg). See whether you can identify the sound of the bassoons, which represent the footsteps of a young boy sneaking into and being chased out of a troll’s cave.
Compose a Little Nathaniel Stookey wrote a special musical phrase (series of notes) to be played every time the narrator says “the composer is dead.” Try to create your own phrase by singing or humming. It can be scary, spooky, funny, or sad. Practice it with a friend who says the line, “the composer is dead!”
ho Can Solve WThis Perplexing Murder Mystery?
Welcome boys and girls to a musical whodunit. Did you bring your detective hat? We need to find out who killed the composer!
The Crime S tory We begin with the very suspicious death of a composer (writer of music). An inspector arrives to investigate. He believes someone in the orchestra is behind the crime, and he starts to question the members about their whereabouts the night of the murder. One by one, they all explain their alibis (excuses, or reasons they couldn’t have murdered the composer). Will the inspector solve the mystery?
Meet the Unusual Suspects
The Concert Program
Rather than people, the suspects are the instruments in the orchestra. They are divided into four groups called families—because group members share common characteristics.
The main piece of music you’ll hear today is The Composer Is Dead. This music includes a story by Lemony Snicket that will be narrated by the music’s composer, Nathaniel Stookey. The two friends wrote this work together to help people have some fun while learning about the instruments of the orchestra.
• The strings, wooden instruments on which sound is created by plucking with the fingers or drawing a bow across strings, include the violin, viola, cello, and bass. The harp is also in this family, but it is played only with the fingers, never with a bow. • Woodwinds create sound by blowing air across an opening or through a reed (thin woody grass). This family includes the flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. • Brass instruments are made of metal and are played by buzzing and blowing into a mouthpiece. They include the trumpet, trombone, French horn, and tuba. • Percussion instruments, played by striking, shaking, or scraping, include cymbals and timpani.
Listen for …
Before the orchestra performs The Composer Is Dead, it will play several pieces of classical music by other (dead!) composers. Listen carefully to see whether you can recognize parts of this music when they are performed later. • Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner (VAHG-ner) • Funeral March from Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica” (EH-row-ee-ka) by Ludwig van Beethoven (BAY-toh-vuhn) • Trauermarsch (Sorrowful March) from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor by Gustav Mahler (GOOZ-tahf MAH-ler) • Allegro moderato from Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert (SHOO-bert) • Symphony No. 6: Finale by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (pee-YO-tur ILL-ee-itch cheye-KOFF-skee)
• the deep, menacing brass notes played right after the narrator says “the composer is dead.”
• the sounds of instruments or families when they respond to the inspector.
• “The Witches’ Sabbath ” from Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz
• the reasons the inspector suspects different instruments.
• how the music creates different moods, from calm to festive to scary.
• Funeral March from The Composer Is Dead by Nathaniel Stookey • The Composer Is Dead by Nathaniel Stookey; lyrics by Lemony Snicket
(BARE-lee-ohz)
To close the performance, the orchestra will play “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt Suite No.1 by Edvard Grieg (greeg). See whether you can identify the sound of the bassoons, which represent the footsteps of a young boy sneaking into and being chased out of a troll’s cave.
Compose a Little Nathaniel Stookey wrote a special musical phrase (series of notes) to be played every time the narrator says “the composer is dead.” Try to create your own phrase by singing or humming. It can be scary, spooky, funny, or sad. Practice it with a friend who says the line, “the composer is dead!”
The Partners in Crime Lemony Snicket (also known as Daniel Handler) is a popular children’s author who wrote the story The Composer Is Dead plus the 13 books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, among other works. Snicket’s friend, Nathaniel Stookey, is a composer who is very much alive and creating new musical compositions all the time. His work has been performed by some of the world’s most well-known orchestras.
75 Musicians Led by One Conductor At today’s concert, conductor Edwin Outwater will lead the 75 members of the National Symphony Orchestra in playing the music. Conductors develop their own ways to communicate with musicians. Some use a slender white stick called a baton (buh-TAHN) as they conduct, while others do not. Generally, conductors use their right hand to tell the orchestra the tempo to play, and use their left hand to tell the musicians how loud or soft to play.
A Good Audience … • Stays seated. • Stays quiet. • Watches and listens carefully. • Claps at the end when the (live!) conductor turns around.
Wait! There’ s More! Musical Instrument “ Petting Zoo” Enjoy hands-on fun with the instruments that the musicians will play on stage. At 12 noon and 2 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Atrium on the Terrace Level. A project of the Women’s Committee for the NSO.
Kids’ Chat
After the 3 p.m. performance, stick around to ask questions of the concert artists on stage.
David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President
Iván Fischer Principal Conductor, National Symphony Orchestra Christoph Eschenbach Music Director Designate, National Symphony Orchestra Washington Gas is the proud sponsor of the NSO Family Concerts.
The NSO Family Concerts are supported through a generous endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Verizon Foundation, Mr. Martin K. Alloy and Ms. Daris M. Clifton, the Estate of Joseph R. Applegate, the Carter and Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Clark Charitable Foundation, Clark-Winchcole Foundation, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Fight for Children, Dr. and Mrs. Ronald A. Paul, The President's Advisory Committee on the Arts, National Committee for the Performing Arts, and Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk. Illustrations from The Composer Is Dead written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Carson Ellis.
Music by Nathaniel Stookey Lyrics by Lemony Snicket Presented in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, a program of the Kennedy Center Education Department. ARTSEDGE is a part of Thinkfinity.org, a consortium of free educational Web sites for K-12 teaching and learning. www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org For more about the performing arts and arts education, visit www.kennedy-center.org /education The U.S. Department of Education supports approximately one-third of the budget for the Kennedy Center Education Department. The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2010 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Please recycle this Cuesheet by sharing it with friends!
The Perfect Pitch Web Site After the concert, get to know the instruments of the orchestra even better at artsedge.kennedy-center.org/perfectpitch.
Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by