National Symphony Orchestra Look-In: Inside the Music

Cuesheet Performance Guide

National Symphony Orchestra Young People’s Concert 2018-2019

Michael Butterman, Conductor Marissa Regni, NSO Violinist Written and directed by Mary Hall Surface

David M. Rubenstein

is the Presenting Underwriter of the NSO.

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f you pulled back the curtain on an orchestra concert, what would you find ?

Most people never get the chance, but at this special National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Look-In performance, you get to see what really makes an orchestra concert an incredible experience. Read on to get a sneak peek!

So, What Is an Orchestra, Anyway?

Orchestras are large groups of musicians playing instrumental music, usually classical (music from European or Western traditions), but sometimes instrumental versions of pop and other music. They include instruments that come from four main families (more on those later). Orchestras can have from around 40 members to more than 100 members like the NSO. And with that many instruments playing together, orchestras make some amazing music.

What Makes an Orchestra Work?

Did you know playing in an orchestra requires cooperation? That’s right, the musicians have to listen, work together, and follow leaders to make great music. Imagine the conductor as the leader. The conductor leads the orchestra, guiding the musicians on when and how fast and loud to play. Another important leader in the orchestra is the concertmaster, usually the lead violin player, who often will take a bow before taking her or his seat. And look out for the lead oboe player, who plays an “A” note so that all the other musicians can tune (adjust) their instruments to match that sound. Other people playing important roles include the librarian who makes sure everyone has the right music and the people who set up the chairs and music stands on the concert stage.

Where Can You Hear the Orchestra?

Orchestras can actually play anywhere—including parks, places around the world, and studios where their music is recorded so it can be played on the radio, in movies, and of course, on your phone. But the place they call home is the concert hall, like the Kennedy Center Concert Hall where you’ll attend the performance.

Concert halls are built to have good acoustics (pronounced uh-KOO-stiks)— that means qualities such as the right floor, ceiling, and walls that make it easy for audiences to hear all the details in the sounds.

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Meet Your Hosts for This Performance Michael Butterman (call him conductor—or better yet, maestro!) got his start in music by playing piano, but discovered he loved the team-like nature of conducting, especially how the conductor communicates with the musicians and the audience. Today he leads orchestras across the United States, including the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra.

Photo by Rene Palmer

Violinist Marissa Regni, who helps host the performance, loves sharing her excitement about music with young audiences. She’s been with the NSO for more than 20 years and has performed all over the world. Like all the musicians on stage, she practices almost every day.

Photo by Scott Suchman

The orchestra’s youngest but biggest fan might very well be our friend Makayla , who created her brand-new Kid Crazy for Music! YouTube Channel all about the NSO. She’s super excited to be attending the concert with you, and we’ve included some of her comments in this Cuesheet—to find them, look for this icon.

Good Words to Know Before the Show Scherzo (SKERT-soh) — a musical passage that is light or playful (like “maestro” and many other musical terms, it’s an Italian word) Pizzicato (pitz-uh-KAH-toh) — plucking strings on string instruments with fingers instead of using a bow Fanfare — a brief and lively piece featuring brass instruments Baton (buh-TAHN) — a thin white stick conductors use to help tell the orchestra how to play

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Make sure you check out MY vlog , Kid Crazy for Music! at goo.gl/3YwfV2

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W

hen you see the orchestra on stage, the instruments are usually arranged in a half circle —by instrument families. Each family has a number of individual instruments. Let’s meet them !

Strings

Woodwinds

These instruments are all made of wood and have strings.

The family includes, from smallest to largest, the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Musicians play them by using a bow (a stick of wood with a tight ribbon of horsehair) in their right hand and pressing the string with the fingers of their left hand.

That makes the string vibrate and create sound. The bodies of the instruments have a hollow center called a resonating chamber, and it makes the sound of the strings loud and strong.

To get ready to play, players rub blocks of rosin on their bows to help the bows better grip the strings—kind of like baseball pitchers use powdered rosin to help them grip the ball to pitch.

String players change the sound of their instruments by:

Musicians play woodwind instruments by blowing into them. Flute and piccolo players blow across an opening. Clarinet and saxophone players blow air across a single reed (a thin strip of woody grass) and the oboe and bassoon players blow air across a double reed. To get ready to play, the clarinet, bassoon, oboe, and saxophone players moisten their reeds in water or in their mouths (which helps make the instruments sound clearer).

Players change the sounds of their instruments by:

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changing where they press the strings. changing where they pull the bow across the strings. using their fingers to pluck the strings, called pizzicato (pitz-uh-KAH-toh).

I love all music, but the strings might be my favorite instrument family because I play the violin.

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changing the strength and angle of the air flow.

■ changing the embouchure (AHM-boo-shoor), which is the way the players hold their lips, tongue, and teeth as they blow into the instrument.

■ pressing down on different keys.

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The Same, But Different Within each family, some instruments may look the same, but they’re really not—they’re different shapes and sizes and are played in slightly different ways. That means each sounds a little different. And listen for this: the bigger the instrument, the lower the sound it makes.

Brass

Percussion

The brass instruments stand out because they’re big and shiny. They make loud, full, and sometimes very deep sounds. These instruments—the trumpet, trombone, French horn, and tuba—are made of twisted metal tubing that opens into a bell shape. To make sound, players “buzz” their lips on the instrument’s mouthpiece. (Before a concert, you might hear them buzzing their lips to warm up.) Players change the sound of the instrument by:

Percussion instruments like drums and tambourines make sounds when you cause them to vibrate by hitting, rubbing, shaking, or scraping them. At an orchestra concert, the most common percussion instruments are the snare drums, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, xylophone, tambourines, and triangles, but some others include maracas, gongs, and chimes. Sometimes orchestras also feature a piano, and believe it or not, the piano is often considered part of the percussion family because it is played by striking the keys. Players generally change the sound of the instruments by:

changing the shape of their lips against the mouthpiece.

■ changing how strongly they blow air through the mouthpiece.

■ moving parts of the instruments called slides (on the trombone) or valves (on the other brass instruments).

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hanging what they use to hit them, such c as changing from a mallet (small hammer) to their hands.

■ changing where or how hard they hit or shake them.

■ tightening or loosening the head of drums.

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T

o have a concert, musicians need music to play. And for that we turn to composers, people who write (or compose) music —and that written music is called a score.

Composers get their ideas from experiences, memories, travels, art, stories, other people, and more, and use their imaginations and skills to translate those ideas into music.

The orchestra’s job is to give full “voice” to those musical ideas. Your job? Listen and let your own imagination help you picture a place, experience, or feeling.

Here are just a few of the composers and their music you’ll hear at the concert.

Aaron Copland | 1900-1990

Johannes Brahms | 1833-1897

“Hoe-down” from the ballet Rodeo and Fanfare for the Common Man

Movement 2 (Scherzo) from Serenade No. 2 The leading composer of his day and one of the greatest masters of musical language, German composer Johannes Brahms (BRAHMZ) was a perfectionist, once spending 15 years reworking just one symphony. In this piece, Brahms relied mostly on woodwinds to speak volumes.

Called the dean (or head) of American composers, Aaron Copland (COPE-land) beautifully captured a wide range of American life in his music, and you’ll hear two different examples. In “Hoe-down,” Copland took inspiration from the fiddling and rhythms of an American folk song. He wrote Fanfare for the Common Man to rally Americans during World War II.

Listen for…

■ the sounds of the woodwinds instruments.

■ the playful, light sounds.

■ sounds that help you imagine movements (such as dancing,

Listen for the…

■ string instruments (“Hoe-down”).

■ percussion and brass instruments (Fanfare).

■ playful sounds of “Hoe-down” compared with the

skipping, or riding).

more majestic, dramatic sounds of Fanfare.

When I listen to Fanfare , I picture mountains and a sunrise. When you hear it, what do you see?

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Other music you’ll hear at the performance: Overture to the

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | 1840-1893

Felix Mendelssohn | 1809-1847

Movement 3 (Scherzo) from Symphony No. 4

Movement 1 from Symphony No. 4

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (cheye-KOFF-skee), the most popular Russian composer in history, was shy in person but wrote music that was very expressive — including the music for the ballets The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. He once described the piece you’ll hear as “giving free range to the imagination.”

German composer Felix Mendelssohn (MEN-dull-son) began writing music at age 16, and became known for his imagination and ability to turn art, history, and travel experiences into music.

This piece was inspired by the composer’s trip to Italy.

Listen for…

Listen for the…

■ the plucking (pizzicato) and striking of the strings.

■ how the sounds alternate between softer and louder.

■ how different instruments and families take turns playing the melody.

■ layers of music added by the woodwinds, strings, and brass.

■ woodwinds playing a pattern and the strings responding.

■ joyful and energetic melody.

Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685-1750 Movement 3 from Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 Brilliant! That’s how some people describe German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (BAHK) because of the technical skill, detailed patterns, and beauty in his music. He composed several masterpieces for violin, like this concerto. By the way, a concerto allows a composer and a solo (or single) performer to “show off” their abilities to write for or play a particular instrument.

Listen for…

■ the quick and varied notes for the violin.

Jessie Montgomery | Born 1981 “Starburst” Born in New York City, Jessie Montgomery studied violin and later became a professional musician— and after that, a composer. The good news is that Montgomery is still writing music today. During the concert, listen how “Starburst” creates a soundscape of musical contrasts using the string instruments.

Listen for the…

■ how sections with the orchestra alternate with solo parts for the violin.

■ the variety of sounds from the string instruments.

■ the sounds that suggest swirling, rising, and falling.

■ quiet moments mixed with louder and faster ones.

■ how each violin solo gets more complex.

Practice, practice, practice ! That’s how musicians like Marissa Regni get good enough to play tricky solos like the ones in Bach.

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opera Ruslan and Ludmila by Mikhail Glinka and “Huapango” by José Pablo Moncayo

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Photo by Stefano Pasqualetti

Things to Think and Talk About After the performance, be sure to keep thinking and talking about your experience.

Here are some questions to discuss as you leave: ■

What was your favorite part of the concert, and why?

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W hat music made you want to move or dance? Hum or sing a little if you remember the melody!

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W hat stories did you imagine as you listened to the different music? Draw or describe what you imagined.

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Which instruments would you like to learn to play, and why?

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What are three things Makayla loves about the orchestra, and which do you love, too?

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H ow would you like to make music in your own life? Play it?

Sing it? Write it? Conduct it?

Your Role in the Audience As an audience member, you have an important role to play in making the performance the best it can be. All you have to do is: ■

r espect other audience members by not talking or moving around during the music, which can be distracting (and annoying);

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r espect the performers by paying attention and clapping when the musicians expect it (such as after the orchestra finishes playing a piece of music);

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r espect everyone by turning off and putting away electronic devices;

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be ready to participate when asked;

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and be ready to listen, imagine, and have fun!

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Wanna explore more?

C’mon over to my YouTube Channel Kid Crazy for Music!, where I share all I’ve learned ‘ behind-the-scenes’ at the NSO! goo.gl/3YwfV2

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David M. Rubenstein

Chairman

Deborah F. Rutter

President

Mario R. Rossero

Senior Vice Presiden t Education

Gianandrea Noseda

Music Director National Symphony Or

chestra

The NSO Young Peop le’s Concerts are sponsored by The Volgenau Found ation.

NSO Young People’s Concerts are made pos sible in part by the genero us support of A. James & Alice B. Cla rk Foundation; the Kim sey Endowment; The Morris and Gwend olyn Cafritz Foundation Park Foundation, Inc ; .; U.S. Department of Education and Wells Fargo.

Major support for edu cational programs at Kennedy Center is pro the vided by David M. Ru benstein through the Rubenste in Arts Access Progra m.

Kennedy Center educat ion and rela ted art istic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Comm ittee for the Performin g Arts.

The contents of this Cue sheet have been develop ed under a grant from the U.S. Departm ent of Education and do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S . Department of Educati You should not assum on. e endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2019 The John F. Ken nedy Center for the Per forming Arts