5 minute read
Magic moments
Jennifer Redmond reveals how the BBC Philharmonic has found an alternative way of taking musicians out of the concert hall and into the classroom.
Two years ago, we developed The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man, a film re-telling the classic children's tale featuring musicians from the BBC Philharmonic. Unable to visit schools because of the pandemic, we were forced to find an alternative way of connecting with children in preschool through to year 2 The film was a runaway success. I couldn’t have imagined the journey that the little film would take us on.
The Gingerbread man film was based on an interactive workshop developed by one of the orchestra’s cellists, Rebecca Aldersea. Rebecca and two colleagues had been visiting schools for a number of years, performing the interactive workshop. The pandemic stopped all of us in our tracks. Unable to bring children face-to-face with our instruments, we decided to film our musicians instead. In an unexpected turn of events, the film was broadcast on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer (the original intention was to publish it on the BBC Philharmonic website, together with the accompanying classroom activities). Although we have some of the world’s best musicians in our orchestra, the response to the film took us all by surprise. Together, we unexpectedly created something that children love to watch again and again. It led to an unbelievable opportunity to film 10 more musical stories, this time formally commissioned by CBeebies and BBC Education.
I’m fairly confident it’s the first time an orchestra has ever been commissioned to make films for network television. We were so excited to stumble across this brilliant opportunity to collaborate with the CBeebies and BBC Teach teams. We threw ourselves into creating 10 new films from scratch and we called it Musical Storyland.
Musical Storyland is a place where children’s favourite fairy tales and traditional folktales are re-told and reimagined with the magical, musical touch of musicians from the BBC Philharmonic, inspiring a love of music and singing, and an interest in musical instruments in the audience.
The musicians are integral to the storytelling. The small ensembles of western classical instruments of the orchestra are, depending on the tradition of the story, enhanced with musicians from other traditions to ensure a breadth of authentic diversity in styles and representation on screen. For example, the guzheng features in The Great Race which is a story from China and the n’goni and djembe feature in a story from West Africa.
The music was specially composed by Daniel Whibley and written in careful consultation with early years music specialists, Note Weavers. The actions, songs and musical elements across the series are all informed by national curricula of the UK: National Curriculum in England, Curriculum for Wales, Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
When we devised the idea for the Gingerbread Man, we were acutely aware that many children have no access to a live musical performance of any kind. There are many who have not seen a musical instrument up close or had an opportunity to play an instrument. It’s something that the orchestral community as a whole feels passionately about. And as a sector, we work tirelessly to give as many children as possible these opportunities.
Creating high quality entertainment for children that also has strong educational foundations was thoroughly rewarding. The films are accompanied by easy-to-follow resources for every classroom teacher, regardless of musical knowledge or experience. Note Weavers advised us on the choice of stories as well as considerations such as vocal range of children, tempo, and the need to use chants alongside songs. They also created all the accompanying resources, including watching and listening guides (particularly useful for non-specialist teachers) and activities for the classroom which explore musical skills and wider curriculum connections.
We felt it was important that Musical Storyland featured a mix of classic European stories and tales from other cultures Some of you may be familiar with leading storyteller, Jan Blake. She has an unsurpassed oral repository of stories from around the world. We worked with Jan to find stories from West Africa, the Caribbean and India that have an enduring appeal and lend themselves to musical versions. She also narrates three stories.
We know the challenges schools face. Our aim was to provide good quality teaching material; a package of films and resources that can be easily woven into classroom teaching by teaching assistants up to more experienced music teachers. It was also important that the films didn’t disappear soon after their release. Musical Storyland films and resources will be available indefinitely on the BBC Teach website.
There are currently five films on the BBC Teach website: Three Billy Goats Gruff, Jack and the Beanstalk, Ananse and the Monkeys, The Great Race and The Little Fir Tree. They feature an array of guest musicians, including multi-instrumentalist, Sidiki Dembélé, guzheng player, Zi Lan Liao and Deaf trumpeter, Sean Chandler. Five further films will be available from the end of March. Every film has a synopsis of the story and details of how it links to both the music and English curriculum. There are detailed notes and visual displays of the instruments featured as well as the vocabulary in the stories.
The BBC Philharmonic is known across the world for its exploration of new and adventurous repertoire. We have a well-established learning and outreach programme, and the orchestra is passionate about taking music off the page and into the ears. It is our hope that Musical Storyland will serve to capture the imagination of school children across the UK.
