Teachers and Parents: If you are attending the Music Is Out Of This World! Children's Concert, use this study guide to explore some of the music you will hear before the concert.  Suggestions for activities and MP3s of three pieces are included below.

ROMEO AND JULIET SUITE
"Montagues and Capulets"
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Classroom Teachers: Click here to listen to TRACK ONE (4 minutes, 7 seconds) and have your students sit quietly without doing anything but listening carefully.  Once the piece is done, and before you tell them what the piece is, ask them the following questions:]

What do you picture in your mind when you hear this piece?  Do you picture a scene like in a movie?  Or any special image?

Would you describe this music as peaceful or angry?  Meek or bombastic?
This music sounds angry and bombastic!

Who can raise their hand and mimic a sound in the piece that sounds angry or bombastic?
The low brass instruments like tuba and trombone make the loud, low, steady sound in the piece that repeats over and over again.

This first piece of music you heard is by Sergei Prokofiev (SAYR-gay Pro-KO-fee-evv), from the Romeo and Juliet Suite.  You will hear it played at the Symphony Children’s Concert.  Imagine two families – one called the Montague family, and one called the Capulet family. They live in the same town and are constantly fighting because they are intensely angry with each other over something that happened years and years ago.  In fact, it happened so long ago that no one can remember what exactly it was that made them dislike each other so much. 

This is called “Montagues and Capulets,” and paints a musical picture of the feelings between the families.  Can you picture the Montagues proudly walking around town, looking to get into a fight with Capulets?  Do you hear the Capulets talking scornfully about the Montagues behind their backs? 

At the Children’s Concert, you will watch a beautiful film clip that goes with this music, but it will not show anger or bombastic pride.  Watch closely to see what other images go with this big music!

THE PLANETS
"Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity"
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

[Classroom Teachers: Before you play TRACK TWO, show your students this image of the planet Jupiter.  Also before you play the track ask your students the following:]

Which is the biggest planet in our solar system?
Jupiter is the biggest planet!

If Earth is the third planet from the sun, which is Jupiter?
Jupiter is fifth from the sun.

How long does it take the planet Jupiter to orbit around the sun?
It takes Jupiter 12 “earth-years” to orbit around the sun.

How many moons does the planet Jupiter have?
The planet Jupiter has at least 63 moons.  Imagine what night-time on Jupiter must be like!

[Classroom Teachers: Click here to play TRACK TWO (8 minutes, 1 second) and have your students sit quietly without doing anything but listening carefully.  Once the piece is over, and before you tell them what it is, ask them the following questions:]

What do you picture in your mind when you hear this piece?  Do you picture a scene like in a movie?  Or any special image?

Would you describe this music as happy or sad?  Timid or jovial?
This music sounds happy and jovial!

Can anyone raise their hand and guess why this music sounds happy or jovial?

This music is by a composer named Gustav Holst [GOO-stoff HOLE-sst] and is from The Planets.  You will also hear this at the Children’s Concert.  The planet Jupiter is the feature of this piece you heard.  It sounds jovial and happy because the planet Jupiter is named after the Roman god Jupiter, who was considered to be a large, boisterous, happy god.  In fact, the word “jovial” originates from the Latin word "Iuppiter" which means "a source of happiness."
 
At the Children's Concert, you will see footage of the planet Jupiter taken from high-powered telescopes and satellites in space as you listen to this piece played by a live symphony orchestra!

Did anyone hear the chimes in this piece?

What do you picture in your mind when you hear this piece?  Do you picture a scene like in a movie?  Or any special image?

Would you describe this music as triumphant or sorrowful?  Grand or humble?

This music sounds grand and triumphant!
The music you just heard is by a composer named Peter Tchaikovsky (Chai-KOFF-skee) and is called the 1812 Overture.  The music was written to commemorate a battle won by the Russians over the French in an enormous battle in 1812.  You may have heard this piece in movies or on television – it is very popular for its loud cannon fire and reminds everyone of winning a triumphant battle.  The chimes in the piece represent churches in Russia ringing their church bells to announce that the battle had been won.

At the Children’s Concert, you will watch many beautiful film clips that go with this music, including lots of footage from space.