Links to our weekly listening

Each week we have been listening to a piece of classical music as we have come into the hall for assemblies.  We close our eyes and think about the picture or the feeling s that the music puts into our heads before talking briefly about the composer and the instruments we can see or hear.
 
Here are the pieces we have been listening to. You can find out more about the different instruments by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.
 
Autumn 1
 
 
Week 5/6 Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens (1835-1921) French - piccolo, flutes, oboes
 
week 7 Academic Festival Overture by Brahms (1833 - 1897) German - piccolo, flutes, oboes, clarinets
 
 
Autumn 2 
 
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos.  He was born in Germany and died in London.
Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed in 1749 under the contract of George II for the fireworks in London's Green Park on 27th April 1749.  The music celebrates the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in 1748
 
 
Weeks 3 & 4 - 1st movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Bach (1685 - 1750) German composer - 
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German musician of the late Baroque.  He is known for instrumental compositions, keyboard works and vocal music.  Bach wrote his fifth Brandenburg Concerto for harpsichord, flute and violin as soloists and an orchecstral accompaniment consisting of strings and continuo.
Since the 19th century Bach-Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
 
Weeks 5 & 6 - The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Russian composer - The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet adapted from a story.  Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. The complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. 
Instruments - flutes, oboes, horns, clarinets.
 
Spring 1
Weeks 1 & 2 - What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (1919-1971)
Throughout his career Louis Armstrong wrote over 50 songs.  He was the most important and influential musician in jazz history, one of the first soloists on record and he was at the forefront of changing jazz music from ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that included inventive solo performances.
Instruments - vocals, trumpet
 
Weeks 3 & 4 - My Baby Just Cares for Me by Nina Simone (1933-2003)
Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist.  Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
Instruments - guitar, piano and voice
 
Weeks 5 & 6 - With a Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles 
The Beatles,  Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (also known as 'The Fab Four') were together for 8 years from 1962 to 1970.  During this time the band released 213 songs (four of which exist in different versions): 188 originals and 25 covers.
 
John Lennon played a variety of guitars, keyboards, harmonicas and horns. Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments.
 
Two members of the band are still alive today - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
 
Spring 2
Weeks 1 & 2 - Colonel Hathi Elephant March by Robert Sherman. (1925-2012)
The Elephant Song was in the 1967 Disney film 'The Jungle Book.'  Robert was known for writing songs for films with his brother Richard. It's a Small World, Hushabye Mountain and The Wonderful thing about Tiggers. 
 
Weeks 3 & 4 - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel (1685-1759)
This piece is often played at wedding ceremonies. Oboes and stringed instruments can be heard throughout this piece.  
 
Weeks 5 & 6 - The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini (1924-1994)
The song starts of with a high soft piano chord and a steady quiet beat from the drums and a triangle. Then the bass guitar arises, later on with the saxophone playing the main tune. Then a tuba and a trombone adds to the layers and soon more brass instruments are added on such as trumpets and horns
 
 
Summer 1
 
JUBILEE songs; Sing by Gary Barlow
 
 
Week 2 - Spring by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Italian.  Violins, violas, cellos, double bass, harpsicord, lute
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summer 2 
 
Grieg captures the morning sun with a warm, swaying tune played by the flute and oboe. Violins and violas echo surging cellos and the brass add flashes of light as the sun continues to slowly rise.
 
Week 2 & 3 - Peter's Theme from Peter and the Wolf - Prokofiev
A "symphonic fairy tale for children."  Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra: the bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, the cat by a clarinet playing staccato in a low register, the grandfather by a bassoon, the wolf by three horns, Peter by the string quartet, the shooting of the hunters by the kettle drums and bass drum.
 
 
Week 4 &5 - Mr Blue Sky by ELO 
This is a very happy song!  Instruments used are; violin, cellos, guitars, keyboards.
 
Weeks 6 & 7 - Here Comes the Sun by The Beetles
Instruments - acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, hand claps.
This song was inspired by the long winters in England which Harrison thought went on forever.