Music

Happy 332nd Birthday, Antonio Vivaldi!

In celebration of this great composer’s birthday, we listened to ‘The Four Seasons – Spring’. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi’s best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque Music. “La primavera” (Spring) is concerto number 1, and it has several themes. The form of the piece uses the elements of nature to portray the coming of spring. This is the form of the song:

Trees, birds, trees, river, trees, thunder and lighting, trees, sun, trees, sun, and trees.

We used scarves to show how beautiful and fun this piece is.

We chose the following colours to be each theme: Green – Trees, Red – Birds, Blue – River, Yellow – Lightning, Orange/Pink – Sun.

Please look at the photos below of the Kindergarten, Year 1, and Year 3 classes moving to Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’.

Miss Ali

“Where words fail, music speaks”

Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

In the Casa class, we marched to ‘Introduction et marche royale du lion’ (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion), and we swam to ‘Le cygne’ (The Swan). We have been using scarves through creative movement, and they look beautiful!

In Lower Elementary, we moved as Donkeys, and strutted as ‘Poules et coqs’ (Hens and Roosters). We even learned to waltz in  ’L’éléphant’ (The Elephant).

We will soon be Kangaroos, Tortoises, and even Fossils!

Check back to see which musical movement we move to next.

“The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word”

We have begun our popular culture unit in Upper Elementary and Middle Years, starting with Rock Music of the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. My lessons on the SmartBoard include playing music, videos, and interactive lessons.

Please see the photos below of our Year 5’s during this fun lesson.

-Miss Ali

“The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work” – Michael Jackson