1 / 11

WEDDING MARCH A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mendelssohn

WEDDING MARCH A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mendelssohn. Education Resource – Cairns July 2014. Felix Mendelssohn. Biography Born in Hamburg 1809, the son of a wealthy banker. He received a good education and was able to travel around Europe.

hisoki
Download Presentation

WEDDING MARCH A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mendelssohn

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. WEDDING MARCH A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mendelssohn Education Resource – Cairns July 2014

  2. Felix Mendelssohn Biography • Born in Hamburg 1809, the son of a wealthy banker. He received a good education and was able to travel around Europe. • Born into the Jewish religion, his parents, baptised Felix and his brothers and sisters in the Lutheran church in the hope of gaining social acceptance outside their community. This is when the name Bartholdy was added to the family’s surname. Felix resisted this and kept the surname of Mendelssohn. • Felix studied piano and composition. • At the age of 17, he composed the overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based on Shakespeare’s play. • He died aged on 38 in 1847. • More information can be found atwww.felixmendelssohn.com

  3. Felix Mendelssohn Famous Compositions • First published work and first of its kind: Octet for Strings in E flat major, Op.20. An octet is written for eight players. • Between the age of 12 and 14, Mendelssohn composed 12 string symphonies, 4 operas and many other works. • Hebrides Overture Op.26 also known as Fingal’s Cave (1832). • Click on the title to hear the music. • Can you hear the rolling of the sea as they crash into Fingal’s cave? • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – The Wedding March is part of this. Fingal’s Cave, Scotland

  4. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Listen and watch • Listen to, and watch, the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra performing Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. • As this work is now used for weddings around the world, it is often performed on pipe organ. Watch the use of, not only two hands on 4 keyboards, but also both feet on a pedal keyboard. • The Wedding March is often used as the recessional (when the bride and groom walk out of the church). It is often teamed with Wagner’s Bridal Chorus when the bride enters the church.

  5. Wedding March fromA Midsummer Night’s Dream The Music • The Wedding March was first used at the wedding of Victoria, The Princess Royal and Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858. The bride was the daughter of Queen Victoria of England. • The Wedding March is one of the pieces in the Suite of Incidental Music to Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mendelssohn wrote the Incidental music 16 years after he wrote the Overture. The work was commissioned by King Frederick William IV of Prussia. • The Wedding March is the intermezzo between Acts 4 and Act 5. The most music appears in Act 5 during which the wedding feast plays on stage.

  6. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Opening • The opening is played by three trumpets using triplets. • A triplet groups 3 notes into 1 beat. • How many triplets are there in the brass opening? • A short cut has been used to show when a triplet is to be played without having to write out the 3 notes. • Find the written shortcuts in bars 4 and 5. • The dynamics are marked f (forte or loud) in bar 1. In the 4th beat of bar 4 and bar 5 there is a crescendo (gradually getting louder) finishing in Bar 6 with ff fortissimo (very loud). • Play the opening fanfare using C, E, G and C’ which is a C major arpeggio.

  7. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Melody • The main theme or melody is played at bar 6 after the trumpet opening. • The flute, oboe and clarinets play the theme in unison (all together). • A trill is used in bars 8 and 12. A trill (tr) is the rapid alternation of the written note and the note above for the value of the note. • Eg.

  8. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Musical Features • Key Signature: C Major. • Play the scale of C major. • Time Signature: Common time. • The tempo marking is allegro vivace meaning lively and fast. • The score (from imslp.org) is the music that the conductor reads and shows the parts that all the instruments play. Look at the score and follow the music. • Instrumentation is 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 french horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, violin, viola, cello and double bass.

  9. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Musical Features - Repeats • Mendelssohn uses repeats with first and second time endings. Repeat • The score is the music from which the Conductor reads. • An example of the repeat signs and the first and second time bars. • Find more repeat signs in thescore.

  10. Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Final Page • Find the signs: • Trill • Sforzando – a sudden strong accent • Dynamic fortissimo – very loud • Fermata or pause • Treble, alto and bass clefs • Find the notes: • Quaver – hold the note for ½ beat • Crotchet – hold the note for 1 beat • Minim – hold the note for 2 beats • Semi-breve - hold the note for 4 beats.

  11. THANK YOUPrepared by Pam Lowry, Education OfficerQueensland Symphony Orchestra

More Related