from LArlesienne Suite No.
2
Georges Bizet Born: October 25, 1838 Died: June 3, 1875 Georges Bizet was born in Paris, France. Both his parents were musicians, and they actually wanted their son to become a composer when he grew up! Bizet loved music, but he also loved to read books. His parents wound up hiding his books so that he would spend more time on his music. When Georges was 10 years old, his father enrolled him in the Paris Conservatory. While there, he wrote his only symphony, but it wasnt performed until many years after he died. Bizet graduated from the Conservatory with awards in both composition and piano. Bizet also composed operas, the most famous of which is Carmen. When Carmen first opened in Paris, the reviews were terrible. Many critics said there were no good tunes in it, so audiences stayed away. During the first round of Carmen performances, Bizet died. He was only 36. Four months later, Carmen opened in Vienna, Austria, and was a smash hit. It is now one of the most popular operas ever written. Bizet never knew that audiences would come to consider it his masterpiece. Bizet was also very good at writing dramatic music. The music he wrote for the play LArlesienne (The Girl from Arles) is still enjoyed today, especially the Farandole from the LArlesienne Suite No.2. A farandole is a dance from Provence, an area in Southern France. Bizet used two traditional French tunes in his Farandole. One is a dance; the other is the March of the Kings, a traditional French Christmas Carol.
Farandole
1 Georges Bizet
Bailey and Emily are going to go for a sled ride. The music begins with a march. Can you hear them march up the long hill?
Emily goes first. She glides down the hill to a new tune. What fun!
Bailey joins in and follows Emily down the hill. Can you hear both melodies? They are following each other.
Down at the bottom of the hill, a snow couple have a musical conversation.
The kids and the snowman play together. Can you hear both melodies at the same time? Listen for the cymbals as they play in the snow.
Write two sentences about each of the snowmen pictured below. Choose one of your ideas to develop into a story. How did the snowman come be pictured this way? What is going to happen next? Think about the kind of musical instruments you could use for the telling of your story. Compose a theme for your snowman and use your instrument of choice. You could even write your own song and record it on a tape recorder. Its snow much fun!
Snow Fun!
WGUC sincerely thanks The Charles H. Dater Foundation for its sustaining support since the inception of Classics for Kids.
Where do giant Eskimos live? In Bigloos Knock,Knock Whos there? Tuba Tuba who? Tuba Toothpaste Where does Santa swim? In the North Pool
Listen Up - circle the correct answer 1. The music begins with a 2. This melody is a march dance carol
pop song
3. The dynamic stays the same changes
Why not create your own original piece of art while listening to Farandole. Draw a picture, or write your own story, if you wish, on blank 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Send us your art and we may post it on our Classics for Kids website for you to share with others. Our address is: Classics for Kids c/o WGUC 1223 Central Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45214 Or E-mail us at mail@classicsforkids.com
