A glance into the lives of the greats! Composer of the Week A glance into the lives of the greats!

Johann Sebastian Bach March 21, 1685- July 28, 175 Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer. He came from a long line of composers - over 300 years’ worth of Bach’s all worked as musicians. By the time Johann was 10 both his parents had died, so he was brought up by his older brother, who was a church organist. Johann became a very good organist, too. When he was older, Johann worked first for a duke, then for a prince, and finally became choirmaster of the St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, Germany, a position he held for 30 years. Bach wrote much of his famous music there. In his spare time, he enjoyed playing music with other younger people at Zimmerman’s Coffeehouse. He had 20 children!

Johann Sebastian Bach Listen to the Brandenburg Concerto number 2 and answer the following questions. Use complete sentences: How does this song make you feel? What instruments do you hear? What do you think Bach was thinking about when he wrote this piece?

Antonio Vivaldi March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741 Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, which is where he spent most of his life. His father taught him to play the violin, and the two would often perform together. Antonio continued to study and practice the violin, even after he became a priest. He was called the "Red Priest" because of his flaming red hair. However, after a while, his bad asthma kept Antonio from saying Mass. After that, Vivaldi spent all his time writing music and teaching. He taught at an orphanage for girls, and wrote a lot of music for the girls to play. People came from miles around to hear Vivaldi's talented students perform the beautiful music he had written. He wrote concertos, operas, church music and many other compositions. In all, Antonio wrote over 500 concertos. His most famous set of concertos is The Four Seasons.

Antonio Vivaldi http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=1 1. This concerto has a feeling of: a. constant motion and change b. stillness -the music stays the same 2. What is the name of the family of instruments used in this concerto? brass family b. string family 3. Does the music gradually change from soft to loud or do the changes happen suddenly? a. gradually - using crescendos and decrescendos b. suddenly - using terraced dynamics

George Frederick Handel February 23, 1685 - April 14, 1759 Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany. But since he spent most of his professional life in England, he's better known as George Frederick Handel. Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father (who was a barber and surgeon) was not. There's a story that Handel smuggled a clavichord -- a VERY quiet instrument -- into the house so that he could practice in secret. Handel's father insisted that his son become a lawyer, until the day that Handel sat down at the keyboard and dazzled a duke. The duke convinced Handel's father to let his son study music. What Handel really loved was opera. At the time, Italy was the place to learn about that, so Handel went to Italy for four years. After he got home to Germany, he was hired as court composer to a prince. But he immediately asked for time off to go to England, where people really liked Italian opera. (When the English got tired of opera, Handel built a whole new career for himself composing oratorios.) Through a strange set of circumstances, Handel's princely German employer wound up becoming king of England. When he got to London, he didn't need to hire a court composer, because he found his court composer from Germany -- namely Handel -- was there! http://movieclips.com/7er8-erik-the-viking-movie-not-a-musical-nation/0/137.34 http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=23

Handel’s Messiah At a performance on March 23rd, 1743 (remember, Messiah was composed as Easter music) King George II of England was attending the performance. When the “Hallelujah Chorus” began, the King rose. It is not clear why, perhaps he was stretching his legs, or, being partially deaf, he mistook the opening notes for the National Anthem, or he may have risen out of respect. However, protocol dictated that when the King stood, everyone else stood as well. No one knows for sure why, but one thing is certain, people will rise to their feet at the first notes of the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Why do people stand for the Hallelujah Chorus?