This music workshop is aligned to Wit & Wisdom module Grade 1 Module 2: Creature Features. Piece to be performed: "La cigale et la fourmie" (The Cricket and the Ant) by Hungarian composer, Antal Dorati. It is a short piece (3 min.) originally written for oboe solo. However, in this workshop, the music will be played by two oboes, to better illustrate the story and to facilitate students' understanding of the music performance. One oboe plays the role of the cricket and the other, the ant. The cricket and the ant each have very distinctive melodic lines that interact with each other through musical conversations. Simple acting is also incorporated to correspond with the musical lines. Music genre: Classical/20th century 45-minute Workshop Description: Prior to the workshop (optional): Teachers tell their class the fable of The Cricket and The Ant. 1. Briefly introduce the presenters, the oboe, and the purpose of the visit to see how music and words can describe each other. 2. Talk about the basic notion of "word-painting" (a musical writing technique that reflects the literal meaning of the word), so the students can distinguish the characters, follow their conversations, and understand the actions. 3. Examples: Large intervals (distance between musical notes): big jumps, leaps. Small intervals (small distance between musical notes): not leaping, moving horizontally. High register notes: the Cricket, dreamer, going high in the air. Low register notes: the ant, down-to-earth, hardworking, staying on the ground. Fast-moving lines: energetic, frantic movements. Slow-moving lines: calmer, sometimes sadder music. 4. Assessment: questions will be asked to determine if the students could associate the music with a specific action or if they could "see" a picture, in order to make sure they grasped the basic ideas of word-painting. Students will also be invited to move according to what the music sounds like, or make sounds with their own voices to describe an action. 5. Tell the fable. 6. Perform Antal Dorati's "La cigale et la fourmie" (The Cricket and the Ant). 6. Assessment: Ask the students if they could identify which person played the Cricket and which person played the Ant. Invite the class to put the story into their own words. Perform parts of the music that correspond to the narrative, and refresh their memory. 7. Conclude the workshop by performing other examples of word-painting in music.
