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Showing posts from February, 2012

Year 12 Homework: Monday 27th February

Using the handout from the lesson, put the appropriate term under the following headings: Texture, harmony, structure & tonality, melody, and rhythm and metre. Find examples from the 4th movement of Corelli's Trio Sonata in D, Op. 3, No. 2 and cite bar numbers where appropriate. Due:  Monday 5th March 2012

SASSMA arrangements

This is just to confirm arrangements for SASSMA, which is Monday 5th March 2012: Friday 2nd March, 9.15am-11.45pm  Vocal Ensemble off to Loreto College for a massed choir rehearsal Monday 5th March leave Beaumont (meet in Room 30) at 12pm for Alban Arena.  Bring a packed lunch please.  You will be back by 3.15pm if not earlier.  Please meet at the Alban Arena at 7pm. The concert starts at 7.30pm (tickets are £5 and £3- available at the Box Office) and should be finished by 9.30pm.   Dress code:  The Vocal Ensemble should wear their uniform and in the orchestra, Years 7-11 should wear smart winter school uniform and the 6th form should wear smart all black.  If you are in both, just wear your VE uniform and pop a black cardigan over the dress. Any problems, please see Miss Doan this week.

Year 12 Homework: 22/2/12

Hi, I know it was in for today, but as we composed during the lesson I will be going through this on Monday: Do some research on the development of the piano - how it was constructed, materials used and how the standard piano changed during the Romantic Period. Any problems let me know. Thanks, Mr. Guinane

Jazz on BBC Four

This weekend saw some excellent programmes on Jazz on BBC Four: 1959: The Year That Changed Jazz :  Archive performances and interviews explore the influence of the four major jazz albums made in 1959 by Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman. Rollins: Beyond the Notes :  Documentary about the great saxophonist Sonny Rollins, built around his 80th birthday concert, where he is joined by the likes of Roy Haynes, Jim Hall and Ornette Coleman. Sonny Rollins '74: Rescued!:   Newly-discovered film footage of tenor sax legend Sonny Rollins at Ronnie Scott's in 1974, with a band featuring guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo and soprano saxophone player Rufus Harley. If this kind of thing interests you, there are lots of other jazz performances currently on BBC iPlayer; watch something before they all expire! Mr. Guinane

Year 13 Homework: 22/2/12

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Hello, I would like you to listen to some Shostakovich before next week's lesson. The first movement from his 1st Symphony...: ...as well as the first movement from his 5th Symphony (2 parts): Listen carefully! Mr. Guinane

Year 10 Homework: Tuesday 21st February

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Listen the first 1 and a half minutes or so of each track from Holst's The Planets Suite : Mars, the Bringer of War   Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity  Click here to listen to all of the suite (it's amazing). Choose one of the tracks and answer the following question: How does Holst create the mood of each extract?  Describe texture, dynamics, instrumentation, tempo and any other features as discussed in today's lesson. Due in: Tuesday 28th February.

Seussical: It's Possible and Hear on Who

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Well done everyone for today's rehearsals.  It's starting to sound and look really good.  Please keep working hard.    Here are the videos for  Here on who and It's Possible.   It's all about these versions so get learning!  

Year 12 and 13: Bach Chorales

Here is a link to a selection of Bach Chorales for you to embrace and take in the sound world.  Year 13, if you haven't downloaded these before, why not?  Year 12, make sure you download them to your Spotify accounts. Miss Doan

An amusing joke to end the half term...

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So a C, an E-flat, and a G walk into a bar. The bartender says, "sorry, but we don't serve minors." So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. Then D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight." E-flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "you're looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development." Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural. Eventually, C, who had passed out under the

Internet Explorer Bug

If you are viewing this on Internet Explorer, then you need to hover your mouse over the tool bar to see the other options for this blog, including This Week , Labels  and other interesting features.  You can then click on them from there.  There seems to be a bug and currently Internet Explorer is not entirely compatible with the dynamic view.  Having checked our stats, it affects about 20% of our readership.  If you are in that 20%, do consider downloading Google Chrome or Firefox as they are generally more reliable browsers!

Year 10 Indian Music Performances

Year 10, Please click here  to access your Indian Music Performances from Wednesday. I have even enabled downloading so you can put them on your iPods! Well done, have a good week off. Mr. Guinane

Year 11 Performance Dates

Click here for the final leg of your performances.  Please arrive on time, with music for me if you need an accompaniment. Miss Doan

Year 10 African A Cappella Music

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Here are two videos for you from the lesson:

Congratulations...

...to the Vocal Ensemble for being Youth Choir of the Day at the auditions for Round 1 of Choir of the Year .  After braving the elements (and Miss Doan and Mr Guinane abandoning their cars), we made it to Milton Keynes and performed brilliantly.  We have made it through to the National Selection round so will have to wait and see if we get through!   Well done to you all, you should be extremely proud of your performance.  We are, of course, enormously proud of you, as ever. Here is the competition explained. Thank you to all the parents for your support and a special thanks to Ms Lyons for picking up Miss Doan, Mr Guinane and Alex and dropping them home! No rehearsal this Wednesday!

Year 13 Homework: Thursday 2nd February 2012

Compare and contrast the structure and tonality and texture of Sweelinck’s Pavana Lachrimae, Corelli's Trio Sonata in D (3rd movement) and Mozart's Piano Sonata K333. Don't forget to consult the mark scheme. I would like to see your plans as well.   Due in: Tuesday 7th February (please hand in to Mr Guinane as you will not be here next week!) Folder check will take place on Thursday 23rd February.