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Rachel Ollestad

MUSE 375
Dr. Palmer
28 February 2017

Concert Curriculum Project

Overview/ Concert Program Rationale

Down a Country Lane and Colorado Peaks both depict a common

theme: the journey. Though both works may be written around a common

theme, they portray this theme in vastly different ways. Down a Country

Lane follows a nice, easy stroll down a quaint rural road: a journey on which

the walker can relax, take in some fresh air, and enjoy the sights and sounds

of nature. Through this piece, students can learn about form, balance and

blend, and legato styles of phrasing and articulation. Colorado Peaks, on

the other hand represents a journey of struggle. It portrays the strife and

anguish one must go through when attempting to achieve a difficult goal.

Students will learn about crisp articulation, rhythmic accuracy, and accurate

portrayal of dynamics through this piece. These two different pieces, while

following a similar theme, are also appropriate for a concert program as all

human beings experience these themes. Every person goes through periods

of their life that feel like walks along a country lane, but it is only after

experiencing a few tough journeys climbing our own tallest and most

dangerous mountains that we can come to appreciate just how amazing

those country lanes are.

Background/ History of the Pieces and Composers


Down a Country Lane by Aaron Copland:

Aaron Copland is one of the most well known American composers of

the twentieth century. He was born in New York in 1900 and was the son of

Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. His compositions appealed to a wide

variety of audiences through their incorporation of popular music styles. He

spent the first fifty years of his life composing music for a variety of

performance mediums and enjoyed wide success for many of his works. After

he turned fifty, Copland gradually turned from composing to conducting. He

traveled the world, conducting and recording music in the hopes that other

countries would raise their opinions on American music. He was an active

teacher and scholar, as well, writing articles, essays, and books on music.

Copland died in New York in 1990.

Originally composed for piano, Down a Country Lane was Coplands

attempt to write quality musical material for the common pianist and

student. Copland, however, qualifies this work by stating that even the more

advanced musician will need to take time to study and rehearse this piece

before performing it in public. It was not until after the piece had been

entirely composed that Copland decided to give it its title, as he chose the

title based on the flowing melody. The piece is in a large ternary form with

specific instructions written into the score on how each section should be

played. It starts with a floating melody in the upper woodwinds before the

low brass joins in to provide harmonic accompaniment. The next section

changes keys and features a flute and trumpet solo. It is slightly more
dissonant than the first and is to be played a little bit faster. Finally, the first

section returns in a similar style to the first section.

References:

Aaron Copland. PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 05 Aug. 2015. Web. 15

Feb. 2017.

Down A Country Lane. Wind Repertory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017

Colorado Peaks by Dana Wilson:

Dana Wilsons compositions have achieved wide success, being

performed both in and outside of the United States. His pieces have also won

several national and international awards. Wilson himself received a

doctorate degree from the Eastman School of Music and teaches at Ithaca

College. He has co-written books on a variety of subjects including arranging

pieces for choir. Similarly, his works have been the topic of several

dissertations. Wilson also enjoys an active teaching career outside of Ithaca

College. He has taught at the Aspen Institute and at Cornell University.

His piece, Colorado Peaks, was inspired by the mountain peaks of the

Colorado Rockies. Commissioned by an ensemble in Colorado and written in

2009, this piece seeks not to capture the majesty or beauty of the

mountains. Instead, Wilson sought to display the darker more dangerous side

of the mountain range. He writes about his own work, it suggests a

persons relations to [the mountains] via a rugged and persistent climb.


References:

Colorado Peaks. Wind Repertory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Wilson, Dana. Colorado Peaks. Boosey & Hawkes, 2009.

Lesson Plan #1
Down A Country Lane-Aaron Copland

Standards
National:
Playing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Reading and notating music
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Evaluating music and music performances
State:
H.2.1 Play with appropriate tone quality, accurate tuning and
intonation, and good breath support, posture, and hand position.
H.2.2 Play major scales, three forms of minor scales, and chromatic
scales.
H.2.3 Play a variety of repertoire accurately and expressively with c
H.2.6 Play an appropriate part in a variety of large and small
ensembles, demonstrating well-developed ensemble skills.
H.2.7 Learn conducting patterns and techniques and follow cues of
teacher and student conductors.
H.5.1 Read and perform instrumental scores observing symbols
pertaining to pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and
expressive detail.
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
o Play with legato articulation
o Play sensitively, listening to the melodic lines
o Perform through from beginning to B of Down A Country Lane
with correct notes, rhythms, and style
o Begin to develop an understanding of phrasing and dynamics
with Down A Country Lane from beginning to B

Materials
Score and parts to Down A Country Lane
Baton

Procedure
Warm-up:
Concert F Major scale
Echo tonal patterns in F Major:
o Do-So-Fa-Re
o La-Do-Re-Fa
o So-Ti-Re
o La-ti-Fa-Re
o La-Do-Re-Fa-Mi
o So-Do
o Listening for intonation, legato articulation, connection between
the notes
Introduction of Piece
How many of you have been enjoying the weather lately? Does it make
you want to take a walk? Lets listen to this passage, and I want you to
listen for words that could be used to describe the style:
o Play flute melody at beginning to 2 before A
What words did you come up with?
Does this melody sound familiar?
o Look in your music now at the beginning of Down A Country
Lane, Do you see any instances of this melody in any parts?
o Lets play from beginning to B
Address any issues of notes or rhythms in beginning to A: low brass
look at part at A
Lets take a look from A to B now: does it look familiar or a lot
different? Whats the same? What is different?
o Play from A to B, addressing any issues with pitch, notes,
rhythm, style
Closing
Who can tell me what the style the first section of this piece is?
And who has the melody in the beginning?
Finally I want to go from the Beginning to B once again, focusing on
shaping our phrases by using the dynamics in the music. Lets think
about taking a walk down a country lane on a beautiful day like this.

Assessment
Assessment will be largely informal and formative. The teacher will
consistently monitor progress by watching and listening to students.
Students should always be demonstrating good posture, tone quality, and
breath support and should be actively participating in discussion.

Next Time
Next time, we will continue on with Down A Country Lane looking at the
middle, contrasting section and how it is different musically from the
beginning section.

Lesson Plan #2: Comprehensive Musicianship Lesson Plan


Piece: Down A Country Lane
Standards
National:
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Evaluating music and music performances
Playing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Reading and notating music
State:
H.6.1 Listen to recordings of instrumental ensembles playing
appropriate repertoire. Identify and describe instrumentation, texture,
compositional devices, form, style, and genre
H.6.2 Compare two recordings of a work and note similarities and
differences in phrasing, tempo, dynamic levels, articulations, and
prominence given to various parts.
H.2.1 Play with appropriate tone quality, accurate tuning and
intonation, and good breath support, posture, and hand position.
H.2.2 Play major scales, three forms of minor scales, and chromatic
scales.
H.2.3 Play a variety of repertoire accurately and expressively
H.2.6 Play an appropriate part in a variety of large and small
ensembles, demonstrating well-developed ensemble skills.
H.2.7 Learn conducting patterns and techniques and follow cues of
teacher and student conductors.
H.5.1 Read and perform instrumental scores observing symbols
pertaining to pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and
expressive detail.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify and describe the differences between two recordings of Down
A Country Lane
Play from the beginning of Down A Country Lane to the end with little
to no rhythmic or note accuracy errors
Play with appropriate musicianship, exhibiting good dynamics, style,
balance, and blend

Materials
Two recordings of Down A Country Lane
Notebook paper and pencil
Score for Down A Country Lane
Baton

Procedure
Start with the class sitting at desks (20 minutes)
o Last week we read through the very beginning of Down A
Country Lane and I told you about how much I love going on
walks at my grandmothers house.
o Today we will be listening to 2 different recordings of the piece.
On one side of the paper, I want you to make a Venn Diagram of
the differences and similarities you hear between the two
interpretations.
Explain differences/ similarities in scoring, instrumentation,
tempo, dynamics, balance, note accuracy, etc
o Lets go through what some of your thoughts were:
Ask class to volunteer to share their thoughts while teacher
writes the Venn Diagram on the board
o I want you to pick which version was your favorite. Even though
this piece was titled after it was written and doesnt necessarily
depict a story, I want you to listen to your favorite version of the
piece and write a story about a character who is taking a walk.
What does he see, hear, smell, etc? What is he doing?
What is the climate like around him? What sort of emotions
is he feeling.
*** At the end of your story I want you to write some sort
of challenge that your character has!***
o Play through both pieces again, and provide time to write
Transition to playing
Short warm-up (5 minutes) on F Major and A-flat Major scales
Rehearsing the piece
o Start at the letter C to letter D (5 minutes)
Isolate melody in the flute and clarinet
Isolate moving quarter notes
Hear solo if necessary
Crescendo into D
o Play from D to the end
Similar to beginning but louder dynamic
Full ensemble
Hair pin dynamics
o Run through from beginning to end
Expressive playing, listening for balance and blend
Legato style
No wrong notes or rhythms!
Assessment
Assessment of the rehearsal portion of this lesson will be informal and
formative with the teacher constantly monitoring to ensure accurate
notes/rhythms, good posture, breathing, and active engagement of the
lesson. The written portion of this lesson will be more summative and will
receive a formative letter grade based on quality of ideas, grammar, spelling,
and use of musical vocabulary previously learned in class.

Next Time
Next time we will add to your story and begin working on a new piece of
music. If we have time, we will come back to Down A Country Lane and
work on breathing and phrasing.

Lesson Plan #3
Piece: Colorado Peaks- Dana Wilson

Standards
National:
Playing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Reading and notating music
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Evaluating music and music performances
State:
H.2.1 Play with appropriate tone quality, accurate tuning and
intonation, and good breath support, posture, and hand position.
H.2.2 Play major scales, three forms of minor scales, and chromatic
scales.
H.2.3 Play a variety of repertoire accurately and expressively
H.2.7 Learn conducting patterns and techniques and follow cues of
teacher and student conductors.
H.5.1 Read and perform instrumental scores observing symbols
pertaining to pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and
expressive detail.

Objectives
Play from the beginning to m. 23 with accurate notes and rhythms
Play with appropriate accented articulation
Follow expressive markings written in the parts (crescendos/
decrescendos)

Materials
Score to Colorado Peaks
Baton

Procedure
Warm-up (15 minutes)
Start with B-flat major scale
Watch for decrescendo and crescendos from the conductor
Articulation Warm-up
o Introduction of accents and staccatos
Model the difference and have students echo on B-flat
scale
Include examples of syncopation! (directly related to piece)
Melodic warm-up
o Teach beginning melodic line in mm.15-21 (condensing longer
rhythms where necessary)
o Use solfege-slowly
Students sing and finger then play
Rehearsing the piece (35 minutes)
Start by playing through mm.1-23 to get an overview of the piece
Isolate beginning
o Steady quarter notes at beginning (matching style and
articulation-staccato)
o Interjection of quarter notes in time and also matching steady
quarter note length
o Crescendo in m. 11
Isolate melody in mm.15 (it should look familiar!)
o Difference between style of short staccato notes and style of
legato melody
o Dont shy away from dissonances
This piece is all about strife and struggle. Its going to
sound dissonant!
o Isolate staccato notes here, too
Still together and matching in the same style?
o M. 22
TIMPANY! All ears should go here!
Play through entirety to m. 23 again, focusing on matching

Assessment
Assessment of the rehearsal portion of this lesson will be informal and
formative with the teacher constantly monitoring to ensure accurate
notes/rhythms, good posture, breathing, and active engagement of the
lesson. Articulation will be a particular focus in assessment during this lesson

Next Time
Next time we will continue writing reading through this piece and add to the
story about our character from Down A Country Lane
Assessment

Most of the Assessment for this lesson will be formative and informal

through the observation of daily lessons. Each day, students earn

participation grades based on how well prepared they are and how willing to

participate in class they are that day. Students will be required to submit a

final paper on the character they began in the listening lesson for Down A

Country Lane. This paper will make up a part of the students overall class

grade and will be assessed based on grammar, spelling, and agreement of

plot with the musical examples. During the process of writing this paper,

there will also be shorter listening assignments for which students will

demonstrate the musical terms they have learned by describing pieces using

appropriate vocabulary. This paper and assignments represent a summative,

formal assessment.

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