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Lesson Outlines

Operatic Movement Activity (Anvil Chorus from Verdi’s Il Trovatore)


1. Select an operatic piece that is likely to sound familiar to participants from commercials, cartoons, etc.
In this case, we will be using Verdi’s “Coro di zingari,” from the opera Il Trovatore, which is
commonly known as “The Anvil Chorus.” Selections may also be chosen to directly correspond to
curriculum.
2. Listen to the piece, and decide on simple movement sequences that reflect the mood of the piece and
will be engaging and accessible for learners to follow.
3. Lead learners in starting with a neutral posture and mirroring the leader’s movements.
4. For advanced sessions, if time allows, participants may want to improvise movements that the group
follows. (Today this activity will be trainer-led only in the interest of time.)
5. When possible, apply this movement activity to class routines and curriculum, as well as to a broader
class project, such as the creation of a mini-opera.

Listening and Writing (Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino caro”) - 3 minutes


- Before listening to the excerpt, establish the rules of the free-write:
1. Your pencil must be moving at all times.
2. If you get stuck, simply write the prompt over and over again until
you get un-stuck.
3. Don’t worry about where the writing goes--begin with the prompt, but
if you end up finding yourself writing about what you will make for
dinner, that is okay. Let it happen. Just don’t stop writing.
4. You do not have to write in complete sentences, with correct
spelling, or make grammatical sense. The writing does not have
to be legible to anyone other than yourself.
- Give the prompt: This is what I need, this is how I feel...
- Write as though you are imagining you are the woman singing.
- Start the music excerpt right away--the less time there is to think before
writing, the better.
- When the music is done, finish the sentence you are on and then stop.

Operatic Drawing or Painting Activity


1. Select an operatic piece that is likely to sound familiar to participants from commercials, cartoons, etc.
In this case, we will be using Rossini’s “Largo al factotum,” from the opera Il Barbiere di Seviglia,
which is commonly known as “The Anvil Chorus.” Selections may also be chosen to directly
correspond to curriculum.
2. Arrange participants with art supplies and direct them to listen to the music while drawing or painting
the images or feelings that the music evokes.
3. Play the selection while students work. Sometimes instructors like to play the piece before the
participants begin to draw or paint, as well.
4. Post the artwork in the class or on a bulletin board when appropriate, and use it for sets, or the
progressive creation of sets in broader operatic activities, such as the creation of mini-operas.

Establishing Character - 10 minutes


- Begin by thinking back to the movement excerpt. Brainstorm a list of
nouns/adjectives to describe the movement.
Please turn over.
- What kind of person would make those kinds of movements?
- These words describe character 1. Give character 1 a name.
- Create a list of descriptive words about that person/group of people.
- Share words and phrases from the writing exercise.
- Are there any commonalities in the group for what they need/how they feel?
- Create a list of descriptive words to describe the person with those wants and
feelings.
- This list describes character 2. Give character 2 a name.
- Share the drawings from the third segment.
- What are the similarities? What are the differences?
- Create a list of descriptive words to describe the place that the drawings of the
group might represent.
- This list of words describes our setting.

Creating Story - 15 minutes


- How is Character 1 related to the setting? Do they live there? Are they
traveling? Do they have a good relationship with this place or a hard one? Why?
- Create two lines expressing their relationship to the place.
- How is character 2 related to the setting? Answer the same questions as above,
and create two lines expressing their relationship to the place.
- What is Character 1’s relationship to Character 2? How do they know each other?
How do they feel about each other?
- One day, something happens between the two characters that causes character 2 to
sing her aria. What happens?
- Write two lines that show this event.
- After her Aria, Character 2’s relationship to her setting changes. What change is this?
Does she leave? Does she stay? Does she see the same place in a new light? Why?
 Create two lines that show this change in attitude toward setting.

Improvised Recitative Activity


 Recitative can be defined as a vocal passage of narrative text that is sung with natural patterns
of speech. Even very young participants can be taught to improvise recitative, with or without
accompaniment. Improvised recitative can be very useful in the creation of mini-operas, the practice of
un-inhibition, and the strengthening of musical orientations.
 You may want to start with a Vocal Warm-Up. An easy and enjoyable one is making animal
sounds in a sing-song way and leading participants into moving naturally from the animal sounds to
their singing voices: “Hoo hoo” for an owl growing into “Oo Oo” on sol mi at different pitch levels
(high and low), a nasal “Mrroww” for a cat growing into sol fa mi re do on different pitch levels, “Mm
mm mm mm” for a high, whimpering dog becoming hummed melodies on different pitch levels.
Segue into improvised recitative after warming up:
- Explain that sung conversation and communication are two of the most important parts of opera. Then,
using your singing voice and an instrument if available, improvise questions on simple melodies, such as
“What is your favorite after school snack” on notes like do, mi, sol, and la, and encourage students to sing
the responses to the questions. When the whole class is involved in sung dialogue, teach an easy response
that the whole class can sing together after the question is asked and answered to create an ensemble effect.
Point out that this is “opera in action.”

Improvised recitative as part of story telling/mini-opera is a natural outgrowth of this activity. For example,
“Great! Now sing me what the troll says to the magical tree at sunset.”

Please turn over.


This activity can also be modified to fit any curriculum content (i.e. sing, “What is 240 divided by 2” or “What
happened in 1492?”).

Bonus activity: Play excerpts of recitative and aria for participants, and ask them to identify which is which.

Please turn over.

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