Next stop: England!

10/20/11 • 5 min

Everyone knows what it feels like to be sad, but what if you wanted to write music that expressed emotions without using words? On this stop in our tour, we’ll listen how Benjamin Britten used melodies sketched in his childhood notebooks to capture emotion in the “Sentimental Saraband” from his Simple Symphony. The final stop on out tour is Russia. Better bring a jacket!

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Next stop: Norway!

Moving on to Norway in our tour, we meet composer Edvard Grieg. Grieg’s challenge was to write music that told a clear story without using any words. Listen as he uses music to help the hero of his story, Peer Gynt, escape from mountain trolls. Next stop, England.

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Last stop: Russia!

In the furthest destination in our journey, we travel to Russia. Dmitri Shostakovich used his music to paint a picture of his war-torn homeland. His Symphony No. 10 recalls his memories of the tanks and soldiers, and he composed music that sounded as if you were living through a war. Examine what happens when sound changes its dynamic (from soft to loud--and from loud to louder) while listening to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10. Our journey's not over yet!