Teacher Materials
2022-2023 Symphony Concerts in the Schools
STRINGS ON THEMES: Folksong Themes and Variations for String Orchestra
Utah Symphony chamber/string orchestra education concerts – January/March 2023
A favorite method of many composers for exploring musical ideas is what we call “theme and variations.” In this kind of music creation, the composer establishes (most often) a melody and then tries it out in different settings – switching up the rhythm or the tempo, the dynamics, the key, or even the shape of the melody.
The musical numbers in our “Strings on Themes” concert use an established folk tune (or a melody created to sound like a folk tune) as the main theme, and then sprout into all kinds of inventive variations on that theme. All of the selections are compositions for strings-only orchestra, so “Strings on Themes” features the Strings Family of the Utah Symphony: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.
Concert Program: Click on the names of the composers to access brief biographies. Click on the names of the musical works to listen to recordings of the music.
FLORENCE PRICE: Oh My Darlin’ Clementine, Shortnin’ Bread, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint (by string quartet)
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Playful Pizzicato and Frolicsome Finale from Simple Symphony for String Orchestra
BELA BARTÓK: Allegro non troppo and Allegro assai from Divertimento for String Orchestra
JOHN RUTTER: A-Roving, O Waly Waly, and Dashing Away from Suite for Strings
Supplemental Teacher Materials
String Family Video Library
Music Core Curriculum Connections
The Utah Symphony’s “Strings on Themes” concert provides students with the opportunity to RESPOND to QUALITY MUSICAL WORKS and QUALITY PERFORMANCES as well as studying the structure that a “theme and variation” method creates in musical works.
Attending the concert and assessing it afterwards allows students to experience elements of Standards 1-4 in the RESPOND Strand of the Secondary Instrumental Music Core Curriculum:
- Respond to a musical performance by identifying the musical elements within a piece and in a given context, discus their effect on both listener and performers, and exhibit appropriate performance demeanor and audience concert etiquette.
- Consider, with guidance, how the use of musical elements helps predict the composer’s possible intent.
- Identify and describe, with guidance, the musical and structural elements that contribute to a quality musical work.
- Identify and describe, with guidance, the technical and musical skills evident in a quality performance.
Elementary Concert: “Symphonic Fairy Tales”
ONCE UPON A TIME… There were trolls, and princesses, and nutcrackers, oh my! Join the Utah Symphony as we explore some of your favorite fairy tales from around the world. We’ll make visits to Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Clara and her Nutcracker Prince, Peer Gynt, and Mexico! And we’ll learn how certain music elements (timbre, tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation) help to tell the various stories. We promise that your students will love watching these stories come to life through some iconic music.
Concert Program: Click on the names of the composers to access brief biographies. Click on the names of the musical works to listen to recordings of the music.
GRIEG: “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt
RAVEL: “Conversations of Beauty and the Beast” and “The Fairy Garden” from Mother Goose Suite
CHAVEZ: Selections from Sinfonia India
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: “The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship” and “Festival in Baghdad” from Scheherazade
TCHAIKOVSKY: “March of the Toy Soldiers”, “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy”, and “Trepak” from The Nutcracker
Corresponding Teacher Materials
Learn more about the elements of music through musical excerpts from the concert program in this 20-minute PowerPoint Presentation. It is designed to be “hands-free” in that as soon as you begin the presentation, it should be narrated and advance itself. Sit back and learn with your students!
Download PowerPoint PresentationTo stop the video at any time, use the Escape key rather than the space bar or forward button.
Secondary Concert: “Music of America”
Our diverse, multicultural American music of the 21st century is a product of unique folk
music combined with influences from people who came to America from all over the
world. Join the Utah Symphony as we take a look at all different kinds of American
music from many different backgrounds to experience some of the cultures that helped
create our big, diverse America.
Concert Program: Click on the names of the composers to access brief
biographies. Click on the names of the musical works to listen to recordings of the
music.
DVORÁK: Movement I: Adagio—Allegro molto and Movement II: Largo from the New World Symphony
FLORENCE PRICE: “Nimble Feet” from Dances in the Canebrakes
WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Movement III. “Animato” from Afro-American Symphony
CHÁVEZ: Excerpts from Sinfonia India
COPLAND: “Buckaroo Holiday” and “Hoe Down” from Rodeo
Music Core Curriculum Connections
The Utah Symphony’s “Strings on Themes” concert provides students with the opportunity to RESPOND to QUALITY MUSICAL WORKS and QUALITY PERFORMANCES as well as studying the structure that a “theme and variation” method creates in musical works.
Attending the concert and assessing it afterwards allows students to experience elements of Standards 1-4 in the RESPOND Strand of the Secondary Instrumental Music Core Curriculum:
- Respond to a musical performance by identifying the musical elements within a piece and in a given context, discus their effect on both listener and performers, and exhibit appropriate performance demeanor and audience concert etiquette.
- Consider, with guidance, how the use of musical elements helps predict the composer’s possible intent.
- Identify and describe, with guidance, the musical and structural elements that contribute to a quality musical work.
- Identify and describe, with guidance, the technical and musical skills evident in a quality performance.