Download MUSIC LITERACY FACT SHEET TITLE 1. “Birdsong

MUSIC LITERACY FACT SHEET TITLE 1. “Birdsong -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------STYLE PERIOD/GENRE 1. Contemporary 2. Choral Music -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------COMPOSER/ARRANGER/EDITOR 1. Paul Read -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------COMPOSER INFO 1. Pianist, saxophonist, composer and arranger Paul Read is Director of Graduate Jazz Studies at the University of Toronto where he teaches graduate courses, ensembles, and theory and conducts the 10 O’clock Jazz Orchestra. Besides earning degrees in music and education at the University of Toronto, Paul also studied at Berklee College (Boston). His compositions and arrangements are published with Boosey & Hawkes, UNC Jazz Press, Beldriana, and Warner Bros. He has appeared at the Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival, in Toronto jazz clubs and broadcasts on CJRT.FM and CBC and has recorded 6 CDs as pianist/arranger and conductor. His recording, The Heart of Summer (2004), features Barry Elmes, Kieran Overs and New York based saxophonist, Scott Robinson. He also leads his own 18 piece professional big band, P.R.O. (Paul Read Orchestra). Paul is founder of the NMC (National Music Camp) Jazz Program and is a member of the Executive Board of the International Association for Jazz Education (Canada Representative).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TEXT 1. By an unkown child in the Terezin Concentration Camp Czechoslovakia. Birdsong is a celebration of life. The text comes from a collection of poems written by children , who, while incarcerated in the Terezin Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, wrote of their experiences and their dreams. In Birdsong the young author writes of the beauty of the world rather than of the horrors and destruction of the then present circumstances. The text’s positibe and uplifting message is all the more striking when placed against the backdrip of war and the loss of personal freedom. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SOUND 1. 2 – part treble voices. 2. piano -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------HARMONY 1. Major 2. Key changes 3. Darker with jazz overtones -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MELODY 1. Bouncy (many skips/leaps) 2. Clear (often times all voices in unison) 3. Unpredictable -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RHYTHM 1. Gentle 2. Dancelike (celebration) 3. Always in motion 4. Tempo – quarter note = 88, then quarter note = 108 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GROWTH/FORM 1. AABA -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TIME SIGNATURE 1. 4/4 (four beats in each measure, the quarter note equals one beat -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------KEY SIGNATURE 1. Eb Major (3 flats) 2. C Major (no # or b’s) 3. A Major (3 sharps) 4. F# Major ( 6 sharps) 5. Then back to Eb Major -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IMPORTANT TERMS/SYMBOLS/SIGNS

poco accel. (poco accelerando) – gradually speed up little by little ff (fortissimo) – very loud f (forte) – loud mf (mezzo-forte) – medium loud mp (mezzo-piano) – medium soft rit. (ritardando) = gradually get slower unis. (unison) – voice parts or sections sing together subito - suddenly C = common time, 4/4 – four counts per measure, the quarter note gets one count 2/4 = two counts per measure, the quarter note gets one count

(crescendo) – gradually get louder (decrescendo) – gradually get quieter (softer)

(fermata) – hold longer than the original intended note value Quarter note = 88 Quarter note = 108 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTEWORTHY