Heitor VillaLobos Bachianas brasileiras No 2 The Little Train of the Caipira finale Primary KS2 2 nd Level Classroom Lesson Plan Written by Rachel Leach Trailblazer VillaLobos led the way bringing the melodies and sounds of music from his home country Brazil into a traditional orche ID: 767198
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Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas brasileiras No. 2, The Little Train of the Caipira (finale) Primary / KS2 / 2nd Level Classroom Lesson Plan Written by Rachel Leach
Trailblazer Villa-Lobos led the way, bringing the melodies and sounds of music from his home country, Brazil, into a traditional orchestral setting
Lesson outcomes After this lesson, pupils will be able to: listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music create their own piece of music using instruments and voiceperform as an ensemblelearn musical language appropriate to the task
Curriculum checklist Learners will: play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of musiclisten with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
Glossary of music terms Term DefinitionAccelerando Gradually getting faster (opposite: ritenuto or rallentando)CrescendoGradually getting louder (opposite: decrescendo or diminuendo)Motif A very short musical ‘idea’ – often just a sound or a rhythm Off-beat the ‘weak’ beats between the strong ‘on-beats’ of the pulse Ostinato a repeating (often rhythmic) pattern Pitched percussion percussion instruments that can play different pitches – xylophones, glockenspiels, chime bars, etc. Programme music tells a story or describes an event, place, emotion Tempo another word for speed Unpitched percussion percussion instruments that can only make a limited number of sounds – drums, shakers, woodblocks, tambourines, etc.
Lesson 1 Watching and listening
Background – the composer Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887–1959)Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, pianistThe ‘best-known South American composer of all time’ Wrote more than 2,000 works in his lifetime
Background – the music Bachianas brasileiras No. 2, The Little Train of the Caipira ( finale)Bachianas brasileiras (Brazilian Bachian pieces) are a set of suites written between 1930 and 1945. They skillfully combine Brazilian folk music with Baroque (Bach) harmonies and techniquesEach movement of the suites has a ‘Bachian’ title such as ‘toccata’ and a more descriptive, Brazilian titleDescribes a short journey by stream train through the Brazilian countryside This piece is ‘programmatic’ – i.e. it tells a story
W atch the orchestral performance
Draw a picture of the vehicle that you think the music is describing
Lesson 2 Speeding up, slowing down
Try warming up using sounds of a train woo-woochugga-chuggaall-aboard!
Practise pulse using body percussion and then instruments. Beat a steady rhythm and then: Accelerando = speeding upRitenuto = slowing down
Lesson 3 Train rhythms
Play these rhythms with your percussion instruments – keep them as steady as you can!
Can you suggest some instruments to use that would sound like banging and clanking machine sounds?
Lesson 4 Train ostinatos
Recap all of the pulse and rhythms you’ve been working on, using body percussion
Let’s create an ostinato ! Think of a sentence about travel, and repeat this over a steady pulse
Use these four pitches, borrowed from Villa-Lobos Come up with a melody to fit your sentence
Lesson 5 The little melody
The final ingredient! Look at this, the first phrase of Villa-Lobos’ real melody Add some words to it!
Put together the whole jigsaw, using a similar structure to Villa-Lobos
Lesson 6 Performance time!
Think about what the disruption will be in your piece – it should come as a surprise to the listener!
Practise and perform!
Taking it further – cross-curricular activities MUSIC: Villa-Lobos was inspired by another BBC Ten Pieces composer J.S. Bach – listen to his ‘Toccata and Fugue in D minor’. John Adams’ ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’ also describes a journey and is featured in BBC Ten Pieces. LITERACY: Write a story about an imaginary journey through Brazil on this little train and have a look at images of the real train and journey online. RESEARCH: Villa-Lobos had a really eventful life. After his father died he travelled all over South America and had lots of adventures. It is thought that some of these adventures were completely made up. Research his story and write his biography – it doesn’t have to be true! UPLOAD: Show us what you’ve created! Submit your creative responses using our Uploader for a chance to be featured on the Ten Pieces website .