Study of the Composers- Link Up (10/27/11)

Aah…back to the composers. This week we are studying Handel. I found it interesting that his name is Georg Friedrich Handel in German and George Frideric Handel in English. They are basically the same but he had it changed for his naturalization papers. Just an interesting tidbit

We enjoyed listening to Hallelujah (or really it is titled Messiah). Reading, it said that this is the piece that most often comes to mind when thinking of Handel. I, for one (and I know my kids fit in this category as well lol), had no idea who Handel was or the piece we listened to was not titled Hallelujah. But that is what ‘study’ is for; to learn.

Since a piece is not suggested for Water Music, we had to look for it. I personally was not looking forward to listening to an hour of this…but we did find a short, ten minute bit of it. Here is the youtube video:

Or here is one I just found that is only 3:26, by the four talented ladies of Vanilla Mood (who I’d never heard of):

Basically, as you might have guessed from our previous composer study link ups, we are using A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers from Bright Ideas Press (can be purchased from Timberdoodle). We don’t venture much past what is in the book…although we might

I did wonder what a timpani is and looked it up. When we were listening to Music for the Royal Fireworks, we intently focused just so we could hear the ‘ba-bum’ of the drums! I could hear them before I realized what they were. Lee, of course, could hear the trumpets the best. She loves the trumpet

Here is a video of Music for the Royal Fireworks:

Have a look at the others on the same page.

I have to mention Fox’s coloring, uh, creation during this study. Lately, he and Lee have created Pokemon-like creatures…and he seems to be obsessed with them. While listening and answering questions about Handel, he drew creatures on his coloring page. I asked him to stop unless he could make them more fitting to the subject at hand. Of course…he did. They became instrument playing, singing creatures… lol. It made for an interesting picture

Have you done some composer study this week? Link up with us at …a teaching heart…