Encourage the students to pretend that they are Prince Esterhazy, and that they are looking for a new Kapellmeister. Ask them to write a job advertisement outlining the duties of the position and the type of person you are looking for. Encourage them to write down details of the Esterhaza palace where the applicant will live and work.

Stretch the classes imagination and pretend that T.V. talk shows existed in the 18th century. Have the students pretend they are an interviewer and they are interviewing Haydn after one of his successful tours of London. Talk about a concert, the people Haydn met, Haydn’s opinion of the current fashion trends and anything else of interest. Don’t forget that Haydn was known for his great wit! This could be done as a class discussion, or you could break off into small groups to do the activity.

Another activity is to have the students research the 18th Century ‘Symphony’. Include information on the standard instrumentation (instruments used), the number of movements and any other interesting facts. Have them find out which other composers wrote symphonies.

Listening List and other resources for learning about Mozart in the music class.

Mozart Requiem Mass in D Minor Confutatis and Lacrimosa

Piano Concerto no. 21 2nd movement: Andante

Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Allegro

Symphony no 40 in g minor: 1st movement

Jean Honore Fragonard: A Young Girl Reading

Symphony No. 45 “The Farewell Symphony”: 4th Movement

This video recording is an entertaining version showing the musicians leaving the stage during the last movement, as they did in the first performance of this work in 1772.

Trumpet Concerto: 3rd Movement

This video recording features a young female trumpet virtuoso from Norway. It would be inspirational to any young brass players in the class. The video also exhibits the process involved in making a musical recording.

The Creation: The First Day (excerpts)

Resource List
Classics for Kids has a 6 minute radio show about the life of Haydn with musical excerpts. It has a particularly good description of how many of Haydn’s works ended up with nicknames.

This link takes you to a site with photos of the kind of clothes worn during the 18th century.

Art Link

Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”

Before beginning this activity with the class, write a selection of emotions/moods on individual small pieces of paper (e.g. frightened, perplexed, rolling on the floor with laughter, chilled out, just been stung by a bee etc.) You could even come up with these as a class. Now choose a short phrase such as “I think it might rain”. Choose students to come out and randomly pick one of those pieces of paper.

They must then say that phrase in the mood or emotion that their paper suggests, using changes of pitch, body language and speed of speech to best represent it. The class tries to guess which emotion the chosen student was acting out. Try as many of these as possible.

Now discuss how a single melody can be altered to give a variety of effects. Music that does this is called a set of “Variations”.

Listen to a very short excerpt from the very beginning of Mozart’s 12 Variations and identify what we know this song as today (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star). Have the students write up a chart, or do it as a class listing the different variations and their similarities.

Listening List

Mozart Requiem Mass in D Minor Confutatis and Lacrimosa

Piano Concerto no. 21 2nd movement: Andante

Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Allegro

Symphony no 40 in g minor: 1st movement

You Tube

Note: The theme from this movement became the tune for the German national anthem. Listening to a recording of the anthem first may assist with recognition of the theme in the listening activity.

Listening Activity: “The Emperor” String Quartet

This piece is a “Theme and Variations”, as it begins with a tune and that tune is repeated fout times with different instrumentation. Divide the class into 3 groups representing the violins, the viola and the cello. As the class listens to the music, they stand up if their group is the instrument playing the melody. The violins and viola will be difficult to distinguish the first time.

For reference, a list of the instruments playing the main theme in each variation is included below:

Theme: violin 1
Variation 1: Violin 2
Variation 2: Cello
Variation 3: Viola
Variation 4: Violin 1

You can then find recordings of the two instruments and listen for the differences in sound. You may like to consider the following topics:

What does each of the instruments sound like?
Can you think of any factors in either instrument that may influence the way the music sounds?
Which instruments sound do you prefer?
Do you think Handel would have liked the piano?
Recently musicians have been seeking to perform baroque music on instruments from the era. Why do you think they would do that?

One of Handel’s best known works is the oratorio The Messiah. Imagine that you are in the audience of that first performance of the Messiah. On the way out, you are stopped to be interviewed by the local television news (…just use your imagination!). What do you tell them about it? Choose someone to be the interviewer, with a brief introduction and video record the responses of the “audience” members.

Design a Facebook profile for J.S. Bach. You’ll want to include some basic information like when his birthday is, his relationship status and Relgious Views, “Personal Information” (Contact details, Education and Work), “Friends” (any significant people who lived at the same time as Bach) and finally you’ll want to add some “groups” that Bach may have belonged in. Find a photo on the internet to finish off the project. Students not familiar with Facebook could design a passport.

Have a class discussion about what you would say if you could invite J.S. Bach to your house for a cup of tea. Make a list of three questions you would like to ask him about his life or the time in history that he lived. Have a class discussion on what the answers would be or choose a student to be Bach and ask them some of the questions. The class could even bring in some traditional german food such as gingerbread to share to complete this activity.

Find a work of art on the internet that was created around the same time that Bach was alive. Do some research to find some of the ways that the art work reflects the same Baroque style that Bach’s music does.

Here is a listening activity to help with showing students about Mozart.

Mozart Serenade No 10 In B Flat Major K 361 III Adagio