Music for Teachers

I’ve recently been listening to music by Philip Glass, a composer who has often been described as ‘minimalist’ although he prefers to be thought of as a composer who works with patterns of sound. A recent (2006) recording by Naxos of the Symphony ‘Heroes’ is worthy of exploration in the classroom.

It uses as its inspiration the David Bowie album ‘Heroes’ - it does not try to give a simple orchestral rendering of the work but genuinely explores the themes in an orchestral texture. All the movements are based on tracks from the album, which was a collaboration between Brian Eno and Bowie.

Naxos is a superb label offering a massive range of material in a wide range of genre and at a low price.

For more information try the following links:

Naxos

Philip Glass - Heroes Symphony

David Bowie

Send two musical scores with recordings and an entry form (available here) - entries should last no longer than 5 minutes - no restrictions on instrumentations - closing date May 11th 2007 - why not try some of your GCSE students course work?

See the above link for the full rules.

Please draw your KS4 student’s attention to the revision materials on the BBC website at the following link

A new blog designed for GCSE students in Shropshire has been launched in partnership with the Music Department at Rhyn Park School and Performing Arts College (St Martins, North West Shropshire) and is currently under development. Any schools in Shropshire wishing to join this on-line community should contact me to discuss the level of access you wish your students to have. The aim is to build an active Music GCSE community where students can communicate on music issues with other students facing the same learning issues.