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Activities

Mendelssohn: Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 87

UNDERSTAND

  • What instrument would need to be removed from the instrumentation of this work to convert it from a string quintet to a string quartet?

ANALYZE

  • Mendelssohn composed this work when he was just 17 years old around the same time of his Octet. Compare and contrast these two works.

EVALUATE

  • Evaluate the effect of the added viola to the overall sound of this ensemble using musical examples from the work.

CREATE

  • Create a online timeline of Mendelssohn's life, noting the dates of works found in the CMS archive with facts from his life and work.

Shostakovich: Trio No. 2 in E minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 67

UNDERSTAND

  • One of the well-known melodies used in the final movement of this work is also found in a string quartet by Shostakovich. Use the CMS archive to find the name of that other work and in which movement of that work it is found.

ANALYZE

  • Compare this work to Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C minor composed for the same instrumentation. How does Shostakovich continue and/or break from traditional orchestration techniques in this work?

EVALUATE

  • The theme of this playlist is the "Power of Music." Evaluate how this piece conveys that theme.

CREATE

  • This work begins with the cello performing a melody in high, "whistling" tones produced by artificial harmonics. Learn more here about how artificial harmonics are produced and try playing these on a stringed instrument or on an instrument you build.

Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit for Piano

UNDERSTAND

  • The fist movement of this work is entitled Ondine referring to Undine, a water nymph who seduces observers into visiting her under water kingdom. How does this movement reflect this character?

ANALYZE

  • The musical gestures in Ondine are very similar to Ravel's earlier work Jeux d'eau("Playing Water"), also invoking water imagery. Compare the Ondine movement to Jeux d'eau.

EVALUATE

  • Defend or refute the view that this exemplifies impressionism.

CREATE

  • This work is inspired by three poems by Aloysius Betrand. Create your own collection of poems which would accompany each movement of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.

Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 60

UNDERSTAND

  • In what year was this work composed?

ANALYZE

  • Building on Bruce Adolphe's explanation in the accompanying Inside Chamber Musiclecture, discuss the relationships between this work and Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.

EVALUATE

  • Evaluate Brahms' particular form of Romanticism exemplified in this work as discussed in the accompanying Inside Chamber Music lecture by Bruce Adolphe.

CREATE

  • Imagine Brahms was living today and select another recent novel which shares the same themes of the Goethe novel which inspired Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor.

Bloch: Quintet No. 1 for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello

UNDERSTAND

  • During what years did the composer Ernest Bloch live?

ANALYZE

  • Compare this work to Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor found in this playlist.

EVALUATE

  • Evaluate the effectiveness of extended techniques, like pitch bending and extreme registers help convey the moods of this work.

CREATE

  • Using other concert videos in the CMS archive, create your own chamber music playlist conveying the "The Power of Music."