English Cultural Programme

THE MAGIC OF MAKING MUSIC by NAOMI WEDMAN

Naomi will create a space for the participants to literally experience life as a musician. This will include developing their own musical notation and creating original pieces which they will perform at the end of the session as a group activity.

Music as a form of communication – participants will experience communicating only through music, humming, clapping, singing, using items in the music room.

Music is a kind of language that assumes a significant position in culture; it is a thread that connects people, globally and locally. Does music reflect culture or does culture determine its own style of music? What is the purpose of music and what does it mean to us individually and collectively? In this workshop we will discuss the above questions and use them as a springboard to investigate the processes involved in making music.

Some topics we will consider are form, theory, evaluation, and methods of notation.

By the end of the session, participants will have experienced the art of composing and performing (essentially becoming musicians themselves) and they will have created at least one original piece of music.

THE OBOE AMONG THE WOODWINDS by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

THE OBOE AMONG THE WOODWINDS – its development from historical to modern instrument, its reeds and breathing technique.

The woodwind section in a symphony orchestra plays a predominant role within the whole ensemble. In this session the traditional set up of woodwinds will be viewed historically with the emphasis lying on the oboe. Thekla is an oboist and has been part of the woodwind section in several orchestras. She will go into detail about how the modern instrument we know today developed and what it requires in terms of reed making and other basics in order to make its idiosyncratic sound. We shall listen to her playing and demonstrating on different oboe instruments. The participants may also try out double reeds so as to experience the breathing technique involved.

BREATHING – VOICE TRAINING by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

Singing, including vocal exercises and enjoyable songs.

It is common knowledge how essential (and crucial) a good breathing technique is for everyday life. However in practice we can all do with exercising this theoretical knowledge, and Thekla, who has spent years concentrating on vocal training and choir singing, offers to help you do that in this session. This involves conscious breathing, exercises for relaxation and vocal training, as well, of course, simply singing songs together.

THEORY OF MUSIC AND EASY ACCOMPANIMENTS PUT INTO PRACTICE ON THE GUITAR by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

The basics of music theory can be best conveyed when putting them into practice almost simultaneously. A simple pattern of a cadence allows an easy accompaniment to a variety of popular songs. Thekla will bring her two guitars and would ask participants to bring some more so they could all ‘feel’ and experience in the flesh what it means to accompany on a chord instrument.

THE REQUIEM by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

THE REQUIEM – and some of its most beautiful examples in music.

‘Requiem’ stands for the Christian ceremony held for a person that has recently died, and at the same time it means the particular musical composition for that occasion. The tradition within the Catholic church spans centuries and in the session several excerpts from Requiems will be listened to, selected from a vast number of compositions. Interestingly, not only Catholic composers have felt inspired to set the given liturgical parts of a Requiem into music.

Thekla will play a representative choice and discuss them with the participants in order to approach the composers’ initial intentions and aims.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

Comparing both the original piano version by Maurice Ravel and the orchestral version by Modest Mussorgsky.

Arranging a piece of music has always been a particular challenge – for the composer as well as the listener. Modest Mussorgsky felt inspired by Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition and converted the piano music into a huge orchestral sound. It will be interesting to see how closely he stays with the original, where he wanders off, takes liberties and makes other choices.

Comparing the two famous compositions will lead to a discussion among the participants about which work is individually preferred and is apt to make a lasting personal impression.

TWO SONG CYCLES DEALING WITH WINTER by THEKLA VON DOMBOIS

Die Winterreise by Franz Schubert on the one hand, Winter Words by Benjamin Britten on the other – interpreting the poems and music.

‘Kunstlieder’ is a German term commonly used in the music world for these types of ‘literary’ and ‘arty’ songs, where music and lyrics merge wonderfully.

In this session one very well known song cycle, Die Winterreise (Voyage through Winter) by Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) and one slightly less well known, the Winter Words by Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) will be presented.

The psychological details of the poems can be traced in the music and it will be a great challenge to enter into the sophisticated world of singers who have chosen ‘Liedgesang’ – the performance of ‘Kunstlieder’, as their profession.