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Begone, dull care!Secondary Resource Pack – by Richard Knight

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Learning aBout the music To many people, not just children, learning about the theory and technicalities of music can seem a rather

arcane practice. It can be easy to think that music is for playing and singing, or for listening to, and that the academic stuff is optional and, frankly, only for geeks.

This, however, is to opt out of a much richer experience that music has to offer. If we understand something of how a particular song or piece is put together, why the composer has chosen certain patterns of notes, and what it is that makes the music have its intrinsic character, then we will be much more aware of the multi-dimensional aspects of the piece we are playing, singing or listening to, and its emotional impact on us will be greater.

It is possible to learn the theory of music as a separate, discrete discipline; most find that dull. Far better is to use the music that we know, the pieces that we are currently learning to play and sing, as the basis for our theoretical study. That way the theory that we are told is reinforced each subsequent time we play, sing or listen to the music.

The Friday Afternoons songs contain many ‘jumping off’ points for a teacher who is alive to this way of delivering the practical and the theoretical in tandem. The ‘Learning about the music’ pages of this resource contains some suggestions for such links covering melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, textural and structural topics. Feel free to invent more of your own!

Topics covered for ‘Begone, dull care!’ are: •Cmajor•Arpeggio•LegatoandStaccato

composing projects There is a widespread assumption that composition happens in some mystical way in which the primary

force is inspiration. Inspiration does play a part, but there is a huge amount of technique that is only learned through study and mental perspiration.

The aspiring composer can gain much from looking at the works of great composers and asking him, or herself: ‘how does that work?’. Britten’s music lends itself to this approach, because his is so clearly a creative approach to composition, and each of the Friday Afternoons songs provides excellent examples of specific techniques used skilfully and to good effect.

The‘Composingprojects’pagesofthisresourcehasanumberofprojectsthataredesignedtoincreasethe range of skills that a young composer has in their composer’s kit bag. Most of the suggested projects target some aspect of compositional technique. Exploring these ideas should broaden the reach of a young composer and give their work greater variety and conviction.

For each song, the final composing project is a more ‘inspiration’ based idea, using the song as a jumping off point for a more artistic kind of composition work. Inevitably, different pupils respond better to alternative approaches.

Composingprojectscoveredfor‘Begone,dullcare!’are:•Melodiccontour•Buildingaphrase•Alternativechordchoices•Contrastingtextures•Creatingadullmood

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Learning aBout the music Topics to consider for this song: •Cmajor•Arpeggio•LegatoandStaccato

c major Many musicians will be able quickly to identify the key of this song: there are no sharps or flats in the key

signature (indeed, only one accidental in the whole song) and almost immediately the music creates the positive,brightmoodofamajorkey–Cmajor.

Many find it more difficult to say what it means to be ‘in a key’. In simple terms, the key organises all 12 different notes into an order of importance. Therefore, music does not merely create a sense of key by the composer writing a key signature; the actual music the composer writes needs to make significant use of the notes that are most important to the key, and less use of others (and maybe no use at all of the notes that are of least importance to the key).

We can see this very much in evidence in this song. The most important note is the tonic, or key note, (weactuallyuse‘keynote’tomeanimportant:e.g.‘keynotespeaker’).AmongthewaysinwhichBrittenemphasisesthenote‘C’are:

•Thefirstdownbeatofthepiece,whereitisaccented

•Thefirstnoteofthevocalline

•Thefirstnoteofthesecondphraseofthevocalline

•Thefirstnoteofthethirdphraseofthevocalline

•Thelastnoteoftheverse(and,therefore,ofthesong)

•Whereverheusesasfmarking,‘C’isatthetopandatthebottomofthepianochord

The second most important note in a key is the 5th degree: it is called the ‘dominant’ after all! You might like to discuss with your pupils where important ‘G’s occur that help to emphasise further the sense of key.

Afterthedominant,thenextmostimportantisthe3rd:thischaracterisesthemusicasmajororminor.HereBrittenhaschosentowriteinCmajor,andtheEnaturalisemphasisedbybeingthetopnoteofthetune (at least, until a final high F in the last line of verse 2).

Inanykey,therearesevendifferentnotesthatbelongtothescaleofthekey(inthiscaseA,B,C,D,E,F and G – the white notes of the piano), and the other five notes less important than these. Nonetheless, oneofthosefive(inthiscasetheblacknotesofthepiano)ismoreimportantthantheotherfour.Askyourpupils to look at the music and consider which of the five notes it might be.

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arpeggio Thethreemostimportantnotesofakeyarethe1st,3rdand5th.Togethertheyformthetonicchord:

inthiscaseCmajor–seethedownbeatofb.5asaclearexample.WheredoesthenextCmajorchordoccur? How does it differ from the first one in b.5?

If you play the notes of a chord one after another, instead of all at the same time, the result is an arpeggio. Britten finishes his introduction with an arpeggio:

Askyourpupilswhatoccursinthelefthandofthepianoatthispoint.

Most pupils who are learning to play an instrument and taking their grades will have come across arpeggios. Exams require certain aspects such as how many octaves, which notes to start on, and going up andthendown.Arpeggioscanbemoreflexible,however.

Somepupilsmightliketoexperimentplayingarpeggiosontheirinstruments;otherwiseyoumightlikeencourage everyone to sing the following:

Thearpeggio-basedmelodythatmanypupilswillrecogniseisthe‘MontaguesandCapulets’themefromProkofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet score.

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I like to sing ar peg- gi- os:- Let's sing an ar peg- gi- o- now!

C major arpeggio

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Legato and staccato The piano part of ‘Begone, dull care!’ contains a fascinating mix of legato and staccato playing. You might

like to teach your pupils the following ditty to sing that should help to cement an understanding of these two terms:

Now try playing the piano part (possibly at a slower tempo than usual) of ‘Begone, dull care!’ to your pupils, and ask them to raise a hand whenever they hear staccato playing.

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Le ga- to;- stac ca- to!- Le ga- to;- stac ca- to!-

Le ga- to,- le ga- to,- le ga- to;- stac ca to!-

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composing projects There are five projects for this song: •Melodiccontour:Atechniqueforgivingamelodyastrongsenseofenergy•Buildingaphrase:Makingthemostofyourfirstfewnotes•Alternativechordchoices:Findingminorchordsinamajorkey•Contrastingtextures:Asimplewaytousetexturetocreatestructure•Creatingadullmood:Imaginingtheatmospherebeforethesongstarts

meLodic contour The short introduction to this song immediately creates a lively, positive mood.

Here is the right hand of the piano part:

Point out the figure indicated by the bracket here: a kind of musical wiggle, which gives energy and humourtothestartofthepiece.Tryplayingthistunewithoutthewiggle:playacrotchetCinb.1andacrotchet E in b.2: the result is much less appealing and spirited.

Britten uses this figure in the piano to punctuate his song: between each phrase it usually makes some sort of appearance. Try playing just the accompaniment to your pupils and ask them to raise a hand every time they hear the wiggle. (You may like to point out the connection between the very start of the introduction and the last bar of the song too.)

Britten was not the first to use this kind of melodic wiggle. Here, for instance, is the start of Mozart’s overture to the Marriage of Figaro:

Here,again,thewiggleinbars1and3helpstomakethisanopeningfullofvigourandzest.

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Presto

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The same simple trick can be used to liven up quite serious (and maybe even rather dull) melodies. For example:

Askpupilstoinventtheirownwigglymelodyfollowingtheseexamples.Pointstobearinmindare:

•Thewiggleiscreatedbyalternatingbetweentwoneighbouringnotes.Itmightbehelpfultovocalisethisas ‘ya-ba-da-badum’

•Thewiggleismosteffectivewhenitappearsonthedownbeat.Theexampleswehavelookedat(startingwiththeBritten)areeitherin2or3time

•Alloftheexampleswehavelookedatproducethewigglebymakingthesecondnoteinthepatternasteplowerthanthefirstnote.Somepupilsmightliketoexperimentwiththesecondnoteastephigher

•Pupilsshouldaimforamelodyofuptotenbarsforamelodicinstrumentoftheirchoice

Here is an example:

You might like to organise a classroom performance of this tune first. Maybe you have an instrumentalist whowouldliketoplaythewholetune.Alternatively,youcouldgivethetwonotesofeach‘wiggle’toonepupil,andworkonacollaborativeeffort.Chordsareprovidedtoenableyoutoaccompanythis.

BuiLding a phrase The song has two verses, each with four lines. Britten uses the same tune (give or take a small alteration

toaidthewordunderlay)forlines1and2.Thenhewritesthisphraseforline3:

This is essentially the same bar three times in a row. There is a slight difference of rhythm to ease word setting,butcomparethistoverse2(bars38–42)andyouwillseethesimilarityreinforced.

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Long time hast thou been tar ry- ing- here and fain thou would'st me kill.

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Inexperienced composers often use up a huge number of ideas in a short space of time, with the result that the listener is presented with a bewildering mix of different musical figures. If a shape appeals, it is worth using more than once, and Britten shows that this can be immediately.

Heisnotalone.HereisafamousthemefromVivaldi’s‘Autumn’fromThe Four Seasons:

Britten’srepeatingshapeisessentiallyjustfournotes:A–G–F–C.Vivaldi’sisevensimpler.Buttheshorterthe musical idea, the more easily it will stick in the listener’s mind when you repeat it. Mozart even manages to do it with just two notes at the start of his Eine kleine Nachtmusik:

Askpupilstocomposeamelodythatbeginswiththesameveryshortideathreetimes.Theymightwanttoreturn to this motif in the second half of their tune. Points to bear in mind are:

•Therepeatingfigureatthestartshouldcomprisenomorethansixnotes.Italsoneedstobeexactlyonebar in length (or possibly half a bar, as in the Mozart example given above)

•Itisoftenbestiftherepeatingfigureincludesmorethanonenotevalue.TheBrittenexamplehasevenquavers but also a dotted quaver and semiquaver figure; the Vivaldi also has a dotted pattern plus even notes

•Pupilsshouldaimforamelodyofuptotenbarsforamelodicinstrumentoftheirchoice

Here is an example:

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Be gone,- dull care! I pri thee- be gone- from me!

I IVc I (unison) V

Finding minor chords in a major key Inverse1,BrittenaccompaniestheopeningphrasewiththethreemajorchordsavailableinCmajor:C(=

chordI),F(=chordIV)andG(=chordV:forwhichheusesaslightlyspicyversion):

Thisprovidesanopportunitytoexplainthat,inanymajorkey,chordsI,IVandVwillbemajor.Also,thesethree chords between them contain every note of the major scale; therefore, it is possible to harmonise any (diatonic) melody using these three chords alone.

These three chords are known as the primary triads.

The disadvantage with this, however, is that the harmony all becomes the same bright, major colour. Three further chords are available – II, III and VI – that are minor and change the colour of the music, whilst remaining ‘in’ the major key.

These three chords are known as the secondary triads.

Britten is aware of this possibility, and when he starts the second verse, he uses two of these alternative chords:Aminor(=chordVI)andEminor(=chordIII).Youmightliketoaskyourpupilswhatitisaboutthe words of the two verses that make this change appropriate.

Ifyouchooseyourmelodynotescarefully,youmakethisoptionpossible,asthischart(whichrelatestoCmajor as the key) shows:

melody notes major chord that fits minor chord that fits

CandE Cmajor Aminor (Dasapassingnote) (I) (VI)

FandA Fmajor Dminor (G as a passing note) (IV) (II)

G and B G major E minor (Aasapassingnote) (V) (III)

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Askpupilstocomposeamelodythatcanbeharmonisedusingeitherprimaryorsecondarytriads.Pointsto bear in mind are:

•Eachbarshoulduseonlythenotesgiveninoneoftheboxesintheleft-handcolumnofthechartabove

•Themelodyshouldbeeightbarslong

•Whenthemelodyiscomplete,pupilscanfindtwodifferentchordprogressionsthatfitthetune,usingeither the middle or the right-hand column to guide the chord choice

•Ofcourse,itispossibletomixandmatchmajorandminorchords.Pupilsmayfindthattheversiontheylike best combines some primary and some secondary chords

Here is an example using primary triads:

Here is an example using secondary triads:

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contrasting textures Many young composers find the piano a challenging instrument for which to write: they assume a pianist

always needs chords to play and this tests both harmonic understanding and the control of spacing and texture.

However, this is not always necessary. It is interesting to look at Britten’s writing for the piano in this song. Frequently the two hands are doing the same thing – single notes – an octave apart. This means that chords are not a consistent feature, but can be used to provide contrast, articulate certain words (e.g. ‘Begone,dullcare!’)andtoprovideasenseofpatterninthestructure.Forinstance,inbars14-17thepiano is in octaves except for the final quaver of each bar.

Suggesttopupilsthattheywriteashortpianopieceinwhichchordsareusedsparingly,butwithaclearsense of pattern and purpose.

The advantages of this are:

•Fewernotesareneededforapianocomposition

•Chordsareusedmoretopunctuatethestructureratherthanfortheirsenseofharmonicprogression

•Thechangesbetweenunison/octavetextureandchordsbringsastrongcontrasttothemusic

•Pupilsarelearningtodevelopamorecreativeapproachtotheinstrumentsforwhichtheyarewriting

Here is an example:

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Presto

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creating a duLL mood Britten’s song is all about finding the energy to overcome a dull mood: ‘My wife shall dance and I will

sing, and merrily pass the day’. The music therefore has lots of energy and sparkle; Britten tells the performers that the music should be sung and played ‘with spirit’.

But how about the mood that must have existed before the song starts?

SomepupilsmightliketocreateapieceofmusictowhichBritten’ssongistheantidote:averydullpieceof music. The following set of questions might help them to choose some appropriate elements to the music for this dull ‘prequel’ to the song:

•Shouldthetempobefastorslow?

•Dotherhythmsneedtobecomplicatedorsimple?

•Willthepitchbemoreeffectivehighorlow?

•Willthemusicneedawidedynamicrange?

•Willthestyleofplayingbebetterstaccatoorlegato?

You might suggest to them that they also find out what a ‘dirge’ is…

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