Length of activity
- 15 minutes + extra time for the art activity.
You will need
- Blank paper
- Pencil
- Screen or device, with access to the video below or click here to launch the video on YouTube
- Art materials – coloured pencils, textas, crayons, paints, etc
Video lesson
Play the following video and listen as Sharon talks you through the musical composition activity.
The Four Seasons poems or ‘sonnets’ that Sharon refers to can be found on the Additional Information sheet.
Music Listening Activity
Watch these two videos about the Four Seasons.
- Why you should listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – TED-Ed Talk by Betsy Schwarm
- The Four Seasons Listening Guide
Composition Activity
The time is here – you finally get to compose your own piece! Follow these steps:
- Choose an existing poem or write your own. This will be the “story” that your composition is based on. You can find some poetry on this website, or the Additional Information sheet for this lesson.
- Think about what kinds of sounds and mood you are going to want to have in your piece to match the poem.
- Create a key / symbols for the sounds you have decided to use. You can use the symbols you created in Lesson Seven, and/or you might like to create some new ones as well.
- Make sure you consider how you would want the musician to read the piece – it might be left to right, or right to left, or top to bottom, or in a circle. The choice is yours but make sure you give clear instructions.
- Create your graphic notation for your musical composition. Use A4 or A3 paper - and you might need to stick two together if you need more space.
- It would be great for you to write the poem somewhere on the notation, or attach it separately.
Share your artwork with us here for a chance to have it performed and recorded by an ACO musician.
Additional information
Click here to find additional information about the content of this lesson.
