Melody

Discovery Orchestra Chat 110 – Another Effective Surprise

All surprises in life feel the way they do because of the unexpected aspect of the surprise. Composers can create “musical surprises” – see how in this Chat featuring pianist…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 109 – Follow that Subject

A fugue’s main melody is called its “subject”. Maestro Maull explores different subjects using Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 performed by The Discovery Orchestra and Bach’s Unaccompanied Sonata No. 1…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 108 – The Land of 6th’s and Octaves

When composers want to add harmony to a melody, there are a number of ways they can do it. Learn more in this Discovery Orchestra Chat, featuring high-school musicians Katie…

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Are you Listening?

Classical Music Is So Relaxing!

Or is it? One of the things frequently said about classical music is: “I love classical music because it’s so relaxing!” When I encounter this observation I can only think…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 100 – Piano Transcriptions Part 1

Maestro Maull and pianist Stephen Wu use Christoph Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirit to investigate piano transcription.  Be sure to continue with Part 2.

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 99 – Effective Surprise

George explores another composer whose music seems, on the surface, incredibly simple yet is filled with wonderful effective surprises – Frederic Chopin! He uses Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20 in C…

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Your “listening guide” amazes me, in that it is a means of illustrating the role of various instrumental sections in communicating and “telling” a story. My background is science and technology so the 1 -1 ½ hours listening to a symphony with your presentation was an exciting learning experience I was not expecting.You are an exceptional talent and personality to be able to introduce someone like myself to the very complicated language of a symphony.

— Outreach Program Attendee