Episode 1 Play On!

ORCHESTRA TUNES UP

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

Sound familiar?

Some people say these eight notes

could be the most famous line of music ever written.

PLAYS INTRO

It's not exactly a shy start, is it?

PLAYS INTRO

This is music that lets you know it's arrived.

But where is it taking you?

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

Can you hear that repeating pattern of notes?

'That's called a motif, and it moves all around the orchestra.'

The notes sound like birds escaping, flying off in all directions,

shooting high in the air like mountains,

or swooping low down below your feet.

But it also sounds to me like it could be two men

arguing about who's the best dancer.

The first one goes "Hey look at me."

The second one goes, "What is it now?"

And then he starts to dance.

De-de-de-la-de-de-de-la- de-de-de-la...

De-de-de-la-de-de-de-la- de-de-de-la...

Then he goes, "Wow that was good, what about this?"

And then HE starts dancing.

And just when you're looking for somewhere to catch your breath,

the music starts again, driving forwards.

It's like a whirlwind.

Just when you think you're through the other side,

the music taps you on the shoulder and says,

"Eh, not so fast, the ride isn't over yet."

For me, this music is full of fire and passion,

just like the guy who wrote it - Ludwig Van Beethoven.

He was born in 1770,

and at the age of 22, he moved to Vienna in Austria,

ready to change music forever.

Beethoven was a wild, angry musical storm, rushing through the city.

So do you think when the rich people asked him to play piano

at their parties, he gave them the nice, pretty music

they were expecting?

PLAYS CHEERFUL TUNE

Not a chance. This was Beethoven.

He gave them dramatic and exciting music.

PLAYS DRAMATIC CHORDS

Music that matched the way he was feeling while he was playing it.

And anything that got in the way,

whether it was candlesticks or drinks, even people,

were sent flying.

Beethoven didn't care. He wasn't there to make them feel nice.

He was there to make them feel alive!

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

A symphony is a big piece of music written for the whole orchestra,

and Beethoven composed nine of them at his piano.

But by the time he was composing his fifth symphony,

the one we're hearing now, something terrible was happening to him.

Beethoven, a man who loved making music

more than anything else in the world, was going deaf.

Can you imagine that?

PLAYS MUTED NOTES

SPEECH MUTED

-SOUND RETURNS

-Oh, that's better.

But Beethoven was brave, and he was determined,

and every day he would sit at his piano working out his symphonies,

even though he couldn't hear them.

Think about that.

Beethoven had to remember the sound of the flute.

He had to hear the sound of every single instrument of the orchestra

in his head.

That's like asking an artist to paint a picture of a landscape

without showing it to them first.

That's exactly what Beethoven did with music.

He was a genius.

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

How amazing is that?

Beethoven took years to write the Fifth Symphony,

cos he couldn't quite finish it off.

He would go away and write other pieces of music,

and then come back to it. So it's not just an epic piece of music.

It took him an epic amount of time to write it.

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

I like Beethoven in particular

because his music is his personality.

You don't have to describe the kind of guy he is,

just listen to what he has created. That's Beethoven.

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

Beethoven's fifth symphony is full of twists and turns.

And all the way through, the musical notes, just like birds,

are trying to find a place to rest together.

And at the end, it's triumphant and happy.

Almost like all the instruments have finally found their way home.

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

But what do you think?

How do you feel after Beethoven's musical journey?

MUSIC: "Fifth Symphony" By Beethoven

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

How does this music make you feel?

Very strong or very scared?

Are you preparing for a battle or running from your enemy?

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

I get so excited knowing that music can make you see things

you'll never see in real life.

Listening to this piece,

I think I'm an astronaut travelling through space,

maybe with one of the first creatures to be sent up there,

like Laika the dog.

DOG WHIMPERS

Laika and I travel to Mars, full of excitement.

When we get there, we discover an orchestra

deep in one of the underground caves on Mars, playing this very piece.

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

Can you believe music this loud and fiery

was written by a quiet and shy Englishman?

His name was Gustav Holst,

and as well as writing music, he was a teacher in a school.

He was also interested in astrology -

the idea that the different planets up in the sky

might affect how we feel down here on earth.

Holst thought music would be the perfect way

to show these different moods.

He started off with Mars,

a planet which was named after the Roman god of war.

For this planet, Holst wanted to create music that felt powerful,

strong, and even angry.

He decided to call this piece "Mars, The Bringer of War."

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

Holst wrote Mars in 1914, before the First World War started,

but it wasn't played until the war was over in 1918.

That war must have been a horrible and frightening experience,

and I wonder if some of the audience were thinking of those experiences

when they heard this terrifying piece of music for the first time.

So, does this music make you think of war?

Maybe the marching rhythm reminds you of an army preparing to fight.

And what about the booming beats on the big drums?

They're called timpani, and Holst uses them a lot.

What do those timpani sound like to you?

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

Holst wrote a different composition for each planet.

You can hear this one for Venus sounds very different.

Holst called this "Venus, The Bringer of Peace."

How do you feel listening to this?

MUSIC: "Venus, The Bringer of Peace" By Gustav Holst

I used to listen to classical music by candlelight,

and it was so powerful, because I couldn't see anything,

it was complete darkness, and with a candle,

my mum would be at the piano playing beautiful pieces of music

that were very moving and very inspiring.

And I couldn't believe that something

that I couldn't see or touch was making me feel such strong emotions.

Modern film composers often write music like Mars for movies,

and I bet you've heard pieces like this in the cinema,

perhaps while battles in space or invasions of Earth

are happening on screen.

Some of the melodies and chords in this music

are so tense and colourful, I'm frightened.

But I'm imagining things in my mind and heart,

and like when you watch a scary movie,

I love the feeling of being on the edge of my seat.

This is just my reaction, though,

and you may hear the sound of space or war,

or hear the music in a completely different way.

That's the great thing - it's your music.

The only thing you really need to know is how to press play,

and then after that you can let the orchestra

take you wherever you want.

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

Mars finishes with an explosion of music -

music that sounds as big as a planet to me.

At first, the melody seems to fade away into the distance.

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

But then, listen for the surprise attack.

MUSIC CRESCENDOES

It's loud enough to make your bones rattle.

I wonder how you feel at the end?

Are you running for your life,

or safe and strong on top of the world?

MUSIC: "Mars, The Bringer of War" By Gustav Holst

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Winter" By Antonio Vivaldi

Can music sound like the world around you?

Can it sound like the wind?

Or a summer afternoon?

Listening to this music, do you feel chilly or warm?

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Winter" By Antonio Vivaldi

Well, I feel cold.

The violins sound like dripping icicles,

and freezing cold air biting at my skin.

But this music can take you right through the year,

because now I can hear the sound of the spring sun

bursting through the clouds.

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Spring" By Antonio Vivaldi

Until in the heat of the summer, a fierce storm approaches.

Now the cellos sound like thunder,

and the violins are wind and rain, swirling around me.

This is the kind of music

that changes as fast as the British weather.

And has just as many moods.

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Summer" By Antonio Vivaldi

All of this music came from the imagination

of an Italian man called Antonio Vivaldi.

He had a head that was so covered in bright ginger hair

that people that people referred to him as the Red Priest.

But it was also a head that was bursting with musical ideas.

'One day, in 1723, Vivaldi sat down to write four pieces of music,

'each based on a poem describing a season of the year.'

We now call those pieces The Four Seasons.

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Spring" By Antonio Vivaldi

VIOLIN PLAYS

Vivaldi was also an amazing violinist.

He liked to try and get as many different sounds

out of the violin as possible.

VIOLIN PLAYS

But we've all seen violinists move their bows backwards and forwards.

He asked in The Four Seasons that they use their finger

to pluck the strings.

PLUCKS STRINGS

This is called pizzicato.

What kind of weather does it remind you of?

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Winter" By Antonio Vivaldi

For me, it's the most magical winter rain that I've ever heard.

Vivaldi wrote The Four Seasons as violin concertos.

A concerto is a piece of music

where an instrument takes a solo lead role.

And, in this case, the violin is definitely the star of the show.

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Summer" By Antonio Vivaldi

In each of the seasons, the violin has a kind of musical conversation

with the rest of the orchestra.

Listen to this chase across the fields in autumn.

What's the mood of the conversation here?

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Autumn" By Antonio Vivaldi

The violin is one of those instruments

that is pretty tricky to master.

However, once you've got the hang of it, it can sound beautiful.

Vivaldi really did know what he was doing

when it came to writing for the violin,

and The Four Seasons just shows it off to perfection.

I was very fortunate,

because I was born into a line of six generations

of classical musicians, so for me,

classical music was always in my household.

But if you're new to classical music, don't be frightened of it.

All it is is bigger pieces, sometimes without words,

that you just have to paint the pictures

and put the story in for yourself.

'I think that The Four Seasons is the perfect piece to start off with

'if you're not used to classical music, because it's so evocative.

'You can hear with the pizzicato and the strings

'that they sound like raindrops.

'You can make your own story up to it and still never get it wrong.'

Vivaldi's music has so much of the world in it.

If you listen to The Four Seasons,

you'll hear it's packed with the sounds of life -

dogs barking, teeth chattering, ice cracking up, cuckoos, parties,

you'll even hear mosquitoes buzzing.

D'you know, it's so cold right now, I can't wait to escape the winter.

And of course, with Vivaldi's help, I can.

Time to switch seasons! Can you guess which one I've gone for?

MUSIC: "Four Seasons: Spring" By Antonio Vivaldi

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

What's that sound?

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

For me, that clarinet wailing

is like a big, massive yawn first thing in the morning.

The trumpet's half asleep too.

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

But the music sneaks up on you, because soon, it's time to wake up.

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

This is like a musical energy rush.

I can hear the sounds of people hurrying down the streets

to work or to school.

It's like they're being chased by the piano.

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

The other instruments join the race.

MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue" By George Gershwin

This is music about going places -

the traffic racing by, lifts going to the top of buildings,

faster and faster.

The piano is the engine of this music.

PIANO PLAYS

That's because it was written by George Gershwin.

As a boy, he loved playing the piano,

and he loved living in New York City.

All the noise and bustle sounded like music to him.

So, in 1924, he wrote it down, and we're listening to the result.

He called it Rhapsody in Blue.

A rhapsody is the name for one piece of music

with lots of different moods -

perfect for Gershwin, because he wanted to mix together

all his different feelings that he had about his home.

Gershwin throws in lots of playful jazz piano,

that was heard in New York's parties and nightclubs,

and mixes it up with more serious, proud orchestral fanfares.

Listen carefully to this bit, and see if you can hear both.

MUSIC: "Rhapsody In Blue" By George Gershwin

And can you spot the big American train

that comes rushing through the middle?

MUSIC: "Rhapsody In Blue" By George Gershwin

But this is a rhapsody, remember.

Gershwin can change the mood at any moment.

So, suddenly, there's a new theme.

Does this sound like a different kind of city to you?

MUSIC: "Rhapsody In Blue" By George Gershwin

Gershwin wrote about what he knew,

and I think that's a really good thing,

especially as a singer-songwriter like myself.

It's a good way to be able to express yourself.

I can relate to Gershwin's pieces

because they've kind of got something in common

which a lot of artists do -

is that they write about what they feel or what they see.

I bet you've heard music that makes you think of where you live.

Rhapsody in Blue is like a musical postcard from America -

from Gershwin to us.

The piece may have started with a sleepy, lazy clarinet,

but it finishes in quite a different mood.

Listen to Gershwin's big finale.

How do you think he feels about the place he calls home?

MUSIC: "Rhapsody In Blue" By George Gershwin

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Imagine waking up in the morning to this.

What's going on? A celebration?

An emergency?

Whatever it is, do you think you'd be going back to sleep?

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

I feel excited and nervous and frightened when I hear this music,

because it means that trouble's coming.

It's almost like the trumpets are telling me

that there's danger ahead, and it's time to fight on.

I feel like David in the biblical story,

about to face the huge giant Goliath.

GIANT ROARS

I imagine marathons, great contests and impossible challenges ahead.

I can hear the brass instruments trying to lift my spirits.

The drums are like cannons making my heart beat faster.

The music tells me I'm about to face a great battle.

But I don't know how it ends...

yet.

In fact, when this piece was first performed in 1943,

there was a huge battle under way -

the Second World War being fought by countries all around the world.

'An American composer called Aaron Copland wrote this piece

'to pay tribute to all the Americans

'who were fighting and working so hard during the war.

But he thought everyone deserved to be remembered.

'He didn't want us to just think about the people

'who were on the battlefield,

'but also the ordinary or common men and women

'who were suffering and helping during the war.'

And that's why he called the piece Fanfare for the Common Man.

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Throughout history, fanfares were used to get people's attention

for the arrival of powerful people like kings

or for the start of a grand event.

'But Copland's fanfare is for you and me,

'but he makes it sound just as big and impressive,

'because we're important too.'

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Copland begins the piece with a trumpet,

which is traditionally used for a fanfare.

Why do you think that is?

Can you hear Copland adding another brass instrument?

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Those are French horns.

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Now listen out for the trombones making their entrance.

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

'Why do you think Copland gradually keeps adding instruments like this?'

To me, each instrument is another person standing beside me,

like an army making me stronger.

I love Fanfare for the Common Man,

because it really gives me this feeling of suspense and tension,

and the way that the music grows

makes me feel like I can do anything.

And so I use it sometimes when I'm feeling nervous about something,

and I need something to give me the confidence -

that's what I love about this piece of music.

Now, those massive drums sound like something else to me.

The sound of victory.

ROCK CRUMBLES

GIANT ROARS

'It's amazing how music can make you feel like you can do anything.'

You know who did used to start their day with this piece of music?

American astronauts.

They would have Fanfare for the Common Man played to them

in their space shuttle first thing in the morning.

I wonder what they were feeling

when they heard this music all the way up there in space?

MUSIC: "Fanfare for the Common Man" By Aaron Copland

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd