MBSO Newsbeat February - Moreton Bay Symphony Orchestra

NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1
NEWSBEAT!
February
In This Issue
SEASON 2015
SHARING A LOVE OF MUSIC WITH THE MORETON BAY COMMUNITY
Welcome to 2015!
“Where words leave off,
music begins.” ~ H. Heine
With such a full year last year,
MBSO (and the management
committee) will be taking a deep
breath as we don’t have a tour to
organize (or fundraise) for this
year. MBSO has decided to
undertake tours in a cycle of
three years starting with a minitour (2016), a major international
tour (2017) and a break year
(2018). This year we will be
putting on our usual selection of
concerts throughout the year and
collaborating with a variety of
soloists at each one.
MBSO in the Community
MBSO may not have even had
their first concert yet, but they
have already been busy in the
community. MBSO was at
Bunnings, North Lakes on the 4th
of January and Masters, North
Lakes on the 25th of January.
These funds have enabled MBSO
to cover all costs of the 2014 tour
and will go towards future tours.
Aotea Youth Symphony Tour
Last year when MBSO toured
around New Zealand, the
orchestra was able to participate
in a combined rehearsal with the
Aotea Youth Symphony in
Auckland. MBSO performed
some of their pieces to the AYS
and they presented a selection of
the works that they had been
working on to us. This year, in
July, the AYS will be touring
Brisbane as part of their
international tour. The Aotea
Youth Symphony was formed in
1986 and is aimed at players aged
13 to 18. In the past decade, the
orchestra has toured Australia,
Japan, Canada, the USA,
Germany and China. They are a
wonderful group of talented
young musicians!
MBSO Performs in ElijahPage 2
What is an Accidental? Page 3
Newsletter Crossword Page 4
The Battle Hymn of the Republic Page 5
Friends of the Orchestra Page 5
How Song Began Page 6
MBSO Sponsors Page 7
Crossword Solution Page 7
Become a Friend of the Orchestra Page 8
UPCOMING CONCERTS AND EVENTS
The Birds and the Bees
Can you hear the
buzzing sound in
the air? Can you
hear the birds
chirping outside
your window?
Experience
pieces such as
The Flight of the Bumble Bee, The
Thieving Magpie, Vaughan
Williams’ Overture to The Wasps
along with many more birdthemed works.
Time: 2:00pm
Date: Saturday, Mary 28
Venue: Clontarf Beach State
High School hall, Weaber Street,
Clontarf.
MBSO’s Soirée
Time: 7:00 pm
Date: Saturday, May 23
Venue: Kokoda Room, Redcliffe
RSL, Irene Street, Redcliffe.
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2
MBSO Performs in Elijah
The Moreton Bay Symphony
Orchestra was recently asked to
perform in a new oratorio
entitled The Return of Elijah at St
Mary’s Anglican Church,
Kangaroo Point.
Written by Lance and Nina
Clarke from Toowoomba, this is
a Judeo-Christian musical drama
in two acts based on the original
story from the Book of Kings in
the Jewish Scriptures.
After hearing MBSO perform in
Toowoomba back in 2013 whist
we were on our mini-tour,
composer Lance Clarke
contacted Eve and Bronwyn and
set about orchestrating this
work.
Parts from Act 1 of the work that
MBSO performed were
previously performed in
Toowoomba with solo
instrumentalists and fewer
singers.
The work featured many soloists
from all walks of life such as
Spencer Chapman and Kaitlyn
Orange from the UQ School of
Music, Ian Clarkson, Elspeth
DID YOU KNOW
In 1964 the Russian weightlifter
Leonid Zhabotinsky raised 1262
lbs. the equivalent of nine ten
stone adults. This mighty effort,
however, represents a negligible
increase on the weight of air which
each human body already
supports. At sea level, a vertical
column of air one inch square and
extending to the edge of the
atmosphere weighs 14.7 lbs. A
column a foot square weighs
nearly a ton and there is a total
pressure on each individual of
between ten and twenty tons.
Sutherland and Beth McBride
from Opera Queensland, Gabbie
Jack from the Western
Australian Academy of
Performing Arts, Paul Kennedy
from the Queensland Choir,
Robert Woodhouse, and Bern
Young as the Narrator.
Performing in Elijah was an
interesting experience as Lance
did not manage to get the
orchestral parts completed until
the day of the final rehearsal! All
the MBSO players are to be
commended for their
participation in Elijah as the
performance was the first time
we had the chance to play
through the work in its entirety.
Thank goodness for Bronwyn’s
amazing musical leadership!
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 3
What is an Accidental?
A sharp, double sharp, flat,
double flat or natural placed in
front of a note to show that the
note is to be raised, lowered, or
restored to its former state. A
sharp raises the pitch of a note
one semitone or half step. A
double sharp raises it two half
steps; a flat lowers it one half
step. A double flat lowers it two
half steps; and a natural sign
cancels all former sharps and
flats, including those in the key
signature.
The accidental sign changes
only the note that follows it and
any repetition of that note on
the same staff line or space
within the measure. The sign has
no effect on the note, should the
note appear in the next
measure, unless the sign has
been held over by a tie. The sign
has also no effect on a note with
the same letter name but a
different line or space.
The first accidental to be used
was the flat, which was first
applied to the note B. Since B
was for a long time the only note
to be flattened, the sign for B
flat, a rounded b later came to
Contact Us
be used whenever a note was to
be flattened. The sharp was not
used until about 1500. The
natural, double sharp, and
double flat came into music
around the year 1700.
WEBSITE: www.mbso.org.au
EMAIL: enquiries@mbso.org.au
‘LIKE US’ ON FACEBOOK
ENEWSLETTER SIGNUP:
http://eepurl.com/kuohz
JOKE
A Prague housewife, Vera
Czermak, jumped out of her third
floor window when she learned
that her husband had been
unfaithful to her. She recovered in
hospital after landing on her
faithless spouse, who was killed.
Before 1500, composers
expected performers to raise or
lower tones according to what
their ears told them to do. This
practice was called musica ficta
or ‘false music’. Good musicians
knew which tones to change
without needing special symbols
to tell them. They scorned
accidentals as ‘signs for fools’.
PRESIDENT: Eve Brown
PHONE: 0409 569 348
VICE PRESIDENT: Robyn Holmes
SECRETARY: Alexander Rodrigues
TREASURER: Meredith Smith
LIBRARIAN: Helen Andrews
PUBLICATIONS OFFICER: Alexander
Rodrigues
PUBLICITY OFFICER: Ruth Petrovic
FUNDRAISING: Rachel Shakespeare
PROPERTY MANAGER: Paul Peloe
MBSO CONCERTMASTER: Katie Lawton
MBSO YS CONCERTMASTER: Tameka Smith
MBSO YS RPRESENTATIVE: Alicia Raven
MBSO JS REPRESENTATIVE: Stacey Cooke
MBSO CHAMBER REP: Kerynne Birch
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Bronwyn Gibbs
CONDUCTOR – JS: Katie Lawton
FRIENDS’ CONVENER: Mary Cupitt
38 Dunbar Street, Margate, Qld 4019
Phone: 3283 5870
Orchestra Vacancies
MBSO
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
MBSO members are
required to have an AMEB
(or similar) standard of
Grade 5 or above.
Oboe
French Horn
Trombone
Tuba
MBSO Youth Symphony
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Oboe
French Horn
Trombone
Tuba
Percussion
MBSO Youth Symphony
members are required to
have an AMEB (or similar)
standard of Grade 4 or
above and be under the age
of 25.
MBSO Junior Strings
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
MBSO Junior Strings
members are required to
have an AMEB (or similar)
standard of Grade 2 or
above and be under the age
of 15.
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 4
Newsletter Crossword
1
2
3
4
5
6
9
16
17
10
11
14
15
8
12
18
20
24
7
19
21
20
22
25
23
26
29
27
28
30
31
33
32
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
44
Across
1. Flowing ____ are often worn in
opera.
4. (Abb.) Not Applicable.
5. Much fuss and flurry.
7. (Abb.) Disc Jockey.
9. Louis Armstrong was born here.
14. Equally.
15. George ___composed Carmen.
16. The (Fr. – masculine form).
18. Music is one form of ____.
19. Some wild animals are kept in
___.
21. Book early to get a good ____.
23. (Abb.) Roman Catholic
24. Munich - birthplace of
_________ Strauss.
26. One item.
28. Slovenly ‘Yes’.
29. Ice covered the world in the Ice
___
30. Verdi’s opera set in Egypt.
13
41
42
43
45
31. (Abb.) Last Name.
32. (Abb.) Operation or Opus.
33. (Abb.) Personal identification.
34. The Director must stay ____
during a crisis.
36. (Abb.) Chemical element nickel.
37. Genetic information guiding
growth.
38. Betty __. Comic book character.
39. New York rail line, the Bronx __.
40. (Abb.) Conservatorium.
41. A dance used to be called a ___.
44. Melba is said to have "___" the
boards.
45 Claude Debussy wrote The
Golliwogs ______.
Down
1. Composer of Bolero.
2. (Abb.) Overdose.
3. Ludwig van Beethoven was born
here/
6. Stephen __ American songwriter.
7. Thanks be to God (Latin)
8. New Orleans. The birthplace of
__ music.
10. Birthplace of Frederic Chopin.
11. (Abb.) Pound.
12. New or recent.
13. This is usually unbelievable in
opera.
17. ___ Variations by Sir Edward
Elgar
20. Sheridan wrote School for ___
22. Slowly and smoothly.
24. Egyptian Sun God.
25. Chemical element Cerium.
26. __ Sax invented the saxophone.
27. A short sleep.
34. Players in a stage show.
35. Duke Ellington wrote ___ Indigo.
36. (Abb.) Note well.
40. (Abb.) Company.
42. Exclamation of pain.
43. Short for Father.
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 5
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the
Republic was the marching
song of the northern troops
during the American Civil
War. The melody came
originally from the South,
having been composed there
by William Steffe in about
1856. It had been popular in
black churches around
Charleston, South Carolina,
where it was sung to the
words of "Say, brothers, will
you meet us," in the verse.
DID YOU KNOW
In 1063 the River Thames froze
over for 14 weeks.
new words. "John Brown's
body lies a-mouldering in the
grave But his soul goes
marching on." Later the words
were
changed to "We'll hang Jeff
Davis to a sour-apple tree."
The chorus was the familiar
"Glory, glory. Hallelujah."
During the war the Northern
soldiers sang the melody with
Musical highlight of the Great Exhibition in 1851
was the pigtail organ. The organist had assembled a
herd of pig , each of which had a squeal of a
different pitch. The tails of these porcine songsters
were connected in to a series of squeezers,
operated by keys. To play a tune, the organist had
merely to strike the key and thus give a squeal
provoking pinch to the pig with the appropriate
pitch.
Julia Ward Howe, a northern
lady visiting the army camps
outside Washington, heard the
troops singing "John Brown's
Body." She felt that there
should be more inspiring
words for the old hymn. In
December 1861 , she wrote the
stirring verses of "The Battle
Hymn of the Republic." This
song became the Northern
answer to "Dixie."
An 11 year old boy seen by specialists in 1937 could
name the day of the week of any date between
1880 and 1950; add a dozen double-digit numbers
as fast as they were called out; spell forwards and
backwards with equal ease; play Dvorak's Largo by
ear; and sing all of the aria Credo and the duet Si
Pel Ciel from Otello. He was doing poorly at school
and IQ tests gave him a score of 50, putting him in
the lowest one per cent of the population.
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 6
How Song Began
There is much more known
about early instruments than
there is about early singing.
There are early statues and
paintings of musical instruments
but how can one draw a voice?
Ancient Greeks wrote long
poems telling stories of olden
days and these were
sung by bards,
extolling the virtues
of heroes. These
could be to either a
small gatherings or
large ones. Simple
choral songs are
described in Greek
and Roman
literature and also in
the Bible. There
were various
reasons why these
were sung; some
commemorated
heroes,
accompanied work
or lulled babies to
sleep. In ancient
Greece the lyre was
used as an
accompaniment and
they were used in
plays.
Many (if not all)
religions use music
and song in their
worship. The earliest
Christian hymns to
survive complete with melody,
date from the third century.
Chanting was an early form of
song and is still used. This uses
only a few notes with little
variation. Plainsong, a kind of
chanted melody appeared very
early in history. St Gregory
supervised the Roman choir
school and edited the
collection of chants in the
eighth century. This gave us
Gregorian chant which has
been added to over the next
400 years.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are two words in the English
language with a, e, i, o, u in that
order: ‘abstemious’ and ‘facetious’
They wrote and sang in the
Provencal dialect. Trouveres
wrote in French and lived in the
north of the country.
French was the
accepted language
in the English court
so they were
presented there too.
Jongleurs were
singers, players and
acrobats who
traveled round
Europe during the
Middle Ages. Not
much is known
about them but they
probably gave public
performances in the
villages, rather than
to a select few in the
baronial halls.
In the tenth and eleventh
centuries descriptions of nonreligious songs are recorded, but
very few have survived as
written music. From that time
on, however, there are some
examples of songs sung by the
troubadours. These people lived
and worked in southern France.
The earliest
polyphony or
singing in parts was
probably two people
singing the same
song, at the same
time, with an
interval of five notes
between the voices.
This was called
organum but by the year 1000
voices were much freer. In 1200,
the monks in Reading Abbey
were singing the round Sumer is
icumen in. This calls for at least
three, and preferably more
voices singing the same melody
at different times with a moving
bass line in two parts.
NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 7
MBSO Sponsors
Clontarf Beach State High
School
www.clonbeacshs.eq.edu.au
Moreton Bay Regional Council
Our Lady of the Assumption
Catholic Primary School,
Enoggera
www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au
www.olaenoggera.qld.edu.au
Redcliffe[Framing]
moods[photography]
www.moodsphotography.com
www.redcliffeframing.com
Gambling Community Benefit Fund
www.olgr.qld.gov.au
DID YOU KNOW?
Redclfife – Kippa-Ring Lions Club
www.redcliffekipparing.qld.lions.org.au
The average density of the
universe, including stars, planets,
asteroids, meteorites and
intergalactic fog is approximately
one atom of matter to every 51/2
litres of space.
Brisbane Airport Corparation
www.bne.com.au
Crossword Solution
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NEWSBEAT! FEBRUARY | Issue 1 ~ VOLUME 4
NEWSBEAT!
MORETON BAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 8
For last year’s Tchaikovsky concert:
February
Moreton Bay Symphony
Orchestra Inc.
Many thanks to Mary Cupitt,
Alexander Rodrigues, Eve Brown
and OLA, Enoggera who helped
in the process of this newsletter.
Become a Friend of
MBSO in 2015
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