What's the music this week? w/c 8 November

This week MABAL will be mainly Classical music from Europe with two American items alongside. 

Classical music is often termed as everything that isn't pop music. In reality it is quite a short period of music history from 1750 - 1810, lead by the composers Mozart, Haydn and early work of Beethoven.

This week's music will actually cover some quite old material; Baroque Music - approx. 1580 - 1750, some Classical Music - 1750 - 1810 and some Romantic Music - 1810 - 1900. Additionally there are two American pieces in the form of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings - recently arranged into a dance track by William Orbit - and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue from the early 20th century.

Many of these older pieces are very famous and several have had a strong influence on more modern music. For example, JS Bach's Air on a G string of 1731 was adapted by the 1960's group Procul Harum in 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and the chord sequence in Pachelbel's Canon of 1694 was used by Oasis in 'Don't Look back in Anger'.

MABAL is music played through the school's tannoy system during break and lunch.  Chosen by Mr Taylor, Lead Teacher for Music, this is designed to offer exposure to the curriculum in different ways, and support pupils' appreciation of music.

The focus is on one theme each week across a genre, a country or from history.  The theme could also link to the season or an event in school, such as the production.  Any further suggestions are welcomed - pupils should see Mr Taylor or email a.taylor@priory.lancs.sch.uk