Classroom Resources

Programming Inspiration For Your Music Classroom

Welcome to a new school year! We know many music teachers and directors will have a repertoire already set, but if you are in need of programming inspiration or want a reference list for highlighting major musical events occurring throughout the 2017-2018 school year, here are some ideas:

Celebrate the milestone birthdays of major composers:

• Leonard Bernstein (100^th)
• Lili Boulanger (125^th)
• Scott Joplin (150^th)
• Gioachino Antonio Rossini (225^th)
• Claudio Monteverdi (450^th)
• William Byrd (475^th)

Commemorate the anniversaries of major composers’ deaths:

• John Cage (25^th anniversary)
• Zoltán Kodály (50^th anniversary)
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (75^th anniversary)
• Scott Joplin (100^th anniversary)
• Claude Debussy (100^th anniversary)
• Lili Boulanger (100^th anniversary)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (125^th anniversary)
• Gioachino Antonio Rossini (150^th)
• Georg Philipp Telemann (250^th anniversary)

Honor the longevity of well-loved compositions:

• Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony (Symphony No. 9 in E minor) and American Quartet (The String Quartet in F major) were composed 125 years ago
• “The Blue Danube” (“An der schönen blauen Donau”) by Johann Strauss II premiered 150 years ago, as did Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem
• Brahms published “Brahms’ Lullaby” (“Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht,” Op. 49, No. 4) 150 years ago
• Ubiquitous Christmas carol “Silent Night,” by Josef Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber premiered 200 years ago
• Messiah by George Frideric Handel premiered 275 years ago
• Water Music, also by Handel, premiered 300 years ago

Revisit significant recordings:

• 100 years ago, “Livery Stable Blues,” as recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass [sic] Band, was released as the first disc issued as a “jazz” record
• 50 years ago, The Beatles’ landmark album, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was released

How are you honoring music’s history this year?

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