listening activities - ms. hyne's class

By Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Listening Activities

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1840-1893Romantic Period

Tchaikovsky was a famous Russian composer. His family was wealthy and he received a good education. When they

moved to St. Petersburg, he studied to become a government clerk. He did not study music until he was 22 at the new music school

(later called the St. Petersburg Conservatory).

In 1866, Tchaikovsky was hired as a professor of harmony by the Moscow Conservatory. He started composing more seriously.

A wealthy woman, Nadezhda von Meck, gave him enough money so he could stop teaching and spend all of his time

composing. Tchaikovsky never met his patron but they did exchange a lot of letters!

In 1891, Tchaikovsky visited the United States. He conducted anorchestral performance of the 1812 Overture at the grand opening

of Carnegie Hall in New York City! He loved the United States!

Tchaikovsky died in 1893 while visiting St. Petersburg.

Famous Works1812 Overture - orchestra

Swan Lake - balletNutcracker - ballet

Romeo and Juliet - overtureSix Symphonies

Directions for Use

This listening map is designed as an movement activitythat outlines the form of the piece:

A – A – A2 – A2 – A – A – B – A – A – A2 – A2 – A – A

You will need to divide your class into two groups::soldiers and mice.

Soldiers will need to stand on one side of the roomfacing the mice on the other side of the room.

Each movement slide is marked with the number of beats.Important - A2 only has 8 beats per slide – watch out!

The piece is NOT included for copyright purposes.Click this link to access the piece on YouTube.

Movement Suggestions

Soldiers will march across the room to the mice playing their “trumpets”

(use hands as the trumpet)

Mice will “fight” the soldiers back to the other sideusing ribbon sticks, foam swords, and/or colorful tone

tubes. They will scurry back to their side of the room before the end of the section.

Soldiers will “chase” the mice around the roomby walking, tiptoeing quickly, and/or running

depending on your classroom size. Be back in placebefore the slide changes back to the A section.

*Special Note – If you have a small classroom, the students could remain at their seatsAnd march like soldiers, wave air swords for mice, and wiggle fingers quickly for the chase scene.