Dear Sinfonia Members and Families,

It’s no surprise at this time of year, but the cold temps and snow have now interrupted both the Tuesday and Thursday Sinfonia rehearsals. Thanks in advance for doing your part with prep at home to move us along; we will do our best in rehearsal to stay on a productive track to our video recording performance. As always, make safe decisions on your travel to rehearsals, and watch for any MYSO weather communications.  

Stay well!

Mr. Rindt

Homework Assignment: 

  • What is a musical phrase? Learn more below to refresh your understanding.  
  • Know and prepare your assigned parts in the Handel and Grainger to the best of your ability. I will review the teams with you in rehearsal.

Part Assignment:

Handel: 
  • 1st Violin and 2nd Violin stands 1-6, perform the solo (concertato) part. All other stands perform the accompaniment (ripieno) part.
  • Cello stands 1-4 perform the solo (concertato) part.  All other stands perform the accompaniment (ripieno) part.
  • Viola and Bass: play your part as written.

Grainger:
  • 1st Violin Section: Stands 1-6 perform Violin I part. All other stands perform Violin II part.
  • 2nd Violin Section: Stands 1-6 perform Violin III part. All other stands perform Violin IV part.
  • Cello Section: Stands 1-4 perform Cello I part. All other stands perform Cello II part.
  • Viola and Bass: play your part as written.
Good to Know: Musical Phrasing

A good future goal would be to recognize and work to perform the musical phrasing within each of our pieces. In the Adagietto, the musical phrase sentence seems very long, as it matches the mood and emotion with the slow tempo. The Concerto Grosso is much more complex. Mr. Handel threads the phrasing between the soloist and the orchestra, bonding the two teams together. But most obvious is in the phrasing in the Mock Morris. Here, Mr. Grainger shares the musical phrase's melody with and within all eight instrumental parts. As a great next step in developing our performance skills and musical understanding, let’s work to recognize the musical sentences and provide opportunity for the musical phrases to be expressed and heard in performance. 

Each of our performance selections tells a musical story. They are made up of individual notes (letters) shaped into phrases (sentences), which unite in sections (paragraphs) to form a complete movement (chapter). All are elements of the musical story. See what you can discover in your home studies, and we will work together in rehearsal to clarify our musical presentation.
 
What is a Musical Phrase?
from Hello Music Theory by Samuel Chase

If music is like language, then a single note, or pitch, is like a letter. You can combine them to make words (intervals and chords), and then combine these letters or words to make sentences. A sentence in music would be the equivalent of a phrase. A phrase is a single unit of music that makes complete musical sense when heard on its own. It is most notably heard as a melody and it is made up of smaller units, like motifs, cells, or individual notes. 

The idea that a phrase “makes sense” musically means that you can notice a beginning, middle, and end of the phrase, and that you can distinguish it from other musical phrases around it. 

Commonly, especially in Classical music, phrases are four bars long, and they typically end with a cadence.

These rules are not set in place, however, and phrases can be longer or shorter than that. The basic rule is that phrases should be able to be taken as a single entity that is separate from the rest of the melody around it. 
Winter Concert Cycle Repertoire/Recording Links

Handel, Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6, No. 1 (all movements)


  • Mvt. 1, 4/4, A tempo giusto, quarter note = 84
  • Mvt. 2, 4/4, Allegro, quarter note = 120
  • Mvt. 3, 3/4, Adagio, quarter note = 60
  • Mvt. 4, 4/4, Allegro, quarter note = 130
  • Mvt. 5, 6/8, in 2, Allegro, dotted quarter note = 76
Fun Facts
Handel was a Hit
Handel was a hit in London, as evidenced by the very generous salary of £200 he received from Queen Anne when he moved there in 1712.
Grainger/Dackow, Mock Morris


  • 2/2, At fast jog, half note = 104
Fun Facts
Dad Was an Architect
His father was architect John Grainger who was heralded for designing the Princes Bridge across Melbourne's Yarra River.
Mahler/Gruselle, Adagietto from Symphony No. 5


  • 4/4, Very slow, quarter note = 58
Fun Facts
A Four-Year-Old Composer
Fascinated with both the military and folk music that he had heard since birth, at age four, Mahler started reproducing and composing music on the accordion and piano.
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra | myso.org