Harmony Fine Arts- Middle Ages - Composers

[Caraway]

I recently purchased the Harmony Fine Art's Medieval and Renaissance Art ebook. http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/2011/03/announcing-hfa-grade-2-medieval-and.html

 

So I asked my husband to track down some music for me and he asked how I had picked these composers - because none of them are medieval. Some could be considered late Renaissance. But Dmitri Shostakovich lived from 1906-1975. :001_huh:

 

Am I missing something here???

[Walking-Iris]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24014309/Harmony%20Fine%20Arts%20Grade%202%20Ebook%20Sampl

 

Is this the list?

 

This is something that concerns me a little with chronological music appreciation. That list is really misleading when the book is titled Medieval, Gothic and Renaissance.

 

For starters Medieval music study would include at the bare minimum (for this age) things such as Gregorian Chants and some brief study of troubadour songs from France etc. (1400s). renaissance would include Sacred Music and Masses as well.

 

Vivaldi and Bach (no Handel??) would better be classified as Baroque music (1600-late 1700s or so).

 

Mozart and Beethoven (no Haydn???) need to be categorized as Classical Period music (to about mid-1820s).

 

Dvorak and Shostakovich don't really belong in this list at all, considering the title of the ebook. Dvorak would be late Romantic period (late 1800s to 1900) and Shostakovich is even later twentieth century. He came out the neoclassical tradition of Stravinsky (who's a more important composer to recognize imo).

 

I think people really need to divorce the history/art/music chronological categories. A more logical music division for study is Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque/Classical/Romantic and then the Modern Twentieth century.

 

I've been thinking about using Harmony...but yeah this list doesn't make sense to me either. I wouldn't consider any of these composers Renaissance even.

 

EDIT: to be fair I think a child this age needs to know about these composers and could do so while studying Medieval history---which is why I have misgivings about chronological/integrated studies. But I wouldn't want my children mistaking Beethoven as being Medieval.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Walking-Iris

[Caraway]

I admit I should have been more careful at looking at the samples. But I assumed that with a title of "Medieval and Renaissance Art" that the composers would have been from that time period.

 

I find this so discouraging. I mean, I thought that I had found an easy to use resource to add on music and art to our history program.

 

 

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24014309/Harmony%20Fine%20Arts%20Grade%202%20Ebook%20Sampl

 

Is this the list?

 

This is something that concerns me a little with chronological music appreciation. That list is really misleading when the book is titled Medieval, Gothic and Renaissance.

 

For starters Medieval music study would include at the bare minimum (for this age) things such as Gregorian Chants and some brief study of troubadour songs from France etc. (1400s). renaissance would include Sacred Music and Masses as well.

 

Vivaldi and Bach (no Handel??) would better be classified as Baroque music (1600-late 1700s or so).

 

Mozart and Beethoven (no Haydn???) need to be categorized as Classical Period music (to about mid-1820s).

 

Dvorak and Shostakovich don't really belong in this list at all, considering the title of the ebook. Dvorak would be late Romantic period (late 1800s to 1900) and Shostakovich is even later twentieth century. He came out the neoclassical tradition of Stravinsky (who's a more important composer to recognize imo).

 

I think people really need to divorce the history/art/music chronological categories. A more logical music division for study is Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque/Classical/Romantic and then the Modern Twentieth century.

 

I've been thinking about using Harmony...but yeah this list doesn't make sense to me either. I wouldn't consider any of these composers Renaissance even.

 

EDIT: to be fair I think a child this age needs to know about these composers and could do so while studying Medieval history---which is why I have misgivings about chronological/integrated studies. But I wouldn't want my children mistaking Beethoven as being Medieval.

 

 

Thank you for this! Do you have any suggestions for a music history/appreciation programs? :bigear:

[Walking-Iris]

 

Thank you for this! Do you have any suggestions for a music history/appreciation programs? :bigear:

 

 

No. The only reason I looked at your post was because I have been contemplating Harmony Fine Arts. I've liked what I've seen in samples, but I didn't look at that particular one. Is there any explanation in the book as to why she added those composers? Maybe she can comment if she sees this. She's been helpful in my other thread about HFA. Could it be to familiarize kids with them or something ---since the medieval and renaissance music scene can be a bit esoteric for 2nd graders? What age were you going to use this with?

 

The artist list looks fine, so I just wonder.

 

The only music program we've used is Classical Kids and just random listening or biography readings, but that's so informal. The activity books that go with each CD look interesting. And then there's the lists at Ambleside.

 

I honestly don't know if there is another music course that uses the Classical chronological divisions.

[Ecclecticmum]

Hi,

 

We're using Harmony Arts this year. This is taken straight from the front page of the site:

 

Plan Overview

 

The time periods for first and second grades do not have many artists or composers so the plan schedules an overview of artists and composers as an introduction to fine arts study. Please see the overview chart for more detail.

 

 

 

 

 

So maybe this is why. I directly quote (I hope thats OK, B if your reading this :tongue_smilie: ) so the overview chart still seems clickable even from this post (its a PDF overview of grades) xxx

[Walking-Iris]

Well that sort of makes me feel better. It might make the OP feel better too. Exposure to different, important composers (like Handel, Bach, Beethoven etc.) makes more sense in that context.

 

It would be difficult to pull together composer study from Medieval times. The focus of the music was church masses/chants. There wasn't a lot of individual "pop" stars in those times. You could definitely fine some recordings of Gregorian chant at the library though, which may be a nice exposure to relate to Medieval times.

 

I think then, for me personally, if I were using that ebook, I would listen to music from those composers (Classical Kids is great--there's the Best Of music cds and then the audio-stories) and read some biography but separate it from the history aspect.

 

I would ditch Shostakovich and maybe do Tchaikovsky or Stravinsky. But that's just personal taste.

 

I haven't seen that book by Goulding, but I might ILL and give it a look. I'm sort of nerd about classical music...shhh don't tell anyone. ;)

[harmonyartmom]

I just answered this question in an email to a customer last week...not sure if it was you or not but the question is very similar.

 

Here is what I said...offer stands to anyone who is unhappy with the HFA Grade 2 Music Plans:

 

 

You have hit upon the single hardest part of pulling plans together for Harmony Fine Arts. The need to find quality, reasonably priced resources haunts me. When I rewrote the plans for Grade 2 last year, I came across the Famous Composers CDs and decided to go ahead and use them in my plans even though the composers were not an exact fit.

 

 

 

I tried to disclose to the best of my ability between giving the list of composers in the sample and the resources listed just who would be featured in Grade 2. My thinking is that although they don't fit exactly to the time period, the story of classical music is told in a way that makes sense to a second grader. Also, there are only so many composers that exactly match that time period and as I try not to duplicate composers if possible, it seemed to fill the need.

 

 

If you think it will be confusing to your child to offer Dvorak or Shostakovich, you could stretch the other composers out to eight weeks and just about fill your school year. You could also supplement with my mini-unit that features Handel ( which I would send to you at no charge).

 

 

If you are entirely unhappy with your purchase, I would be happy to refund your money.

 

 

 

Let me know what will satisfy you as a customer. I aim to please.

 

 

 

Thanks for your email,

Barb McCoy

[Shifra]

This book is probably meant for an older child but I found at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's store a book called Composing Revisited: An Historical Approach to Learning How to Write Music: Volume I: The Middle Ages by Jamie Allen (who is the education director for the Dallas Symphony) & Toni Austin-Allen.

 

Composing Revisited is not listed on the Dallas Symphony store's website, but you can call their phone number at 214-871-4066 to order it.

 

Another history of music notation (invented in the Middle Ages!) that is meant for second graders is Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido D'Arezzo by Susan Roth.

[Shifra]

In thinking about this topic some more, the book An Illustrated History of Music for Young Musicians - The Middle Age- Renaissance Period by Giles Comeau & Rosemary Cover (ISBN 978-2894425572) may also be helpful. It is meant for ages 11-13, so you would not be able to use it directly with a second grader, but it would probably be helpful to the parent in finding pictures and music to discuss from the middle ages and renaissance periods.

[aug17girl]

Some episodes of the Classic for Kids radio program might work for this. They are available to stream online. http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/composers_period.asp

 

If nothing else it would be an easy way to get access to music from the different composers.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Despite the terrible title, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History is wonderful. It is chronological and specific listening recommendations are given.