MVS Newsletter December 2020

FEATURES
FEATURES
MUSIC NEWS
by Mr Fisher, Deputy Head and Teacher of Music
Ode to Joy!
This term, Year 7 have been learning to play Ode to Joy, by Beethoven,
on the piano with two hands. Pupils have relished this task, and some
have gone on to learn the more difficult piece, Fur Elise, by Beethoven.
Pupils perform at the end of each lesson to develop their performing
skills as well as their confidence and next term we will have some
performances in assembly. As part of this topic, pupils have also
developed their understanding of harmony, tonality and chords. Through
short composition tasks, pupils have composed their own songs using
major and minor chords and performed these in front of the class.
Year 9 study Star Wars
In Year 9, pupils have been developing their performance, composition
and listening skills. They have undertaken a second performance recital
and have used the GCSE performance assessment grids to assess
these. Pupils have started to explore some GCSE Set Works and have
started with Film Music as a genre. We have used John Williams’s classic
score from Star Wars as a starting point and next term will start looking
at music from musicals. Pupils have also developed their composition
skills and have mainly focused on using different forms and structures.
Pupils have been composing short pieces using binary, ternary and
rondo form and have started to experiment with Theme and Variations.
Music Features Programme
Year 8 pupils have been performing in small ensemble groups following the
Musical Futures programme. Pupils are developing their instrumental and
ensemble skills as they learn to perform the 12-bar blues for their end of
term assessment. Each ensemble is made up of a drummer, guitarist, bass
player and pianist and have even started experimenting with challenging
themes such as improvisation. Pupils perform and record their work every
week so it can be watched back the following lesson and each group
can use the success criteria to set themselves targets for improvement.
Join the club
In ‘Music Technology Club’, pupils have developed their composition
skills using Garageband. They have been learning to compose their own
instrumental parts without using pre-recorded loops and the results have
been excellent! They have also used the industry standard equipment
to plug guitars and bass guitars into the Apple Macs and record their
music directly into the software. Next term, pupils will be learning to
use Logic Pro, a recording software package that is used in some of the
world’s most famous music studios. They will be taking their composition
skills to the next level when they start composing music to a film clip!
Christmas events...
Christmas Concert: Pupils have been working hard
throughout November and December to prepare for
Maida Vale School’s inaugural Christmas concert and
it is fair to say it exceeded all expectations! The Year
7 choir opened the show under candlelight with a
beautiful rendition of ‘Away in a Manger’. Scene 1 of ‘A
Christmas Carol’ cleverly followed with pupils stepping
out of the choir into their acting roles. The play was split
into five scenes across the evening, and in between
we saw wonderful performances in music and dance.
Lucy and Peggy helped to get everyone in the
Christmas spirit with their version of ‘Walking in a
Winter Wonderland’ and Edoardo nearly brought
the audience to tears with his magical performance
of ‘Panis Angelicus’. Joseph performed ‘Feeling
Good’ on the piano, Year 8 sang a lovely version
of ‘Silent Night’ as a year group and Izzy, Peggy and
Lottie showed off their incredible dancing skills.
The actors in ‘A Christmas Carol’ stole the show with
stand-out performances from Diarmaid as Scrooge,
Izzy as Peter Cratchit, Kiki as the ghost of Christmas
past and Ellie as Fan and Mrs Cratchit. Lottie also
deserves a special mention for all her wonderful work
as stage manager as do Isaac, Coco and Violet who
did a superb job managing the sound and lighting.
Carol Concert: Following Mr Winter’s wonderful
celebration assembly and our first Christmas lunch, the
carol concert took place at the end of the day on the
final day of term and brought together the whole school
community to round off a hugely successful first term.
The concert opened with Edoardo’s beautiful solo
at the start of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ followed
by readings from pupils and staff. Emma B (Year
8), Ellie C (Year 7), May and Eliana (Year 9), Miss
Ridley and Mr Fisher all helped to tell the story of
Christmas through a series of traditional readings.
One of the stand-out moments of the concert
was from the MVS Choir, who performed a
beautiful version of ‘Torches’ by John Joubert.
Our traditional take on a carol concert finished
with a powerful performance of ‘Hark! The
Heralds Angels Sing’, led by the choir and
supported by the rest of the school community.
6 7