Short performance video on violin of Beethoven's Fur Elise.

Performance of Beethoven: Piano Trio in Eb Major 4th Mvt. Video from www.violinmasterclass.com

Hagen Quartet plays the 1st movement, Allegretto, of the Op.135. to live audience

An extract from the Classical Destinations series (www.classicaldestinations.com) focusing on Finland and the composer Sibelius.

An extract from the Classical Destinations series (www.classicaldestinations.com)

An extract from the Classical Destinations series (www.classicaldestinations.com) - an introduction by Haylie Ecker.

An extract from the Classical Destinations series (www.classicaldestinations.com) focusing on Austria, Strauss and Mozart.

An extract from the Classical Destinations series (www.classicaldestinations.com) focusing on Germany and the composer Bach.

KS3/4 idea: This cartoon is set in 'tin can alley' and pupils will benefit from some prior knowledge of the context of the 'tin pan alley' song factory of the day. Some think the name itself came from the cacophony of several different styles and pieces being heard all at once, and this is the premise of this cartoon and its title - a battle between jazz ('hep cat') and classical (symphony) styles.

There are a number of ways of using this cartoon in class.
1. Simply as a novel follow up to works that you may have been studying in other contexts (e.g. trad jazz, Poet and Peasant Overture, William Tell Overture, etc.)
2. Discussion of some of the musical jokes (e.g. contrary motion piano glissandi to match order that keys fall from keyboard that has ended up in cat's mouth!)
3. As a stimulus idea for a creative project on a 'battle of the styles' theme - pupils choose two pieces in different styles and find some way of combining them in a single piece - you could maybe add the stipulation that by the end they must work out some clever way of making the two pieces co-exist - this could lead on to an exploration of related composition techniques used by Charles Ives (e.g. in 'Putnam's Camp' from 'Three Places in New England').

Piece for piano and orchestra, written by pianist Gershwin originally in 1924 and combining elements of both classical and jazz styles.

KS2/3 idea: pupils should be able to identify the jazz-style method of bending notes in the clarinet and trumpet lines at the beginning, followed by the rhythmically varied piano part with its improvisatory style, contrasted by the straight classical brass and string parts that play the marching theme that reoccurs with variation throughout the piece, along with sharp contrasts in instrumental texture.