Lessons from Mother Earth (Band Gr. 2.5)

Is THIS the year elementary students from K-2 come to one of your concerts – and know the melody from one of your pieces? Lessons from Mother Earth offers an opportunity to build a relationship between local ‘feeder’ elementary schools and the middle school/high school band program. The melody has been deliberately written in an easy singing range for young students. The goal being that K-2 students learn to sing the melody used in the work whilst studying the Lessons from Mother Earth in class.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Emerging
Level: 2.5 | Duration: 4:25

Instrumentation
Conductor's Score (A4 spiral bound)

Flute
B-flat Clarinet
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Bassoon

B-flat Trumpet
F Horn
Trombone
Euphonium T.C. / B.C.
Tuba

Mallet Percussion: Glockenspiel
Percussion 1: 3 Concert Toms, Concert Bass Drum
Percussion 2: Suspended Cymbal, Floor Tom
Percussion 3: Ride Cmbal

Program Notes
This work has been inspired by the children’s book Lessons from Mother Earth written by Canadian author Elaine McLeod (Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation) with illustrations by Colleen Wood. The text explores the need to love and respect the Earth and all the gifts that it affords. This occurs through the eyes of a Granddaughter as she spends a day with her Grandmother, gathering natural produce from the plants that surround her Grandmother’s home. Hence, the musical composition is shaped around the familiar happenings that occur in the life of a human child. The first light that stirs us from sleep, the moment when we awaken from our dreams, through to a full stretch and rise. The music then elevates in volume and complexity to represent activity and purpose. The piece ends as it begins; quietly and humbly as we return to our slumber and need for rejuvenation. Early in the work you will hear ‘windy soundscapes’ interrupt the musical activity, representing the soul and voice of Mother Earth. Each of these soundscapes has been composed by the students themselves. Commissioned by the University of British Columbia Conducting Symposium Consortium, Symposium hosted by Dr. Robert Taylor, consortium led by Janet Wade.