Query: Why was Bach slotted for this history cycle when his entire life actually falls within next year’s cycle?
The Big Picture
Each year we look to expose students to beautiful music from a variety of musical styles and composers.
In Mason’s time, various people, such as Mrs. Howard Glover, Miss H.M Cruze, and M.B. Parker, took over the music choices in the PNEU programmes. Over the years, they did choose composers connected to the wider historical time period, but they did not adhere strictly to this idea and many of the term’s composers were from other eras. The priority, it seems, was getting children in touch with the music and individual composers and giving historical context for the music in the composer study lessons (whether or not they connected to the historical time period in other subjects).
Following Mason's lead we tend to choose composers in the historical time period, but helping students engage with the music and the lives of the composers is the primary goal. The relationship piece is the first priority, historical connection within the curriculum is second. Since such a wide age-range of students come to the composer study feast, this order is especially important.
So What About Bach?
Given those larger goals and the freedom we see in Mason's precedent, here's a bit more thoughts about Bach in particular.
- He's a good bridge musically between Renaissance and Baroque music as he built on the musical tradition he inherited rather than sharply breaking with it. Some of his story also directly connects to historical events from this year (such as the fact that he wrote music for the Lutheran church)
- There is a lot of vocal music in Renaissance music and Bach brings some nice musical variety with beautiful pieces for a wide range of instruments
- Mason encouraged students to play pieces by the composer themselves if possible, and Bach has some great ones which even very young students can play
- Bach's personal life story is better documented than some others and also very accessible and inspiring, so we loved being able to give a bit more of a narrative backbone to his music and story than was possible for the other terms this year
- There are SO many possible composers and music to choose from for the next rotations since we have so much more preserved that we felt like it would take some pressure off those years and also round out this year musically for the reasons above to pull Bach into Rotation 1.
Also, looking at the Alveary music scope and sequence over twelve years (something we're working to publicize more broadly this next year), there are three different passes at each historical cycle and we want each to be a balanced feast both within the year itself and over the 12 years as a whole. Four years ago, we did Hildegard Von Bingen, Palestrina, Gabrieli, and Purcell, for instance, so those composers are already "tagged" and off the table for this year’s choices. All that to say, it's a beautiful and complicated thing to work out this twelve-year musical feast for our students!
Notes
- Office Hours: Join us on Thursday, November 21st from 3:30-4:30 PM (EST) as Melissa, Sarah and Shannon share ideas for this Advent season. RSVP to this event here.
- Alveary Books: As we dive deeper into the 2024-25 school year, we’d love to hear about the books your students are enjoying! What have been their favorites so far? Share here.
- CMI Advent Guide: The 2024 Advent Guide is here. The weekly format is rich enough to be used year after year and flexible enough for a busy family to supplement with other resources. Download here and share with friends!
- Member Survey: It’s back! Our annual fall member survey is live. Tell us about your experience with Alveary – what you’re loving and what we can improve. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts. We rely on your feedback to plan for the future and assess our current offerings. You can submit your responses here. Today is the final opportunity to complete it for a chance to win a special thank-you gift!
- Fall Books: If you are looking for some cozy books to read during November check out some of the Alveary Team’s favorite Fall picture books here!
- Job Openings: We're expanding our copy editing team and looking for experienced members with strong editing skills and keen attention to detail. If you're a fit for this part-time, seasonal opportunity, please email Melissa.
