The Story Behind the Music

By Doug Buehl,
Madison East High School teacher
Member, Wisconsin State Reading Association

October 2003

One of the most widely recognized pieces in classical music is Peter Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. The deceptively calm introduction, the inevitable and dramatic build-up, and the glorious finale replete with the booming simulations of exploding cannons (sometimes performed with real artillery!), Tchaikovky’s opus is a mainstay of outdoor concerts and Fourth of July celebrations. Most of us can hum passages from this famous work.

But why the ordnance-evoking ending? And what happened in 1812 that inspired Tchaikovsky to compose this orchestral tribute? Who is it about? And isn’t that the Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, lurking within the theme? What’s that doing in this “Russian” work? What’s the story here?

Obviously, composers use music as a vehicle of communication with others. To fully appreciate a musical work – as a performer or a listener – means more, then, than merely enjoying a melody. What’s the story behind the music?

Music performance classrooms – band, orchestra, chorus – emphasize developing technical competence in music: facility with a musical instrument or one’s voice, reading music, and contributing as a member of an ensemble. Interpretation of a piece requires an additional layer of learning, one that reaches beyond the notes and explores the story behind the music.

The Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) model provides music educators with a framework for helping students learn about a musical piece as they refine their abilities to perform it. Many of the reading and writing strategies discussed over the years in this column are an excellent fit for music teachers as they help their students become increasingly insightful about the pieces they perform.

The Strategy
Students in music performance classrooms are quite naturally preoccupied with playing their instruments or singing. Typically, they do not associate reading and writing activities with becoming more accomplished musicians. The CMP model, created by Wisconsin teachers in the 1970s, offers a coherent mechanism for instilling in students the understanding that “it’s not just about the notes.”

The model involves five facets that guide instruction in the music performance classroom: music selection, analysis, outcomes, strategies, and assessment.

Step 1: Initially, teachers examine the role a particular piece assumes in their curriculum. In addition to considering the quality, difficulty, and feasibility of a selection, the model encourages teachers to decide how the piece contributes to a balance in the curriculum in terms of factors such as historical period, musical genre, and musical form.

Step 2: A second component of the CMP model – analysis of the piece – engages teachers in fleshing out a storyline for the music. Some of this analysis is contextual: what was the historical time period when the piece was written and how might the times have influenced this music? What were prevailing musical forms, and to what extent was this piece consistent with them? What do we know about the composer, and was the piece characteristic of this individual’s work? Why was the piece written, and for whom? What other cultural connections might be relevant for performing this piece with understanding?

Analysis also has a technical aspect, to encourage students to explore the musical decisions made by the composer to achieve a specific effect. At one level is awareness: how did the composer use the elements of music, such as form, rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, texture, and expression? At another level is intent: why did the composer make these particular musical choices?
Analysis of a work is an essential step in guiding student’s musical interpretations during performance. In our 1812 Overture example, an investigation of this piece reveals several significant historical and cultural connections. The overture was a celebratory depiction of the defeat of Napoleon by Russian forces, and has strong nationalistic undertones. Tchaikovsky integrated Russian folk songs and hymns into his themes, and represented the French through excerpts of their national anthem. The resounding bells communicate an ebullient announcement of victory, and of course, the cannonading at the conclusion graphically relates the crushing of the French army.

Step 3: A third component of the CMP model prompts teachers to identify relevant student outcomes from the experience of learning about and performing a musical piece. Certainly, a primary outcome in a music performance class is the actual playing of a piece, perhaps at a concert or other culminating occasion. The CMP model encourages a look at more specific outcomes from student interactions with a musical piece.

Three kinds of outcomes are articulated. Skill outcomes deal with technical aspects of performance; knowledge outcomes relate to interpretation of a piece; and emotional outcomes tap into student attitudes, preferences, responses, and tastes.

Step 4: For the fourth component of the model, teachers map out instructional strategies that will help students achieve the outcomes identified as priorities for the piece. A vast array of reading and writing activities can be integrated into classroom rehearsal routines to ensure that students are becoming knowledgeable about as well as skilled in performing a particular work.

Step 5: The final component, assessment, asks teachers to explore a variety of methods to determine that students are more knowledgeable as well as skilled after their experiences learning a piece of music. Journal reflections, rubrics, checklists, videotapes, artifacts for personal portfolios, reviews, critiques, student compositions, as well as other performance indicators can provide valuable assessment information of student learning and skill development.

Posted October 1, 2003