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Many pop artists today record covers of songs. They change the voicing, instrumentation, or rhythmic structure of the original song to fit their group's style. While it may seem like a recent phenomenon, remaking songs is part of our music history. In this lesson students will compare and contrast two recordings of the musical work "Anitra's Dance." The first version is a classical piece by Edvard Grieg, who found inspiration for his compositions in the melodies of his native country, Norway, while the second is a jazz arrangement by Duke Ellington. Ellington took this classical piece and remade it, exposing listeners to a European composition with a jazz flare. Jazz is an American art form that is not often discussed in general music classrooms, yet it offers many appealing characteristics for students (improvisation, syncopation, solo performances, instrumentation), especially at the middle school level. Jazz represents a blending of musical styles, just as America represents a blending of many different cultures.
This lesson also follows the Discipline-Based Music Education (DBME) approach to music teaching and involves the study of musical works through the four discipline perspectives of aesthetics, criticism, history, and production. This approach integrates the arts with other subjects in the school curriculum, as well as with each other. The DBME approach is also reflected in the National Standards for Arts Education, inviting music teachers to connect musical works to the general curriculum in meaningful ways. While most appropriate for middle school students, this lesson could be adapted for use in high school or advanced elementary music classes.
Background Information: Grieg and Ellington
Jazz is an American art form blending European and African traditions. The roots of jazz encompass several types of music-blues, ragtime, folk music, and marches-many of which originated in African musical traditions.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was born in Bergen, Norway (Have students locate Norway on a map or pass out a photocopied map that clearly shows its location.) His compositions were inspired by the folklore and melodies of his native land. With Richard Nordraak, another Norwegian nationalist composer, he fostered a Norwegian school of composition. Grieg composed orchestral suites, chamber music for strings, and works for piano. One of his most famous works, the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, was composed in...