The Fox Forest
Appreciate, interpret, create
Discover the sounds of the symphony orchestra through a musical tale in 15 movements, where each instrument has its own solo. Then play the themes on reed instruments accompanied by the Agora Orchestra. No sharps, no flats! The themes are easy for elementary school students to play. The orchestra will take care of the different harmonic colors!
Details:
La forêt du Renard (The Fox’s Forest) is a symphonic poem dedicated to introducing elementary school students to orchestral instruments. The work takes the form of a musical walk in the forest led by the Fox, the protagonist of the story. Various themes related to nature are explored, including fauna, flora, the environment, the elements, and the weather, all in a spirit of subtle poetry. Each stage of the walk highlights an orchestral instrument that illustrates an element of nature in a short solo lasting about a minute and a half.
The aim of the piece is to introduce primary school pupils to orchestral music and instruments, and to encourage them to take up music. In order for all the themes to be playable by elementary school students using Orff instruments (keyboard instruments such as xylophones, metallophones, and chimes), they were written in a diatonic language, avoiding the use of accidentals. The orchestra is therefore responsible for supporting the soloists with varied accompaniments, sometimes modal, sometimes tonal.
The teaching document that accompanies the piece contains not only the scores for mallet instruments, but also creative activities related to each of the movements. You will also find instrument and musical vocabulary sheets and an appreciation sheet. You will therefore be able to work on the three skills expected in the MEQ program: appreciation, interpretation, and creation.
Included in this product
15 music tracks (mp3)
15 narration tracks (mp3)
1 89-page PDF document
Credits
Performance: L’Orchestre de l’Agora conducted by Dina Gilbert (guest conductor)
Guitar (first movement): Martin Dorval-Hardy
Composition and orchestration: Thierry Simard
Storytelling: Benjamin Goron
Illustrations: Pauline Stive
Educational activities design: Christel Contant
Narration: Thierry Simard
Mixing: Tristan Cappachione
Mastering: Le Lab Mastering studio
Recorded at Piccolo studio in Montreal
Produced with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
