Music Key Stage 4

Starter activity

Play an excerpt from the Prelude whilst learners enter the room. Provide a collection of cards/ pieces of paper, with both descriptive words and images of the following:

• a father
• a daughter
• a Duke
• revenge
• a curse
• a jester
• a kidnapping
• a knife

Tell learners that the plot for Verdi’s Rigoletto contains all of these elements.
In small groups, learners can create their own idea of what the plot may be. Create a ‘storyboard’ using both words and images.

Main activity

Now, whilst re-visiting the excerpts, learn a very short musical motif or pattern for each of the characters (this could just be three or four notes for example.) These ideas can be sung or played on tuned percussion or other instruments. At the same time, decide on a symbol or image for each of the characters and put these on separate cards/ pieces of paper.

Lead a musical game whereby the images/symbols related to each character are held up in turn and learners have to play the correct musical motif associated with this character.

Starter activity

Individually, ask learners to draw a stage set which could evoke the idea of restricted space, a prison, or a place where history repeats itself.

Wander around the room looking at all the drawings. Are there recurring themes in the drawings? Discuss similarities and differences and how you would interpret these drawings for the stage.

Main activity

Listen to the Prelude ‘curse theme’ and show it on the score if possible. The prelude is dark, moody and tragic, setting the scene for the entire opera. A solo trumpet plays a repeated C and the brass play an ominous chord. As a whole class, play along with the curse theme using tuned percussion or other instruments. Discuss the atmosphere and the musical features that add to it.

The curse chord returns over and over again throughout the opera. In groups, look at the score. Can anyone find another version of the curse theme?

Think back to the drawings from the starter activity. Guide learners to contemplate Rigoletto’s troubled circumstance as a Jester, who is forced to wear a smile, yet his jokes are riddled with anger and aggression.

In groups, compose a curse theme using a variety of instruments including tuned or non-tuned percussion. Use symbols or graphic scores to record ideas.

Starter activity

In groups, discuss the art of seduction.

Discuss seduction in a Shakespearen context thinking about the different ways in which a man may have won the affections of a woman.

Discuss ideas as a whole class and also think about the relevance of Shakespeare in relation to Rigoletto, and his style of singing and expressing himself. Encourage the use of technical language.

Main activity

Listen to ‘donna e mobile’, the Duke of Mantua’s Act lll aria, whilst moving freely round the room, dancing, and/or humming.

In groups, study the libretto and a translation of the words. Discuss:

• the meaning of the words
• the meaning behind the words
• the rhythm of the words
• the way the music communicates meaning and paints a vivid picture of The Duke of Mantua

In pairs, using pens, pencils, magazines or other images, create a picture of The Duke of Mantua trying to seduce Maddalena. Add some descriptions and technical language to the images, (as part of the image or beneath the image,) to point out some of the musical features that the Duke uses as part of his seduction.

Display some ideas to prompt learners thinking:

• mood and atmosphere of the music
• confident or timid?
• instrumentation
• rhythm and tempo
• articulation
• structure
• Explain pictures and descriptions to the rest of the class.

Starter activity

Revisit the small motifs that learners created as part of an extension activity to portray Rigoletto’s recapitulating mind.

Listen to them one by one and then see if you can join any of them together, playing them simultaneously. Do any of them fit together in interesting ways? How many layers can you create, layering motif upon motif, and repeating them multiple times to create a mesmeric effect?

Main activity

Listen again to all of (or an excerpt from) ‘Bell figlia dell’amore’ (Act lll). Reflect on how the artwork from the starter activity links to this piece of music.

In a learner-led fashion, discuss ‘Bell figlia dell’amore’ in more depth, focusing on the four different characters and how these are portrayed through words and music. Decide on four different symbols or images to represent each of the characters as you discuss them.

In groups of four, create a short piece of A Capella music with four contrasting, interweaving vocal parts. Learners can sing with or without words. Scaffold this activity according to individual learner needs, modelling examples. Pieces could be ‘loop-based’- where each singer sings a small motif or pattern and repeats this over and over.

Perform to the whole class and practise positive, specific and useful feedback techniques with one another. Think about one way in which you could improve your practical skills for next time? Share this with the person next to you.