Time Traveler’s Guide to the Orchestra, Teacher Resource Concert Packet – 2017
Thank you for choosing to participate in the 2016/17 Margre Durham Concerts for Youth production. We
applaud and appreciate your decision to engage your students in this exciting musical experience with the
Omaha Symphony.
We hope this packet will serve as a resource as you and your students prepare for the concert. The packet is
divided into sections covering each facet of the concert program. Each video resource can be presented
separately in short segments to allow you the flexibility to cover the background information in multiple short
time periods (10-17 minutes each). Each segment contains links to video clips selected to motivate students
to make connections between history and the arts. If possible, plan to present all 10 segments before
attending the concert.
Story Synopsis & Timeline – Page 2
Preparing for the Concert - Segment Teaching Sequence – Page 3-6
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Segment 1 - Preparing for Your Journey (Pg. 3)
Segment 2 – Quick Overview of the Trip (Pg. 3)
Segment 3 – Travel Back to the Middle Ages (Pg. 3)
Segment 4 - Travel Back to the Renaissance (Pg. 4)
Segment 5 – Travel Back to the Baroque Era (Pg. 4)
Segment 6 – Travel Back to the Classical Period and Meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Pg. 4)
Segment 7- Travel Back to the Romantic Period (Pg. 5)
Segment 8 - Travel Back to the 20th Century (Pg. 5)
Segment 9 – Explore Your Time Travel Machine - The Orchestra (Pg. 6)
Segment 10 – Prep for Take Off - Concert Etiquette and the Holland Center (Pg. 6)
Extension Activities – Page 7-10
Educational Standards & Objectives (for educator reference) – Page 10-11
 Nebraska Standards for Education, Music and Social Studies
 Iowa Core Alignment, Music and Social Studies
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Story Synopsis & Timeline
Travel back in time to the birth of the orchestra in a millennia-spanning adventure. With stops in ancient
Greece, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and more, students will travel the path of microbe to
modern human as guided by their personal, time-traveling orchestra. The Time Traveler’s Guide is an
investigation and exploration of the connections between our society and the development of the orchestra.
The Time Traveler’s TIMELINE
Musical eras and important events.
500 BC | Ancient times
• Ancient Greeks invent Democracy.
• Musical instruments include a lyre, or small harp.
1000 - 1400 AD | Middle Ages/Medieval Times
• The Crusades take place.
• Music is composed for religious purposes.
• 1st system for notating music is created—The Guidonian Hand!
1400 - 1600 AD | Renaissance
• Groundbreaking ideas in the arts, sciences, and philosophy.
• The printing press is invented.
• Christopher Columbus sails to America.
• Composers begin to write for multiple instruments.
1600 - 1750 AD | Baroque
• Colonies established and thrive in the new world.
• Monarchies patronize the arts for personal use.
• Birth of the orchestra and development of the concerto.
Pictured: The Guidonian Hand
Click to access more images online.
1750 - 1820 AD | Classical
• Revolutionary war breaks out in America.
• Bigger orchestras create the need for a conductor.
• A musical form known as the symphony is invented.
1820 - 1900 AD | Romantic
• The Industrial Revolution creates a wealthy middle class.
• Music and Art become available for everyone in society.
• Music becomes programmatic to tell stories and depict emotions.
1900 - Present | Modern/20th Century
• World Wars I & II bring about lots of social change.
• Women gain the right to vote.
• New technologies appear, like computers and the internet.
• Composers create new, diverse styles of music.
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Preparing for the Concert - Segment Teaching Sequence
Segment 1 - Preparing for Your Journey
• Introduction to the concert theme, “Travelers in Time.”
• Read synopsis to students and the article “Why Time Travel May Actually Be Possible” (see extensions).
• Anticipatory Set: Back to the Future Tribute featuring the song "Back in Time" (4 min.)
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The orchestra will travel much further back in time, but the theme of time travel has been used in
hundreds of TV shows and movies, and Back to Future is one of the most popular of all time.
Brainstorm what you need to know to be transported “back in time” through the arts.
Segment 2 – Quick Overview of the Trip
• Historia de la Musica
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This is a 7-minute, illustrated listening video of the development of Western Music from the beginnings
of humanity to our era, moving quickly through early music, classical, jazz, blues, rock, metal, and
electronic. The very short music excerpts allow the listener to “taste” every time and style, introducing
the overall timeline and names of the historical periods.
• Additional “at home” exploration: The Time Periods of Music - Boise State University
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This virtual field trip was designed for sixth grade music classes as part of studying the history of the
orchestra and musical instrument families.
Segment 3 – Travel Back to the Middle Ages (Keyword: Crusades)
• The Middle Ages in 3 1/2 minutes
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An animated timeline from the book Science: A Discovery in Comics by Margreet de Heer.
• Dies Irae in the Movies (3:42 min)
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There’s a musical piece you’ve likely heard many times before, but never knew it was a Latin hymn
dating back to at least the thirteenth century, though it is possibly much older. Listen to the melody of
“Dies Irae” from the soundtrack of some famous films. (Remind students to listen to the soundtracks of
their movies, TV shows, and videogames.)
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Segment 4 - Travel Back to the Renaissance (Keyword: Printing Press)
• The Renaissance: An Introduction (2:37 min)
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Key figures and works of art from the Renaissance (note: some nudity).
• Meet Giovanni Gabrieli (1555 - 1612)
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Gabrieli was born in Venice, Italy and was raised and influenced by his uncle, organist and composer,
Andrea. Gabrieli went on to become organist and principal composer at St. Mark’s in Venice, for which
he wrote many works utilizing more than one choir. He was the first composer to use dynamic
markings in his scores!
• LISTENING TO A PIECE THAT WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE CONCERT:
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Gabrieli, Canzon septimi toni, a 8 (No.2) (3 minutes)
Segment 5 – Travel Back to the Baroque Era (Keyword: New World)
• Counterpoint - The Story of the Baroque Orchestra (3:33 min)
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Hosted by Percival Peckinshaw IV, this educational film shows the development of the Baroque
Orchestra with cartoon illustrations.
• Vivaldi's Winter with "Let It Go" - The Piano Guys (4:30 min)
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Performers today travel back to the Baroque Era by incorporating these timeless melodies into
contemporary arrangements. Students, professional musicians, and orchestras continue to practice and
perform Baroque music everyday all over the world.
Vivaldi’s Winter (the original version) will be performed at the concert.
Segment 6 – Travel Back to the Classical Period and Meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(Keyword: Revolution)
(Note: This segment is a little longer, but well worth the time!)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the greatest composers to ever live. Symphony No. 41 was Mozart's
last and longest symphony. He wrote it (along with two other full length symphonies) in just 6 weeks and
completed it on August 10, 1788. Many consider No. 41, specifically the 4th movement, to be one of the finest
pieces of musical literature ever written. Mozart lived in Austria, located in the center of Europe. During his
lifetime, the United States emerged as an independent country, creating and ratifying its new constitution and
establishing its national government.
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(Segment 6 continued)
• LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT THAT WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE CONCERT (Full clip is 10 min.)
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Mozart Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” Symphony, IV. Molto Allegro
If time allows, discuss the job of conductor. Watch how movements of the baton are used to
communicate how music is to be performed.
• The movie Amadeus gives us a glimpse into Mozart’s character. It’s probably not what you might think!
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Amadeus - Mozart Meeting with the Emperor (9+ minutes)
Segment 7- Travel Back to the Romantic Period (Keyword: Industry)
What a trip this would be! Listen and watch!
• Romantic Era, 1789-1837 (4:14 min)
• Hector Berlioz's symphonies made him the one of the leaders of the Romantic Period and the development
of program music. Symphonie fantastique is an epic for a huge orchestra. Through its movements, it tells the
story of an artist's self-destructive love for a beautiful woman.
• LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT THAT WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE CONCERT: "March to the Scaffold" (5 min)
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Berlioz’s March to the Scaffold (movement from “Symphonie fantastique”) will be performed at the
concert (5 min).
Conducted by a very famous American composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein. There are lots of
close-up shots of the instruments being played. (IDEA: View the clip a second time without sound and
have students see if they can identify each instrument).
Movement description: "He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned and led to the
scaffold, and that he is witnessing his own execution."
Segment 8 - Travel Back to the 20th Century
• Timeline of the 20th Century (17 min.)
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Video is accompanied by some of the greatest orchestral music of the century. Students will be familiar
with many of the highlighted events.
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Segment 9 – Explore Your Time Travel Machine - The Orchestra
• Project Symphony Webisode, Episode 1 (4 min.)
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Quick review of the families of a symphony orchestra and the acoustics of a concert hall. Great time to
review “The Timeline” by revisiting the 7-min. video from Segment 2: Historia de la Musica
Segment 10 – Prep for Take Off - Concert Etiquette and the Holland Center
• A short guide to concert etiquette...learn how to attend concerts like a pro!
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This 4-minute video will appeal to middle school age students with demos of what not to do.
Discuss behavior expectations and procedures as needed.
• Information about the Holland Center
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https://www.omahaperformingarts.org/our-venues/holland
Omaha Performing Arts Celebrates 5 Years of the Holland Center
(Video discussing the beginnings and construction of the Holland Center.)
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Extension Activities
• Time Travel - Is It Possible to Travel into the Past? (to be used with Segment 1)
The following article can be found at: space.about.com
“Why Time Travel May Actually Be Possible”
By John P. Millis, Ph.D Space/Astronomy Expert
Updated March 28, 2016.
Have you ever wished you could go back in time to right a wrong, to make a different decision or even
completely alter the course of history? Time travel is a tricky business, especially when escaping to the past.
But is it even possible? And if it is, could we ever do it?
Traveling into the Past
It turns out that we time travel all the time. As we experience our lives here on Earth we are constantly
moving into the future. Unfortunately, we have little control over how quickly time passes.
But what about traveling into the past? According to Einstein's theory of relativity, time only flows in one
direction: forward. If time flowed the other way, we would remember the future instead of the past. (Weird,
huh?)
So, on the face of it, traveling into the past seems to be a violation of the laws of physics. But not so fast.
Black holes, Wormholes and "Looking-glasses"
In the famous tale Alice in Wonderland our heroine falls into the "looking-glass" and is whisked away to a
strange land. In some ways, this is a prime depiction of what time travel may look like.
The idea of building a time machine, like those often depicted in science fiction films, is likely the stuff of
dreams. However, one could possibly harness the power of a black hole to venture through time and space.
According to general relativity, a rotating black hole could create a wormhole — a theoretical link between
two points of space-time, or perhaps even two points in different universes.
Black holes have long been thought to be unstable and therefore un-traversable. However, recent advances in
physics theory have shown that these constructs could, in fact, provide a means of traveling through time.
Unfortunately, we have almost no idea what to expect by doing so.
Theoretical physics is still trying to predict what would happen inside a wormhole, assuming one could even
approach such a place. More to the point, there's no current engineering solution that would allow us to build
a craft that would let make that trip safely.
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But, if it were possible to pass through a wormhole, it would probably be a lot like Alice falling through the
rabbit hole. Who knows what we would find on the other side?
Causality and Alternate Realities
The idea of traveling into the past raises all sorts of paradoxical issues. For instance, what happens if you go
back in time and kill your parents before you are born?
The common solution to this problem is that you effectively create an alternate reality, or parallel universe. If
you did travel back and prevent your birth, a younger version of yourself would never come to be in that
reality. But, the reality that you left would carry on as if nothing changed.
By going back in time, one would create a new reality. And would, therefore, never be able to return to the
reality you knew before. (If you then tried to travel into the future, you would see the future of the new
reality, not the one you knew before. Confused yet?)
Warning! This Next Section May Make Your Head Spin!
There brings us to another issue that is rarely discussed. The nature of wormholes is to take you to a different
point in time and space. So if a traveler left Earth and traveled through a wormhole, they could be transported
to the other side of the universe (assuming they are even still in the same universe we currently occupy). If
they wanted to travel back to Earth they would either have to travel back through the wormhole they just left
(bringing them back, presumably, to the same time and place), or journey by more conventional means.
Assuming the travelers would even be close enough to make it back to Earth in their lifetimes from wherever
the wormhole spat them out, would it still be the "past" when they returned? Since traveling at speeds
approaching that of light makes time slow down for the voyager, time would proceed very, very quickly back
on Earth. So, the past would fall behind, and the future would become the past... that's the way time works
flowing forward!
So while they exited the wormhole in the past (relative to time on Earth), by being so far away it's possible
that they wouldn't make it back to Earth until after they left! This would negate the whole purpose of time
travel all together!
I warned you that time travel was confusing.
So, is it Really Possible?
Possible? Yes, theoretically. Probable? No, at least not with our current technology and understanding of
physics. But perhaps someday, thousands of years into the future, man could harness enough energy to make
time travel a reality. But until that time, it will just have to stay relegated to the pages of science-fiction.
Edited by Carolyn Collins Petersen.
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(Extensions continued)
• From the Arts Edge - Kennedy Center:
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Exploring the works of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saëns
In this in-depth lesson about music inspired by the spooky and bizarre, students will learn about
orchestra “program music” by exploring the works of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saëns. Students
will learn about Symphonie Fantastique and Danse Macabre, identify and analyze the musical terms
and concepts in each piece, and then write a short story and create a class mural based on their
listening experiences.
• For the “over and above” learner:
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BBC Howard Goodall's Story of Music, The Age of Discovery
There are a total of 6 episodes (each an hour in length) that would be a great resource for students who
would benefit from a deeper exploration of music history.
The above link is episode 1.
The Dallas Symphony Time Machine! - DSO Kids
This interactive game will help students become acquainted with the names of famous composers and
the historical period when they lived.
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Standards and Objectives
• Overview of Educational Standards & Objectives to be Addressed:
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Nebraska Standards for Education, Music: FA 5.4.3, FA 8.4.3
Nebraska Standards for Education. Social Studies: SS 5.4.1/2/4
SS (US/WLD) 8.4.1/2/3/4/5
Iowa Core Alignment, Music: 5, 6, 7
Iowa Core Alignment, Social Studies: SS.3-5.BS.1/4, SS.6-8.BS.1/4, SS.3-5.H.1/3/4/7/8,
SS.6-8.H.1/3/4/7/8
• Nebraska Music Education Standards:
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FA 5.4.3: Students will identify and describe elements of music to discern how music is appropriate for
specific purposes/settings (intent of music).
o (FA 5.4.3.d: Connect music to historical and cultural contexts and the arts through responding.)
FA 8.4.3: Students will examine and evaluate elements of music (glossary) to explain how music conveys
mood or context (effect of music).
• Nebraska Social Studies Standards:
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SS 5.4.1: Students will examine chronological relationships and patterns, and describe the connections
among them.
SS 5.4.2: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the impact of people, events, ideas, and
symbols upon US history using multiple types of sources.
SS 5.4.4: Students will analyze past and current events, issues, and problems.
SS 8.4.1 (US/WLD): Students will analyze how major past and current US/world events are
chronologically connected, and evaluate their impact(s) upon one another.
SS 8.4.2 (US/WLD): Students will analyze the impact of people, events, ideas, and symbols upon
US/world history using multiple types of sources.
SS 8.4.3 (US/WLD): Students will analyze and interpret historical and current events from multiple
perspectives.
SS 8.4.4 (US/WLD): Students will identify causes of past and current events, issues, and problems.
SS 8.4.5 (US/WLD): Students will develop historical research skills.
• Iowa Core Alignment, Music:
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5. Listens, responds, describes, analyzes and evaluates music critically.
o Identifies specified musical concepts while listening to the music
o Listens discriminately and makes informed musical judgments while accepting that the aesthetic
response is unique to all individuals
o Uses appropriate vocabulary, media, tools, and processes required to evaluate music
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6. Recognizes and respects the commonality and diversity among the cultures and histories of the
world through musical experiences.
o Recognizes that the aesthetic effect of music is unique to all cultures
o Expresses awareness that historical musical trends have influenced contemporary music
o Researches independently and shares the historical and cultural context of a piece of music
o Listens to and recognizes songs, dances, and instruments from various cultures and regions
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7. Connects music with other disciplines while preserving the integrity of authentic musical learning
experiences demonstrates knowledge of technology in the area of music
o Identifies musical concepts through computer assisted instruction
o Communicates ways that music can be integrated into the life of an adult or community
• Iowa Core Alignment, Social Studies:
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SS.3-5.BS.1 / SS.6-8.BS.1:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand the changing nature of society.
SS.3-5.BS.4 / SS.6-8.BS.4:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand the process of how humans develop, learn, adapt to their
environment, and internalize their culture.
SS.3–5.H.1 / SS.6–8.H.1:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand historical patterns, periods of time and the relationships
among these elements.
SS.3–5.H.3 / SS.6–8.H.3:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand the role of culture and cultural diffusion on the
development and maintenance of societies.
SS.3–5.H.4 / SS.6-8.H.4:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand the role of individuals and groups within a society as
promoters of change or the status quo.
SS.3–5.H.7 / SS.6-8.H.7:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand the role of innovation on the development and
interaction of societies.
SS.3–5.H.8 / SS.6-8.H.8:
o Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand cause and effect relationships and other historical
thinking skills in order to interpret events and issues.
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