By: John Jacobson & Alan Billingsley
Link to Purchase: https://www.halleonard.com/product-family/PC15533/compose-yourself-musical
Run Time: 40 minutes
Appropriate for:
___Kindergarten
___1st Gr.
___2nd Gr.
___3rd Gr.
✅ 4th Gr.
✅ 5th Gr.
✅ 6th Gr.
___Junior High/Middle School
Number of songs: 8 + 1 unsung Overture
Number of Solos: 11
Mozart-Singing
Bach-Singing & Rap
Beethoven-Singing
Mike-Rap
Sue-Rap
Schubert-Rap
Mussorgsky-Rap
Mahler-Rap
Stravinsky-Rap
Verdi-Rap
Wagner-Rap
✅ Unison
✅ 2 Part (Independent)
✅ 2 Part (Harmonizing)
___3 Part (Independent)
✅ 3 Part (Harmonizing)
___ 4 Part (Independent)
___ 4 Part (Harmonizing)
✅ Performance Track Available
✅ Accompaniment Track Available
✅ Singer Scores Available
✅ Choreography Included
Script:
___ Rhyming Dialog
____Non-Rhyming Dialog (easy)
✅ Non-Rhyming Dialog (medium difficulty)
____Non-Rhyming Dialog (hard)
This humorous, yet educational program is actually a great way to introduce your students to the musical styles of various composers in history along with some contemporary music…aka RAP…that your kids will really relate to. I love that students will sing and hear various classical tunes that they may hear in commercials, TV shows and movies!
Scenery: None required, but could be inside a music classroom.
Props: Piano
Costumes: You can choose to have costumes that are simple or complex….depending on your budget and resources.
Simple: I saw on Youtube that a teacher had large photo headshots of each featured composer that hung around the necks of the student assigned to speak that composer’s part.
Complex: My experience: EVERY student who wasn’t cast as a “student” was a composer. I had headshots of the ones we needed for the show, but also lots of headshots of OTHER composers too. Students not assigned a specific composer got to choose which one they wanted to be! I had a variety of choices for them to choose from: males and females, composers from all genres and time periods, various ethnicities…Scott Joplin, Fanny Mendelssohn, the Beatles……even Willy Nelson! I posted the headshots around the room and gave students a copy of “their” composer’s headshot. I showed them what I had available in the way of costumes to possibly use, but basically had them scrounge up their OWN attire combinations. I did provide colored hair spray for them to use to help them “look” the part. As costumes came in, we hung the clothing with the headshot of the composer the student was portraying. It was quite a sight with 50+ costumes hanging around the classroom. Almost like a music “museum” of sorts!
Composers featured (with featured themes)
W.A. Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1st mvt & 3rd mvt), Alleluia (from Exultate Jubilate)
J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Minuet 1 in G (from the Anna Magdalena Notebook), Symphony No. 5, “Little” Fugue in G minor
Felix Mendelssohn: The Wedding March
George Handel
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikkovsky: Waltz of the Flowers (from the Nutcracker Suite)
Franz Joseph Haydn
Johann Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Emperor Waltz, Tales from the Vienna Woods, On the Beautiful Blue Danube,
Richard Strauss
Johannes Brahms: Lullaby (Wiegenlied)
Franz Schubert
Ludwig van Beethoven: Für Elise, Moonlight Sonata No. 14, Symphony No 5 (4th mvt), Ode to Joy (from Symphony No. 9, 4th mvt)
Modest Mussorgsky
Gustav Mahler
Giuseppe Verdi
Phillip Glass
Igor Stravinsky
Richard Wagner
Individual Song Information/Suggestions:
Overture: I skipped this….I want the kids SINGING and PERFORMING!
Hello Everybody: Vaudeville style comedic opener. It repeats and gets faster and faster…with increased frustration. MOSTLY unison with optional harmonies for the last four words of the tune.
A Mostly Mozart Morning: Medley of themes by….you guessed it: Mozart! Begins in unison, but splits to optional two part independent lines to finish with optional two-part harmonies.
A Fairly Friendly Fugue: This tune features themes by Bach. It begins in unison and moves into a 2-part fugue (shocker…I know!). It eventually goes back to unison and finishes with 2-part harmonies.
Come Waltz With Me: This was one of MY favorite songs from this show. I had select students waltz around the stage. All featured composers end up dancing too! I didn’t fuss and worry about boys being REQUIRED to dance with girls and such…in fact I NEVER do. I generally just have my students find their OWN partners and I step in if needed!…anyway the rest of the cast just were responsible for doing the singing! Someone has to if the rest of the cast is dancing around! Lots of easy 2-part harmonies, make this a wonderful song (in my opinion)!
Can You Hear? Cast Beethoven with your BEST male singer….he will be amazing in the beautiful soul-jerking solo that is featured as the intro to this piece.
Composer Rap: Hands down the students’ favorite! It’s funny and takes a bit of time to work each solo (there’s quite a few…see above!) with the dialog and supporting rapping by the rest of the students.
Lullaby (Wiegenlied): Famous lullaby by Brahms with tight 2- part harmony.
So Long, Everybody: Similar to the opener…just saying “So Long!”
If you’ve directed this musical, PLEASE feel free to share any thoughts and adaptations you did. We’d all love to hear how you made it your own!
I’d also love to include YOUR CRITIQUE of any musical that you found to be successful or NOT successful! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNHxH3wAo98Hu4jFsKbBM2lUYgqnVXLRUo7HcgZTQz1U7-jQ/viewform
Sounds Like Fun 