MishMash Productions & Scottish Ensemble
Our aim for the performance is to showcase the amazing variety of classical music, whisking you between centuries and continents using movement and storytelling to bring you closer to the humans at the heart of the music.
We hope you enjoyed in Sync
In Sync Resource
We’ve put together this page so you can find out more about the music, musicians and composers. If there is a piece you particularly enjoyed we’ve put together some suggested further listening lists. You can also watch some excerpts from the show again, as well as listen to interviews with some of the composers and performers. We’ve also added links to some more videos, resources, and further activities and even a list of great TikTok accounts so you can take your discovery even further.
MishMash Productions & Scottish Ensemble
Our aim for the show was to whisk you between centuries and continents using movement and storytelling to bring you closer to the humans at the heart of the music and showcase the amazing variety of ‘classical’ music.
We hope you enjoyed in Sync.
in Sync Resource
We’ve put together this page so you can now find out more about the music, musicians and composers. If there was any piece in particular you enjoyed in the show, we’ve put together some suggested further listening lists. You can also watch some excerpts from the show again as well as listen to interviews with some of the composers and performers. We’ve also added links to some more videos, resources, and further activities, and even a list of great TikTok accounts so you can take your discovery even further.
Playlists
You’ll find below the Spotify playlist featuring all of the music in the performance – apart from Donald’s Scottish folk arrangements, and Di’s song as unfortunately neither are currently on Spotify. You’ll also find a playlist of favourite pieces from the ensemble as well as suggested listening linked to each of the pieces in our programme. So, if you particularly loved a tune from the show click on that dropdown and we’ll suggest other tunes you might also like – your own personal DJ! If you can’t remember the name of the piece have a peek at the programme at the top of the page to jog your memory.
Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor Movement III (in Sync)
Play VideoShine You No More by Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen (in Sync)
Play VideoTha mi am Chadal/One for Mary. Arr. Donald Grant (in Sync)
Play VideoTull (Scottish Ensemble)
Play VideoDebussy: String Quartet in G Minor Movement III (in Sync)
Play VideoShine You No More by Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen (in Sync)
Play VideoTha mi am Chadal/One for Mary. Arr. Donald Grant (in Sync)
Play VideoTull (Scottish Ensemble)
Play VideoMORE ABOUT THE COMPOSERS
PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS
In the videos below Di, Ali and Donald from Scottish Ensemble describe their favourite pieces of music. If you’d like to see more videos like this from a massive range of people you can visit the Alternative Classical YouTube page Humans of Classical Music
Di Clark Recommends... Ali Lawrance Recommends... Donald Grant Recommends...
Guided Listening Activities
You’ll find below four activities that you can do whilst listening to music from the show. Some are designed to guide your own creative response – through writing or drawing – whilst another is created to support music-led mindfulness and a moment of calm. These activities can be applied to many different pieces and genres of music so if you find an activity you like you can easily apply it to a different piece of music of your choice – or maybe something you’ve found through our suggested listening playlists.
WRITING A SCENE
Shine You No More, Danish String Quartet: Writing a Scene
This guided listening activity is focused on writing a scene inspired by Shine You No More from the Danish String Quartet. Music is such an integral and important part of film; it helps to tell the story, evokes emotions from the audience and introduces us to characters and settings.
Imagine that you’ve been given this piece of music and it’s your job to think about what scene in a film that it would work well alongside…
- Where is this scene set? Is it a real place? Is it inside or outside? Does the setting change as the music changes?
- Who can you see? And what are the characters doing? And how do they feel?
- What is happening in the story, and how does it resolve (if it resolves?!) at the end?
CREATING SOME LYRICS
The Fairy Queen, Henry Purcell: Creating some lyrics
In this guided listening activity, you’re going to be writing some song lyrics, or a short poem inspired by The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell.
Henry Purcell wrote The Fairy Queen in 1692. It’s a semi-opera which is a type of theatrical production that combines spoken dialogue with musical numbers, usually featuring singing and instrumental music. It originated in England in the late 17th century and is structurally much more like what we would know now as Musical Theatre.
The Fairy Queen is loosely based on Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. However, the music didn’t have any of Shakespeare’s original text to it, instead the music happened in between the original text, with new libretto, new song lyrics, being written for the music.
Imagine that you have been given this piece of music, and are required to give some ideas for song lyrics. Try writing four lines that would suit the character of the music:
- Don’t worry if you don’t know the story of Midsummer Night’s Dream, rather just use this title and The Fairy Queen title as inspiration for what your lyrics might be about.
- Does the music give you any clues? What is the feeling of the music? Is it fast or slow? Does it have lots of movement in it? Is there lots of repetition?
MINDFULNESS AND MUSIC
Darshan, Reena Esmail
In this guided listening activity, alongside Darshan by Reena Esmail, we’ll be exploring and experiencing the link between mindfulness and music.
Mindfulness can help improve health and well-being. It encourages a moment of recentering, focusing on breath and the present moment. And music can be a brilliant tool to practise mindfulness!
Here are some things to encourage mindfulness as you listen to this piece:
- Before the music starts, find a comfortable position; it might be sitting in a comfy chair, or lying on the floor- whatever works for you!
- As the music plays, focus on your breathing; try and practise breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. If your mind starts to wander, that’s totally fine, see if you can gently bring your focus back to your breath and the music you can hear.
- As you breathe, can you let go of any tension in your body? Maybe it’s untensing your shoulders, or unclenching your jaw. With every breath, let more tension drop away.
- Try to focus on the shape of the music you hear- does the violin go high or low? Does it move quickly, or slowly? Follow where the music goes…
- If the music were to have a colour, what might it be? Does it change throughout the piece? Is the colour strong or faded?
MUSIC AND ART
Whatever piece you’d like: Music and Art
For this guided listening activity you’ll need some paper and pens/ pencils/ paints. Also, the music choice is up to you; pick one piece from the playlist that is going to inspire the artist in you!
Kirsty Matheson is a Scottish Double Bass player who is also an artist. She is regularly commissioned by ensembles to create artwork in response to a piece of music they are playing. See some of her amazing work here. There’s such a connection between the two art forms. Also, listening to music and drawing the sounds, can be a really brilliant way to practise mindfulness; all you’re focusing on is the music.
Once you’ve picked your piece, here are some helpful tips:
- Don’t be judgemental of whatever you draw- it’s not to show anyone, it’s just about being curious about the connection between art and sound.
- You might want to listen to the piece before you start to draw.
- This activity is like most things, the more you do it, the more confident you’ll get with it!
Other online resources
We’ve collated below links for further listening, watching, and reading as well as some excellent music education resources and a range of TikTok accounts you might find interesting.
FURTHER LISTENING AND WATCHING
FURTHER LEARNING
FURTHER READING
Non Classical – read, watch and listen
Interview with Anna Meredith
Interview with Caroline Shaw
SOCIAL MEDIA
Concert Roulette
Click the button to watch a random concert, generated by alternativeclassical.co.uk. A fresh way to explore classical music, both within and outside of its traditional settings.