Lacrymosa

The most difficult of our spring concert pieces, the students began piecing together the alto and soprano parts today. I was amazed at how well the student held on to their individual harmonies. This is the first year that these students have been asked to sing with harmony and Lacrymosa is a very challenging piece. I actually sang it my freshman year of highschool and I am asking the 6th graders to attempt it. It is quite a task and I am delighted to say that the 6th graders are rising to the challenge beautifully. It is only February and yet I am already positive that our spring concert is going to be one of the best.

Understanding Mozart

The 6th grade chorus has begun learning Lacrymosa. This is the last piece Mozart ever wrote. Infact, we learned that he did not even get to finish the piece because he fell too ill and died before it was complete. We watched a video which explored Mozart's life. We learned that even though he is known to us as a music genius with so many famous pieces, he had to work very hard to achieve such status. He also was not so lucky throughout his life. He lost his mother early and did not have a good relationship with his father. He died in poverty and was not well liked beyond his childhood. So we see that even though Mozart is a celebrated composer today, he had many struggles and obstacles to overcome in his life. This is also reflected in the tone of his pieces. His childhood pieces were fun and light while the pieces after his mother died became much more dramatic and sad sounding.