Façades by Philip Glass is an ideal piece to incorporate principles of Orff, aural learning and mixed bag arranging. As well as this, since this piece was originally intended as film music, it is accessible and would be engaging in a classroom context.
The minimalist composition allows principles of Orff arranging to be clear throughout. More specifically, the ostinato present in the bass and two harmony parts. There is a varying degree of difficulty inherent in each part, and each part may be simplified without interfering with the integrity of the piece. In terms of Orff arranging, the bass can be simplified (by playing dotted crotchets instead of quavers) to act as a bourdon. As well as this, the simple rhythmic patterns and limited range of notes of each ostinato provide opportunity for these to be taught by rote, particularly through body-instrument transfer. The occasional feel of shift in meter from 12/8 to 6/4 (dotted crotchets – crotchets) can be taught with words and body percussion to then be transferred to the instruments (examples of words given in Orff Arrangement). While the melody is long, the repetition of the rhythm and contour allow it to be taught by rote. However, while the piece demonstrates the fundamental principles of Orff arrangements, the non-diatonic harmony makes it difficult to play on most Orff instruments (excluding the chromatic marimbas and glockenspiels).
Moreover, while Donald (2012) successfully outlines strategies to address concerns regarding Orff ensembles - including the difficulty in achieving synchronicity and a pleasant blend as an ensemble, and the risk of the repetitive and simple ostinato becoming a “mind-numbing task” (p.32) - these can also be addressed with the use of mixed bag arranging. The question of synchronicity and blend can be more easily solved with the use of band and string instruments instead of Orff instruments (of course, blend may be more difficult with some instrument combinations than others).
As for the second concern, interest can be created with a freedom to compose and improvise being built into the arrangement. For example, the lack of percussion and guitar parts in the original score presented the ideal opportunity to allow students to compose their own parts. To scaffold this, examples of possible parts and simple structures (harmonic and rhythmic structures) are given to stimulate ideas and structure their composition so that it fits within the ensemble. As well as this, practice resources (e.g. backing tracks) are given to allow students to compose outside the classroom, while still having the musical context to guide their composition.
Façades lends itself to improvisation quite easily, and could potentially serve as a useful model for composition. The simple and restrained melody allows students to focus on the effect of rhythm and harmony in accompanying parts. As well as this, by the time students improvise, they are more likely to mimic the long phrases of the melody instead of playing as many notes as possible (as can be the natural tendency with improvisation).
The repetition within the ostinato (alternating between two notes per chord), the repetition of the ostinato, as well as the repetition of the overall structures means that while the initial chords and scales used may be difficult to play in some respects (due to the non-diatonic nature), students will quickly develop fluency of their parts. With this fluency, students will be able to move onto improvisation, and can develop this to different levels depending on their experience.
Since improvisation can be daunting, it has been scaffolded in various ways. First, by providing notes that will work over the chord (with important notes being coloured) within the comfortable range of the instrument and experience (as outlined in Coyle and Waldock’s OurBand). Students are also provided with a number of safe, structured steps – starting from playing the scales over the chords to allow students to hear and internalise the harmonic changes, to improvising in different styles. By recording themselves with the backing track provided, students can safely explore the piece to various levels and feel more confident when improvising in the class context. This supplement to improvisation is also indicative of the aural learning philosophy, as students are encouraged to learn by playing and listening. To emphasise this further, audio recordings of each part have been provided, and each student is encouraged to practice with a backing track (given instructions on how to customise their own backing track depending on what they would like to work on/how many people are practicing with it).
However, from a teacher’s perspective, there was an overwhelming amount of things to consider – the parts of the arrangement itself, Veteran and Rookie versions of each part, each transposition, and resources to aid different types of learning and improvisation. While getting more familiar with Sibelius did make these aspects simple to complete, it was quite time consuming and I wonder if the level of arranging and resourcing could be completed in the busy school teaching context.
References:
Taylor, Donald M. (2012). "Orff Ensembles". General music today, 25 (3), p. 31-35.
Coyle, Jim. & Waldock, Kim. (2014). "OurBand: where everyone plays".