Author: Susanna Cassam

Igor Stravinsky is SCMT’s Composer/Musician of the Month, in this blog we take a look at the later years of his composing career.

Stravinsky started his career writing ballet scores and then moved forward to a neoclassical period, but from the 1950s his writing took a different turn. He started to use serial techniques and moved into the serial genre.

Serial music is a genre of music that uses a pattern or series that is repeated over and over again, it can be notes, dynamics, articulation, rhythms and much more.

The technique that Stravinsky is most commonly associated with is dodecaphony or twelve-tone technique. It uses the 12 notes of the chromatic scale in a tone row (specific order of notes) and repeats them over and over again in the same order.

His works at this time included:

Agon – One of Stravinsky’s first experiments with serial techniques.

Canticum Sacrum – A composition based on a tone row.

Threni – Contains the twelve-tone technique

The Flood – Using text from biblical texts and theatrical plays.

We are delighted to introduce to you Claire, Philip and Amy (all pictured below), three new tutors that have come onboard with us. Please see our teachers page for their full profile. Throughout August we will be featuring each new tutor individually, so watch this space!

This month SCMT are featuring Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. In our last blog we covered his ballet years, through the early 1900s. But what came next?

In his early career Stravinsky wrote many ballet scores but from the 1920s he moved forward while at the same time looking back. He wrote symphonies, concertos and operas using form, structures, instrumentation, and themes that were used in the Baroque and Classical periods.

His famous works from this period included:

Pulcinella – A ballet score that took structure and instrumentation  from the Baroque era and is even thought to have been based on a Baroque composition.

Symphonies of Wind Instruments – Using form and structure used in the Classical period.

Orpheus – Using classical form, structure and instrumentation and looking back at the classical theme of Greek mythology.

Here at SCMT HQ we want to say a massive congratulations to all those who passed their ABRSM exams this term! We had a brilliant set of results.. passes, merits and distinctions!

What a brilliant close to the summer term. Well done on all your hard work guys and we must not forget… well done to all our tutors for all their hard work too!

Here at SCMT we are delighted to announce we have 6 new tutors come on board with us. Louisa, Annalies, Sally, Al, Sofie and Andrew (all pictured below) will all be teaching with us and you can find their profiles and picture on the teachers page of our website. Over the next week we will be featuring each new tutor individually and getting to know them a little better… watch this space!

This month SCMT are featuring the brilliant Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky first found fame as a composer for the Russian ballet. His three most famous works are The Firebird (1910),  Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). These three works became renowned, not only in the ballet music world but also the music world in general.

The third ballet, The Rite of Spring, however was the most revolutionary. It used rhythmic ideas never seen in the world of ballet before. There were changes in time signature, tempo and off beat rhythms that lead the way for a change, again not only in the ballet music world but also the music world in general.

Even in his early career Stravinsky really was a forward thinking composer, leading the way for new compositional techniques and ideas.

Just a quick note to let all of our tutors, friends and pupils know that I’m expecting another baby at Christmas.  A lovely surprise!  Louis will just about be on his feet in time for the new arrival…  gulp!  Lots of love to all, Susanna.

This month SCMT are going back to the classical world and will be featuring Russian composer and pianist Igor Stravinsky.

Born in 1882 Stravinsky had a huge impact on 20th century music…. watch this space for more…

Yesterday saw the last day of this year’s festival and today is also the last day of our Glastonbury month…

So what were the highlights of this year’s festival…

The biggest crowd was for country singer Dolly Parton, who performed on the Sunday afternoon.

The three headliners were Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian.

175,000 people were there and tickets cost £210…. a far cry from the first Glastonbury in 1970 when tickets cost only £1!

It rained! In typical Glastonbury fashion…on the Friday there was even a lightning storm and the stages had to be closed.

That’s all from our Glstonbury month… watch this space for July’s feature!

This years Glastonbury Festival is well underway, fingers crossed it doesn’t rain too much! So how about some more history… we’ve now made it to 1999 so what happened in the 00s….

From 2000 – 2009 the attendance went up from 100,000 to 135,000 and the ticket price went from £87 to £175.

Throughout the 00s the festival raised £1000s for Greenpeace, Oxfam, Water Aid and many more local charities.

More and more stages and fields were added, including the Dance Village and The John Peel Stage.

The festival was becoming incredibly popular, in some years the tickets sold out within 24 hours!

Once again there were a fair share of muddy festivals… particularly 2005 where 2 months of rainfall fell in only a couple of hours, flooding many areas of the festival!

Acts included: Basement Jaxx, Coldplay, Brian Wilson, Lilly Allen, Blur, Jay Z, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Oasis, Stereophonics, and 100s more!

Source: https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/

Today is a big day for many of our students who are sitting their ABRSM exams. Here at SCMT we want to wish them good luck and just so you know we have our fingers and toes crossed for you… although we’re sure that with all the hard work you’ve put in you won’t need it!

Don’t forget, you must be there with plenty of time so that you can have a good warm up and go into the exam nice and relaxed.

We’ll look forward to getting those results….

Well so far in our Glastonbury month we have seen it grow from the first ever festival in 1970 to 1989, but what happened in the 90s….

In 1990 it took on the name Glastonbury Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts – as it is still known today.

In 1990 there were 70,000 people at the festival and tickets were £38 in 100,500 people were there and tickets were £83.

In 1992 after the end of the cold war it was decided they would no longer give to the CND but instead raised money for Greenpeace and Oxfam. In the first year the festival raised £250,000 for charity.

1994 was a big year, it saw the iconic Pyramid stage burn down! Luckily it was replaced in time for the festival. This year was also the first year the festival was televised (by channel 4).

The end of the 90s saw a lot of mud, the 97 and 98 festival were complete mud baths…but it didn’t stop people having a great time!

Acts included: REM, Fatboy Slim, Blur, Bob Dylan, Robbie Williams, The Prodigy, Radiohead, Th Cure, Oasis, The Levellers, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream and many more!

As you may know this month SCMT are featuring Glastonbury festival. Our last blog saw the start of the festival in the 1970s… but it really started to grow in the 1908s…

During the 80s the iconic Pyramid Stage (pictured) was rebuilt (and used as a cow shed during the rest of the year!)

The attendance went from 18,000 in 1981 to a whopping in 65,000 in 1989 and the ticket price went up from £8 to £28.

1981 was the first “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” festival and throughout the 80s the festival made thousands of pounds for this charity.

1982 saw the first laser show… something that features heavily in today’s festival.

Throughout the 80s the organisers encountered many problems with the licensing and authorities but it managed to conquer all obstacles and continue to run!

Acts included: Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, New Order, The Cure, Madness, Simply Red, Joe Cocker, The Beat, UB40 and Curtis Mayfield.

Source: https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/

Here at SCMT we received this lovely letter from ‘amaze’ the charity we have been raising money for throughout the SCMT Youth Music Festival… it’s so good to see what great things the money will be used for!

‘Dear Susanna, teachers, parents and pupils,

Please accept this letter as a sincere thank you for the generous donation of £520 for Amaze from the SCMT Youth Music Festival.

As you know, Amaze gives information, advice and support to parents of children with special needs and disabilities in Brighton and Hove. We work to empower parents to expect and get the best for their children. We support families through the emotional and practical demands of getting the right services in finance, education, health care and leisure.

The Amaze Helpline (01273 772289) is often the first point of call when a child is diagnosed with a special need, and is the front door to other Amaze services and impartial information. We deal with over 3000 telephone enquiries a year from parent carers and professionals and demand is increasing. In fact, numbers have nearly doubled over the last two years. This service is continually overstretched and underfunded.

Parents really value the helpline, for many of them it has been life changing. It gives them up to date information, practical advice and often more importantly a listening ear. The recent evaluation showed that parent satisfaction levels were over 93%. Here is a link to more information about the helpline and opening hours https://amazebrighton.org.uk/services-and-support/amaze-services/helpline/

Your donation is truly appreciated and will help us to continue to keep the Amaze Helpline running.’

Options of an immediate or September start

1 -1 instrumental lessons (no groups) in Brighton and Hove

Excellent rates of pay

Between 3 and 20 hours a week, you decide how much time you can spare

Interviews taking place throughout June and July

Own transport preferred but not essential

Contact us on 07720 771053/01273 504505 or email [email protected]

Did you know that that tickets to the first Glastonbury Festival (although at that point called Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival) only cost £1?! Included in the ticket price was free milk from the farm it was held on!

The First ever Glastonbury Festival was held in 1970 and attended by over 1500 people. T’Rex were the headliners. It was put on by a man named Michael Eavis and held on his farm. He still runs the festival today and it is still held on his farm.

Source: https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/

Here at SCMT we are very pleased to announce that throughout the SCMT Youth Music Festival we raised £520 for local Brighton charity ‘amaze’. ‘Amaze’ is a fantastic cause that helps support parents and families with children with special needs. Thank you so much to everyone that has donated and helped to make the festival such a success. Particular thanks to Ackerman Music for sponsoring our festival, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Sunday saw the last event of the SCMT Youth Music Festival… and what an event it was. We had some outstanding performances, the SCMT staff were incredibly impressed… well done guys!

As we grow older it’s almost as though we learn how to be nervous, during the children’s concerts we watch them stroll up to the stage with few nerves, but it becomes a very different story as we get older. So it really was great to see so many brilliant adult and advanced students grace the stage.

That has concluded this years SCMT Youth Music Festival, we still have lots of thank you’s and an announcement on how much we raised for our chosen charity ‘amaze’, so please watch this space for more…