WB 22nd March - International Day of Happiness

It was International Day of Happiness on Saturday. I hope you did something that made you feel happy.

Here is a cover of Happy by Springwood High School – a school in Norfolk School.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1T5IGFWKj0
 

This version of Happy was recorded to celebrate Downs Syndrome Awareness Week which is also celebrated this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCJQAm_uKyg

Try this body Percussion arrangement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuuf6d9gWqg

Three things that help me stay happy are trees, rivers and music.
Here are a few pieces of music for you to enjoy this week that combine all 3.

Forest Xylophone
Did you know that 21^st March was International Day of Forests?
 In this video you’ll see an incredible wooden musical instrument that has been constructed in a forest.
Director Morihiro Harano and sound artist Kenjiro Matsuo built a natural instrument in the middle of a lush forest. Their creation featured hundreds of different-sized pieces of wood, each sounding an individual note when struck. A wooden ball then cascades down the structure, hitting every resonant note of a Bach masterpiece.
The instrument plays ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’, the final movement to Bach’s famous cantata ‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben’. It’s made by hand from 100 per cent raw materials and, unbelievably, the video contains no special effects. This is what happens when science and music come together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2BWrmNhyXU

Wade in the Water:
This version of Wade in the Water makes me smile everytime I watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiqQKZZo-Uc

River, a cover by Bellatrix:

Bellatrix was the first female beatboxer to enter the UK beatbox championships. She has toured all over the globe, singing, beatboxing and playing the double bass. You can watch her here talking about beatboxing on the BBC breakfast programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-17803795/champion-beatboxer-bellatrix-explains-how-it-works
In this piece she is using a looping machine to record her parts as she goes and layer them up. I have seen her perform this live and it is incredible to watch:
https://youtu.be/rhnu2d_2qms

River was orginally performed by Ibeyi. Ibeyi is an Afro-French Cuban musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. The duo sings in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba, a language spoken by their ancestors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHRAPIwsS5I

I met her by the River
Listen to this beautiful music being played on the traditional African instrument, the Kora.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKBMVl7IFNc

Ten Pieces: Anna Meredith
Listen to Anna Meredith talking about Hands Free, one of her Body Percussion Pieces:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep3yeJoWO2g&t=283s

Assembly theme:  Down Syndrome Awareness week

Fifty families coming together through one song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Biex1XR_mpo

This term’s School Value: Love
https://youtu.be/CE1ZcwPrI6Q
This is singer, songwriter, civil rights activist, and jazz legend Nina Simone performing “Love Me Or Leave Me” on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 11, 1960.
In this piece,  she is infusing her love for Bach and her classical music education into her playing by mixing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fugue in C Major into the piano solo.