CMP Teaching Plan

Wyatt Spier

Shepherd’s Hey
Percy Grainger
Carl Fischer – 3.5/2:15

Broad Description
● It’s a “Traditional English Morris Dance” Tune

● It was published with another piece called “Irish Tune from County Derry”

● For Military Band Grainger playing alto sax in the army

band.
● It’s short

Contextual Information About the Composer

- Percy Grainger is a composer who originated from Australia. He studied at Hoch conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany.
Although he had been composing, he had started his career as a pianist, touring around different parts of Australasia. In 1912,
there was a concert of his compositions, including Molly on the Shore, Handel in the Strand, and Shepherd’s Hey. Because of
WW1, Grainger moved to the USA, joined the army from 1917 - 1919, play oboe and soprano/alto saxophone in the band, and
later conducted it. Later in his career, Grainger found himself in the role of an educator, like working in the music department
at New York University. During WW2, Grainger relaunched his career as a solo pianist, performing his own works and
continuing to lecture. During the last decade of his life, he was “blighted” with prostate cancer and personal frustrations with
his composing.

Contextual Information About the Composition

- Shepherd’s Hey is an “iconic” piece by Percy Grainger which helped cement himself as a great setter of British folk tunes.
Grainger made his New York debut in 1914, as pianist in the New York Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Shepherd’s
Hey. The word “hey” is a particular figure in Morris Dancing. Morris Dancing is traditional English dancing where groups of
“Morris Men” decked bells and ornaments dance to fiddles or pipes and tabor. The “hey” refers to two lines of these dancers
interweaving each other.
Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flutes 1,2
Oboes 1,2
Bassoons 1,2
E-Flat Clarinet
B-Flat Clarinets 1,2,3,4
Alto Clarinet
Bass Clarinet
Soprano Saxophone
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone (note: some versions contain a Bass Saxophone part, although this isn’t shown anywhere in the score other than in the pdf of individual parts shown by IMSLP)
Cornets (or B-Flat Trumpets) 1,2,3
Horns in F 1,2,3,4
Trombones 1,2,3
Baritones
Tuba (Basses)
String Bass
Piano
Percussion
- Side Drum
- Bass Drum
- Cymbals
- Triangle
- Timpani
- Xylophone
- Bells

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Elements of Music
- Important Note: In the score, the measure numbers are off by one. Shown below are the correct measure numbers.

Measure Meter and Form Melody Rhythm Harmony Timbre Texture

Tempo
Melody in Varying Two moving Light and Stripped and
Flutes, rhythms of lines, no real playful Bare, only a
Clarinet 1,2, eight notes harmony handful of
Soprano Sax, and quarter Theme and different
Alto Sax notes (with counterthe woodwinds
some triplets me are playing mezzo
Countermelo sprinkled in). suppose to piano.
Main Theme (A) dy in Clarinet represent
“FAST” Half
1-4 with 3,4 Tenor Usually if the the “hey”
note = 96
Countertheme, Sax, Bari Sax, theme is comparing
Bassoon, Alto doing eighth the two
Clarinet, Bass notes, the moving
Clarinet counter lines as the
theme is Morris Men
doing quarter interweve
notes and in their
vice versa dances
5-8 “ Main Theme (A), Melody in “ “ “ Stripped and
just two players Solo Alto Sax + Bare, only two
Perhaps just Solo woodwind
Countermelo two Morris instruments.
dy in Solo Men
Bassoon dancing
represented
by the two
solo

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 instruments
Solo Oboe Other than Various Still light More full than
the melody, Woodwinds + and playful the last
accompanime Horn, sections
nt is doing staccato
Secondary Theme
9 - 12 “ straight quarter notes More sound
(B)
quarter notes than before
Piece is in the
key of E-Flat
Major
Solo Cornet “ Woodwinds Light and Sound replaced
replaced by playful, but with brass
Brass more instruments.
13 - 16 “ B Theme
instruments brassy.
Dynamic levels
are pp and ppp
Clarinets Clarinets play Woodwinds Soft and Clarinet plays a
(Low a eighth note playing light. “cute” soft
Instruments and quarter staccato melody.
at the end) note melody. The flourish
hints at the in the middle
Accompanim impending of the melody,
ent play chaos later is a sudden,
quarter in the piece. huge, dramatic
17 - 24 “ A Theme notes. (I flourish. Whole
specifically band plays the
Lead into the think of the flourish.
flourish is end with
some triplets the long
to a mostly woodwind
sixteenth runs into
note flourish. the end of
the piece)

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 C theme in Other than Starts quiet, “mm-pa” Not a huge
Oboe and the melody but gets feel is amount of
Clarinet 1 and bigger as prominent sound. Most
New Third Theme (adds countermelo more brass here. woodwinds,
(C) plus the B Clarinet 3 and dy, instruments horns.
25 - 32 “
Theme acting as a Sopr. Sax) accompanime add to the
countermelody nt has section
B Theme in straight
Horn 1 (adds quarter notes
Cornet 1)
33 - 40 “ B Theme Xylophone Articulations Reeds, Dingy and Reeds playing
and Upper are very another short. mezzo forte.
Reeds short flourish with Similar amount
(staccato everyone in I saw a of sound to last
eighth notes) the middle video where section. (other
the Morris than flourish)
Dancers
danced with
big wooden
sticks and
hit them on
the ground.
Maybe the
use of
wooden
instruments
and dingy
sounds
could
represent
that

More

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 flourishing.
Horns 3, 4, Mostly Horns, Upper Full and Loud and
Trombone 3, quarter note Reeds, comically Dramatic
Baritones, rhythms. Cornets low brass.
Tubas Melody has
dotted Section ends I feel this
quarter to with a section is is
eighth note fortissimo B- the first real
figures at flat 7 chord realization
41 - 48 “ B Theme
times. that
something
is going to
happen
later in the
piece

Alto Sax, later Quarter Woodwinds Long, flowy, A lot softer to

Flutes and notes, other and bells very contrast the
Oboes than melody dreamy brass theme
with the
dinging It gradually
49 - 56 “ A Theme
bells longens and
smooths from
staccato
quarter notes,
to
57 - 64 “ Fragments of B Horns and Starts with Band starts Melty and Softer to loud.
and C Theme Baritones longer note out quiet and fragmented. Full and lush
values smooth, then Ends in a layered sound.
(whole, half, the when the lovely horn
some more of the surprise
quarter) band comes

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 in, the Horns
As this have a
section prominent
progresses, line that
more eighth sticks out of
notes and new material
quarter notes
are added
Reeds Mostly Brass Sort of Full and Loud
quarter notes “falling
apart”, a
Brass line is little
65 - 72 “ B Prime later on has chaotic.
some eighth
notes and Boisterous
syncopatead
feel
Horns, Saxes, Harmony has Reeds and Dancy, Loud, full, and
Trombones, eighth and Cornets chaotic, brassy
Baritone, quarter note aggressive
Tuba figures (in Lots of sound
that order Section
mostly) ends in a
big
73 - 80 “ B Theme
Melody is dissonant
quarters and dramatic
eighths chord, a
sort of
“warning
call” for the
next section
81 - 88 “Accelerand A Theme, plus Clarinets, “mm pa” Low Brass, “Epic Loud and Full.
o Poco a countermelody Trumpets, quarter note Low Chaos” Dynamic

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 Oboes harmony Woodwinds marking FF
Chaotic,
Countermelo “rampage”
dy in Flutes, Lush
Piccolo, E-
Flat Clarinet This section
Poco” from beginning is the “focal
point” of the
piece.

The dancers
are moving
faster.
B theme in “ + more Everyone “ Loud and Full.
Flutes, eighth notes (note: added Dynamic
Piccolo, E- from upper Timpani) Timpani marking FFF
Flat Clarinet, voices drums add
B and C Theme,
Cornet 3 to the chaos
“Accelerand moves toward the
89 - 96 o Poco a last quarter note
C Theme
Poco” in measure 96,
then some rest
Clarinets,
Cornets 1 and
2, Oboes

97 - End Prestissimo A? Theme + End of the A Quarter All Aggressive, Piece ends
Chromatic part theme in notes, and the woodwinds abrasive, with dynamic
Upper any sort of either have a chaotic, marking
Woodwinds, fast tuplet chromatic epic. “FFFF”
Saxes, and imaginable ascending or
Cornets (triplets, descending Woodwind
fivetuplets, line to the accelerating
sextuplets, very last note chromatic

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 septuplets, at the end of eighth notes
mallet the song contrast the
percussion last grand
glissandos.) final 2 note.

Why Teach This Piece?

This piece is a great piece for dealing with songs that are quick and have a rapid changing
tempo. With the melody being passed around all over the ensemble, student will be “tested” on
their skills to listen and adjust to others in the ensemble. Great work for showing English Folk
music.

Element Summaries:

Form
- Themes repeat throughout the piece. This represents the Morris Dancer’s different
dances that they repeat.
Rhythm
- Mostly eighth notes and quarter notes. The rhythm imitates the Morris Dance form.
Melody
- 8 bars with the same cadence at the end of the middle and end of the phrases. Short
melodies help portray the interviewing sudden movements of the Morris Dancers.
The melody gets traded around, similar to how the dancers interweave with each
other.
Harmony

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 - Quarter note accompaniment with a “mm pa” feel. “mm pa” feel is often associate
with folk tunes and folk dancing, ideas used to emphasize the Morris Dance.
Timbre
- Different timbres are contrasted with each other, and some represent different
ideas and aspects of the Morris Dance form, like the use of wooden instruments to
represent the Dancing sticks. Timbre is also used to emphasize and foreshadow the
chaotic ending of the piece.
Texture
- The texture imitates the Morris Dancing form, where the dancers interweave with
each other.
The Heart Statement
- The impending chaos of a seemingly “sweet song” by the fast tempo and dynamics

Introducing the Piece (A Strategy)

Affective Outcome: Students will be able to keep a steady tempo when giving markings such as “accelerando”.
Strategies
1. Students will be instructed to walk around the classroom while either the instructor is giving the beat on a drum, or a
metronome is playing in the background. Students will clap and step to the beat. The pulse will then change and speed up
once students are settled into the original tempo. The students should adjust their clapping and stepping to the new given
tempos. (Kinesthetic Strategy)

Assessment

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  Students will be given a performance assessment. Students will be given an excerpt of the piece (m.81 to the end). I will
conduct them as they play and they will be graded on the accuracy of notes and tempo when I start speeding up my
conducting. The goal is for them to keep a steady tempo even when speeding up.

Skill Outcome: Students will be able to describe how the piece may feel “chaotic”, and apply how this may relate to their own
lives and feelings.

Strategies
 Students will be put into discussion groups and given these questions:
a. Define what the term “chaotic” means to you.
b. How might a musician play “chaotically”?
c. What makes Shepherd’s Hey chaotic?
 Describe an experience you have had that has also felt chaotic? (Auditory Strategy)

Assessment
 Students will be given a bi–weekly journal assessment. About a 100-200 word reflection discussing different aspects of the
word chaotic and how it relates to the music.
 Sample journal questions
 “What makes something or someone chaotic? What makes something not chaotic? Describe an experience you’ve
had that was chaotic.”
 “Describe a chaotic element of the piece, why it may be viewed as chaotic, and connect it to an aspect or experience
of your life.”

Knowledge Outcome: Students will be able to explain what Morris Dancing is and how it relates to the form of the piece.
Strategies
1. Students will be given excerpts from the score and will be asked to circle what musical markings and terms in the score
connect that excerpt to Morris Dancing? Students should give a brief explanation to justify their reason for circling that
marking. (Visual Strategy)

Assessment

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  Students will take a paper and pencil test. They will be given excerpts from the score and will be asked to circle and justify
what parts of the score reflect Morris Dancing. I will be judging the points based on their justification and their recognition of
musical elements.
 “Circle a section in the score that the composer used to reflect Morris Dancing. Then, explain your reasoning in your own
words. Try to incorporate musical elements, terms, and instrumentation to back up your reasoning.”

Recommended Recordings (with URLs)

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t39GPkhY4y8
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQulSzsCMxs
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6ZtouV7XGA

References
https://www.windrep.org/Shepherd%27s_Hey
https://percygrainger.org/Percy-Grainger

Works for Winds

- Molly on the Shore (1907)
- Handel In The Strand (1912)
- Lincolnshire Posey (1937)

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