"We arrived at 'Earth Voice' collectively during the music workshop session with Kate. It celebrates our beautiful planet and encourages people to value and care for it." St Hugh's Primary School
Songbook of the Earth was an exciting collaboration between the Bridgewater Hall Community Education Trust and Manchester Camerata.
The project was inspired by Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, and worked with fourteen primary schools across Greater Manchester, The Wirral and Chester to create a brand new song cycle inspired by the Earth, its environments and communities, which were performed live on The Bridgewater Hall stage, accompanied by Manchester Camerata, on April 19 2010. All the songs were published in a Songbook at the end of the project.
"We imagined how footballers and the ball would move around the stadium, and tried to capture the excitement, drama and tension of the match in the words of the commentary. We contrasted this with a melody that sounds like a football song." Bowness Primary School
Working with poet Terry Caffrey, composer Kate Pearson, and musicians from Manchester Camerata, each school was involved in a series of workshops over the year, where they devised lyrics and composed the music to go along with them.
These are just a few examples of the fabulous lyrics that children wrote during the project:
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Prowling through the twisted jungle Boothstown Methodist Primary School |
Crackly monster in the moonlit sky. Acre Road Primary School |
| Racophorous tree frogs leap from leaf to leaf Arapaimas swim swiftly in the murky waters of the Amazon Indus river dolphins soar out of the river like birds on the wind New Guinea bandicoots search through leaf litter for bugs to eat Forgotten realm bursting with life Cascading raindrops on lime green leaves Lily pads float on huge ponds Surprises hide in every tree. Acresfield Primary School |
Concoction of smiles Multi coloured medicine Explosion of joy fizzes in your mouth Sticky splash of sweetness Health and happiness Potion of peace for all the world It tingles and jiggles and wirls and pops One sip is a three-course meal Feel the excitement grow in your blood Lights up the world like a shoting star! Saighton CE Primary School |
As part of the project there was a special concert for schools to help children get to know the orchestra on January 27 2010.
Almost 2500 pupils came together at The Bridgewater Hall to learn about the orchestra and be introduced to Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony by conductor Douglas Boyd and presenters Terry Caffrey and Kate Pearson.
The Songbook of the Earth project created a wealth of learning resources to help music teachers with their own lessons in schools.
"We wanted to leave the ending as a cliff hanger, so the audience can decide whether or not they think the bullet reached its target." Highfield St Matthew's Primary School
We now have a limited number of Songbooks, containing all fifteen songs created by children through this project, available for sale to schools, parents and other music educators. The Songbooks are designed to be used in classrooms and assemblies, with easily photocopiable lyric sheets and spiral bound pages. Contact us if you would like to purchase a copy for £12.50.
This project has been supported by:
Participating schools:
Acresfield Primary School, Chester
Acre Road Primary School, Flixton
Bidston Avenue Primary School, Wirral
Boothstown Methodist Primary School, Salford
Bowness Primary School, Bolton
Cheadle Heath Primary School, Stockport
Heybrook Primary School, Rochdale
Highfield St Matthew's Primary School, Wigan
Lache Primary School, Chester
Mottram CE Primary School, Tameside
Saighton CE Primary School, Chester
St Hugh's Primary School, Oldham
St Stephen's Primary, Bury
Temple Primary School, Manchester
