Minuet In C (K.6) - Mozart

Mozart is thought to have written this when he was 7 years old!

Minuet in C (K.6) Mozart - Demonstration

Listen to the music LOTS!

First time: Clap the pulse.

Second time: Listen to loud and quiet sections - stand up for LOUD sections and sit down for QUIET sections. Do the changes from loud to quiet and quiet to loud happen gradually or suddenly?

Third time: What is the character of the music - come up with one or two words. (E.g. mysterious, funny)

How is the pianist showing the character of the music? (e.g. playing loudly, playing smoothly)

Fourth time: Can you come up with a STORY for the music? What is happening during the quiet parts or the loud parts? What is happening during the scale patterns? Why are there staccato notes in your story? When the notes are legatto what is happening now?

Fifth time: Can you identify the STRUCTURE of the song? Are there long sections which repeat?

Sixth time: Can you clap the rhythm as you listen?

Seventh time: Can you sing along with any parts of it?

Eighth time: Which are the most interesting/surprising notes towards the beginning of the piece?

Ninth time: Can you play any of it by ear on the piano?

Tenth time: Do you like the music? Why or why not?

Eleventh time: Can you make up your own dance moves?

Question 1

What is a minuet?

Minuet, (from French menu, “small”), elegant couple dance that dominated aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, from about 1650 to about 1750. Reputedly derived from the French folk dance branle de Poitou, the court minuet used smaller steps and became slower and increasingly etiquette-laden and spectacular. It was especially popular at the court of Louis XIV of France. Dancers, in the order of their social position, often performed versions with especially choreographed figures, or floor patterns, and prefaced the dance with stylized bows and curtsies to partners and spectators. The basic floor pattern outlined by the dancers was at first a figure 8 and, later, the letter Z.

Question 2

Read the text and tell me true or false:

Minuet came from the French word 'small'

It was popular with poor people.

Dancers used the Wii to work out which order to make their dance moves.

The dance was popular between the mid 1600s and mid 1700s.

Question 3

What other kind of dancing does this remind you of? What kind of dances to do you know that everyone does the same moves at the same time?

Question 4

What instrument is this minuet being played on?

Question 5

Where is the surprise in this minuet?

Can you hear the melody that is repeated lots and lots in this piece - use this to help with question 6....

Question 6

Mozart was 5 when he composed this minuet. Why don't you have a go at composing a minuet? You need a first section, then repeat that section, then compose a second section and repeat that section. Minuet complete!

Facts About Mozart

Question 7

Click on the link and tell me your 4 favourite facts about Mozart to add to the COMPOSER page.

You could do your own research to find some other facts if you wish.

Fill in the Google Form below with the answers to the questions on this page.

And finally

Go to this website and listen to Mozart's music being played on his very own piano! (from the 1780s) https://www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/mozart-piano/

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