- 12 hours ago
Season 12 (1996-1997)
Original production funding provided by: Kellogg’s Cereal Company
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
National Science Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Original production funding provided by: Kellogg’s Cereal Company
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
National Science Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Reading Rainbow is made possible by a ready-to-learn television cooperative agreement
00:05from the U.S. Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service
00:10and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
00:14and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.
00:19Reading Rainbow
00:23Butterfly in the sky
00:26I can go twice as high
00:30Take a look, it's in a book
00:33Reading Rainbow
00:36I can go anywhere
00:42Friends to know and ways to grow
00:46Reading Rainbow
00:49I can be anything
00:55Take a look, it's in a book
00:58Reading Rainbow
01:00Reading Rainbow
01:05I can get a look, it's in a book
01:19piano, violins, flutes, French horns, just waiting to sing out with music. Now each
01:46one of these makes a magnificent sound on its own, but put them together and something
01:51amazing happens. One becomes two, and two become three until the sounds add up to equal
01:58one new sound, the sound of an orchestra, as you will see and hear in this book, Zin,
02:05Zin, Zin, A Violin, by Lloyd Moss, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, read by Gregory Hines,
02:28With mournful moan and silken tone, itself alone comes one trombone. Gliding, sliding,
02:46high notes go low, one trombone is playing solo. Next, a trumpet comes along, and sings and
03:01stings its swingin' song. It joins trombone, no more alone, and one and two-oh, uh, they're a duo.
03:12Fine French horn, its valves all oiled. Bright and brassy, loops all coiled. Golden yellow joins its
03:27fellows. Two, now three-oh. What a trio. Now a mellow friend, the cello. Neck extended, bows, uh,
03:41hello. End pin set upon the floor. It makes up a quartet. That's four. And soaring high,
03:56and moving in, with Zin, Zin, Zin, a violin. Stroking strings that come alive, now quintet. Let's count them. Five.
04:11Flute, that sends our soul a shiver. Flute, that slender, silver sliver. A place among the set it picks,
04:26to make a young sextet. That's six. With steely keys that softly click, its breezy notes so darkly slick. A sleek,
04:45black, woody, clarinet, is number seven. Now septet. Gleeful. Bleeding. Sobbing. Pleading. Through its throbbing,
05:04double reading. Oboe. Please don't hesitate. Come, make it an octet. That's eight.
05:11That's eight. That lazy clown, the big bassoon. He plays low down. We're laughing soon. Here,
05:28grumpy, get your place in line. And give us a no net. That's nine.
05:34The harp descends with angels' wings. A heavens blend through magic strings. And when it joins the others,
05:51then, behold, a chamber group of ten.
05:57The orchestra comes in the hall. They're on the stage. We see them all. The cello, harp, and clarinet. The trumpet,
06:14whom we've also met. The oboe, flute, and big bassoon, all eager to get started soon. Trombone, French horn,
06:26and violin, all poised and ready. Now, begin.
06:41The strings all soar. The reeds implore. The brasses roar with notes galore. It's music that we all adore.
06:55It's what we go to concerts for. The minutes fly. The music ends. And so, goodbye to our new friends.
07:10But when they've bowed and left the floor. If we clap loud and shout, Encore! They may come back and play once more.
07:22And that would give us great delight before we say a late good night.
07:33Duos, trios, quartets, septets. These are all different ways of grouping musical instruments. And when musicians play
07:38together in large groups, like an orchestra, they need a conductor to lead them.
07:43Now, the person who wields this baton. And this baton is my baton.
07:48Maestro, how are you?
07:49Maestro, how are you?
07:50I'm fine. How are you?
07:51This is Eugene Becker, and he is the conductor to lead them. And this baton is my baton.
07:53Maestro, how are you?
07:54Maestro, how are you?
07:55I'm fine. How are you?
07:56This is Eugene Becker, and he is the conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Orchestra.
07:58And this is, as I'm sure you've guessed by now.
07:59His baton.
08:00Wow.
08:01The person who holds this baton really is a baton.
08:02He is a baton.
08:03He is a baton.
08:04He is a baton.
08:05He is a baton.
08:06He is a baton.
08:07He is a baton.
08:08He is a baton.
08:09He is a baton.
08:10He is a baton.
08:11He is a baton.
08:12He is a baton.
08:13Oh, maestro.
08:14How are you?
08:15I'm fine.
08:16How are you?
08:17This is Eugene Becker, and he is the conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Orchestra.
08:21And this is, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, his baton.
08:26Wow.
08:27The person who holds this baton really is in control.
08:30And I am in control.
08:31You are the man.
08:32So what are we rehearsing today, Gene?
08:34We need a little rehearsal on the Haydn Surprise Symphony Second Movement, LeVar.
08:38I'll get out of your way.
08:39See you later on.
08:40Okay.
08:41Let's go.
08:42Let's go.
08:43Let's go.
08:44Let's go.
08:45Let's go.
08:46Let's go.
08:47Let's go.
08:48Let's go.
08:49Let's go.
08:50Let's go.
08:51An orchestra is a group of 20, 40, 60, 120 highly trained musicians.
09:00orchestra is like totally teamwork, so it's like the one person, like, each person is important,
09:11but they have to be together.
09:12It's like a puzzle, and you have to be one of the little pieces.
09:16The conductor is the person who puts all the pieces to the puzzle together.
09:21Schubert, please.
09:24Schubert, last movement.
09:27Nice, easy tempo.
09:31The role of the conductor really is to supervise every note that the members of the orchestra play.
09:40To play them together, that's the word ensemble.
09:43And everybody must play together at exactly the same moment, in the same time, and the same tempo, meaning speed of beat.
09:53And that's what a conductor is for.
09:55He makes you stay together.
09:57If you look at him, he's always struggling to make you keep together.
10:02I remember the conductor telling me that you have to look at your music, but with the corner of your eye,
10:08you have to also be watching them because you have to see when he gives cues, like when he tells you to play.
10:13And if there's like a really, really hard and tricky part, he will tell you what to do.
10:18He will tell you.
10:19Very good. It's much better.
10:21A little faster.
10:22Almost tempo.
10:23Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
10:27Is the conductor the coach?
10:29Or the general?
10:31Or the friend?
10:33Or the teacher?
10:34Or the enemy?
10:35And you know the answer is all of those things.
10:42Now, you know.
10:44Good.
10:46Good.
10:47Woodwinds understand something.
10:4933 violinists are playing the same thing, and they're playing perfectly together.
10:53You have to play with them.
10:55They give you the beat.
10:57Tick, tock, tick, tock.
10:59It's up to the conductor to organize everybody into a unity, a unified concept of counting.
11:07One, two, three.
11:08One, two, three.
11:09One, two, three.
11:10One, two, three.
11:10Boom.
11:11Boom.
11:12Boom.
11:12Well, I'll be doing this in my head.
11:14One, two, three, four.
11:16Two, two, three, four.
11:18Three, two, three, four.
11:19And then, boom.
11:21The beginning of the piece, everybody in the orchestra, nice and slowly, scherzo movement.
11:30We have to correct these.
11:32One, two, three, four.
11:35That's piano.
11:37And this is pianissimo.
11:41And this is fortissimo with accent.
11:43Accent.
11:46How soft is soft?
11:48How loud is loud?
11:49What does that mean?
11:51They're all relative terms.
11:54And the composer indicates where we should be playing within those dynamics.
12:01Heavenly.
12:03Heavenly.
12:04Dynamic is when things are loud and soft and in between.
12:10It's in what, like, range it is.
12:14We go on.
12:21You do not know the bowings.
12:26If you're careless and you make a mistake, everyone, you're going to bring down everyone back to the drawing board.
12:34Boom.
12:35I think it's essential for orchestral musicians to practice their parts.
12:46If they don't practice their parts, and if they don't know their parts, and they don't play their music properly.
12:51Nobody really likes to practice, nobody.
12:56Nobody really likes to practice, nobody.
13:00Not even the best.
13:01So I think you just have to stay with it and focus.
13:05And so I try to squeeze in, like, around three hours every day.
13:09You have to practice your music because if you're the only one that isn't practicing it, then you're just going to be, like, the one left out.
13:27You're not going to know what to play, and I guess you're going to be, like, the piece that's left out of the puzzle.
13:40Let's do it one more time, and then we take a nice break.
13:43Please.
13:46At rehearsals, we work very hard.
13:50The intensity is enormous.
13:52The concentration is tremendous.
13:54And so after an hour, or perhaps less, they need a break desperately.
13:59Stop.
14:00You just ask?
14:01Yeah.
14:02Stop.
14:03Stop.
14:04Stop.
14:05Stop.
14:06Stop.
14:07Stop.
14:08Stop.
14:09Stop.
14:10Stop.
14:11Stop.
14:13Stop.
14:14Stop.
14:15Stop.
14:16Stop.
14:17Stop.
14:18Stop.
14:19Stop.
14:20Stop.
14:21Stop.
14:22Stop.
14:23Stop.
14:24Stop.
14:25Don't get angry.
14:41Stop.
14:42the key to playing beautifully is listening to each other that's true if one plays in a duet
14:47or a giant symphony orchestra and we sacrifice some of our own selves egos ideas for the common
14:54good you have to be able to change yourself a little bit so you you're like all the rest
15:04i think they learned to work together very beautifully and in our society that's mandatory
15:10we had better learn to work together or we won't have a society that will last very long i think
15:16you feel really special when you when you really got the music down you feel like you've worked
15:20hard and it's paid off because now you're one of the people that's bringing the music out
15:26wow it is incredible how all of these people come together to play one piece of music
15:43and how their sound depends so much on precision everybody has to hit the right note at the right
15:49time and of course they all have to play in rhythm rhythm is the heart of all musical performance
15:56and when rhythm is your business well you can't afford to miss a beat
16:10that feels so good to be able to be part of a group like that yeah doing that this is carl smith
16:21and i'm here with a group called stomp now stomp is what carl how would you describe it stomp is a
16:28theater show based on percussion based on on on rhythm right on drumming on precision right
16:35teamwork teamwork it's a little family so work me into this family for a minute or two if you can
16:41okay so i'll show you what we do and we'll give you a shorter version of it this is what we do
16:51you got it okay yeah that feels really good i think i can do that you're ready for me
16:56okay you want confidence you want you to look at the audience that's right express all right here we go
17:05so
17:17hey
17:35Wow, that is awesome.
18:03Ahmed, it is really clear to me that this number really takes precision, absolute precision,
18:09otherwise somebody could get hurt.
18:11Definitely timing.
18:13But it's not it.
18:14We have more to do, especially with you.
18:17Right now what we're going to do is what we call the circle groove.
18:20So everybody in the team, we've got to get in a circle.
18:22We're going to start with the feet this time, just to get the feel of it.
18:27Like marching?
18:28Yeah, just like marching.
18:29Alright, and it's going to go.
18:36One, two, three, four, five, six.
18:44One, two, three, four.
18:49That's it.
18:51Yeah.
18:52You got it.
18:53That's great.
18:55That's it, yeah, you got it, that's great.
19:06Here you go.
19:08Now this routine is called Pipes.
19:10Pipes.
19:11And we each have a different size pipe that makes a different tone as you can hear behind
19:15us.
19:16You hear the music?
19:17One, two, three, and four, and one, two, three, and four, and one, two, three, and
19:23four, and one, two, three, and four, and one, two, three, and four, and one.
19:30All we need to do is for you to stand here, right, hold the lids out like this, yeah,
19:59you got it?
20:00All right.
20:01Arms fairly well forward.
20:02Right.
20:03And it'd be good to have a back leg out there to support you a little.
20:04All right.
20:05And then we're going to surprise you with what's coming next, okay?
20:07This is all I need to do.
20:08So you just need to stand there and just don't worry about a thing, yeah?
20:11Okay.
20:12All right?
20:13All right.
20:14Fine.
20:15All right.
20:16All right.
20:17All right.
20:18All right.
20:19All right.
20:20All right.
20:21All right.
20:22All right.
20:23All right.
20:24All right.
20:25All right.
20:26All right.
20:27All right.
20:28All right.
20:29All right.
20:30Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second.
20:32You know what, you guys?
20:33I have had a great time.
20:34This has been an incredible experience for me, but I think I'm going to watch this over here.
20:37Whoo!
21:07All right.
21:12You know what?
21:13This has been a shot here in the last 옵션.
21:16Everybody went to make your show.
21:17We will be able to wait the whole part to be on, okay?
21:19You know what to do thinking?
21:20This has been a time to watch.
21:21This has been, oh, we got all right.
21:22It's been a record.
21:23Football is playing 있어.
21:24This has been a record.
21:25All right.
21:26You can do this.
21:27This has been a record.
21:28How long is it?
21:29You can do this.
21:30People when they ate skin and see the wine.
21:31Me too.
21:32You can waste that shit.
21:33You can do it.
21:34I have nothing.
21:35You can do that.
21:36It doesn't matter if you tap your toes,
22:03twang a guitar, or bang on a pail.
22:06If you like music, here's a medley of books you'll find in perfect harmony.
22:12But you don't have to take my word for it.
22:16Hello, I'm Laura, and here's a book that makes words sound like music and puts music into words.
22:22It's called The Maestro Plays.
22:25The maestro is the leader. He sets the rhythm.
22:29He plays loudly. He plays slowly.
22:34He plays faster, faster, and faster.
22:38He plays ringingly and wingingly.
22:42He's moving to the music.
22:46The words in this book are as much fun as the pictures.
22:50This book is silly and goofy and it's great fun.
22:54Whether you like music or words, The Maestro Plays is for you.
22:58The Maestro Plays
23:04What he does with those sticks is pretty exciting.
23:08When two sticks fall from a tree, Max gets to work.
23:12He drums on his lap, he drums on a bucket, and he drums on a garbage can.
23:18He finds the beat everywhere.
23:20Put-a-put-a-pat-tat, tippy-tip-tap-tap.
23:24That's the rain falling.
23:26Dee-dee-dee-dee-dee, dum-dum.
23:29This is my favorite part.
23:31Max gets a new pair of drumsticks from a friend.
23:35The rhythm in this book will make you shiver, so hop on up and get your copy today.
23:41Hi, I'd like you to meet some musicians and their instruments of all kinds.
23:48They're in this book called Meet the Orchestra.
23:51The orchestra in this book is a little unusual.
23:55It's made up of animals.
23:57There are four parts to an orchestra.
24:00Strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
24:06Some members of the string family include
24:09the violin, the cello, and the string bass.
24:13Here's the woodwind family.
24:15It includes the flute, the bassoon, the oboe, and the clarinet.
24:20Take a look at the brass family, the powerhouse of the orchestra.
24:25The percussion section is also called the kitchen.
24:29It includes the boom-boom of the drums and the crash of the cymbals.
24:35I'm Daniel.
24:36When you read this book, you can practically hear the instruments play.
24:40So put a little music into your life and read Meet the Orchestra.
24:45Good.
24:46It's very good.
24:47There is no problem with this.
24:48But I've been thinking of one idea.
24:49It's very good.
24:50There is no problem with this.
24:51But I've been thinking of one idea.
24:56How about we ask LeVar to join our orchestra and do a little playing with us?
25:09What do you think?
25:10LeVar, want to try it?
25:11Me?
25:12Play with the orchestra?
25:13Yes, you.
25:14I'd love to.
25:15Wow!
25:16This is gonna be great.
25:18All I have to do is keep my eye on Gene the conductor, follow his lead, and then do my very best to keep the beat.
25:23Then I'll add my sound to everyone else's, and together we'll make beautiful music.
25:28What do you think?
25:29LeVar, want to try it?
25:31Me?
25:32Play with the orchestra?
25:33Yes, you.
25:34I'd love to.
25:37So the speaker vocals are welcome.
25:38Let's try it again.
25:39It's土.
25:40Play with the music.
25:41Wow!
25:42This is gonna be great.
25:43All I have to do is keep my eye on Gene the conductor, follow his lead and then do my very
25:47best to keep the beat.
25:48Then I'll add my sound to everyone else's and together we'll make beautiful music.
25:54¶¶
26:24Wow, I did it. I'll see you next time.
26:54¶¶
27:09Today's Reading Rainbow books are...
27:16¶¶
27:23By Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
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27:28Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinckney, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
27:36¶¶
27:38By Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky, published by Henry Holton Company.
27:48¶¶
27:49Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes, illustrated by Carmen Thompson, published by Harcourt Brace & Company.
27:57¶¶
27:59Reading Rainbow is made possible by a ready-to-learn television cooperative agreement
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