Princess of the Pagodas and Tom Thumb

from Mother Goose Suite (1911)

Maurice Ravel

Duration: approximately 6:30 minutes

2009 CD Tracks 6 & 15

Year levels: K–9

Written in the language of the Australian Curriculum in the Arts these resources include activities in each of
the music learning areas: performing, composing and listening and identify the key competencies reinforced
in each activity.

Lesson Page Focus Activity

1 6 Listening
2 7 Listening and Moving
3 8 Composing
4 9 Performing
5 11 Listening
6 13 Composing and Performing
7 14 Imagining and Improvising

Lesson Index

Lesson 1: Students start by listening to Princess of the Pagodas. Students become familiar with
the story and the imagery suggested by the music, including the influence of Indonesian
gamelan music. Some aural activities are included using the pentatonic scale.
Lesson 2: begins as a listening lesson to identify different note values in the texture and
movement to show the differences between note values in Princess of the Pagodas.
They consider the types of movement performed in traditional Balinese music.
Lesson 3: A composition activity based upon the pentatonic scale.
Lesson 4: A performance lesson based upon the two main themes from Princess of the Pagodas
which give the music its “oriental” flavour.
Lesson 5: is a listening activity based upon Tom Thumb for familiarisation with the work.
Lesson 6: A composition activity (Tom Thumb). Older students have a listening comparison task.
Lesson 7: is an activity using a passage from a favourite book or poem and creating a background
soundscape that is performed while the passage is read.

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 1

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Composer biography: Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Maurice Ravel is one of France’s great composers. He was born in a Basque village, and was strongly
influenced by his mother’s Spanish heritage. Encouraged by his father, an amateur pianist, Ravel began
piano lessons and started writing compositions from the age of 12. His works show classical influences in his
approach to structure, as well as using classical styles such as dance movements. His rhythms were
strongly influenced by Spanish elements, but he also enjoyed playing with musical ideas from many other
cultures. A perfectionist, he strove for precision and clarity in organising his music. In the 1920s he was
diagnosed with a rare brain disease making it impossible for him to read, remember, or write music.

Mother Goose Suite

Ravel originally wrote Mother Goose Suite as a piano duet for children using five fairy tales as the basis for
the suite. The original 'Mother Goose' tales (1697) by Charles Perrault had told the stories of Sleeping
Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood and Puss in Boots. We will play 2 movements from Ravel's Mother Goose
Suite in the concert:

Princess of the Pagodas, is the story of Laideronette a princess, who was made ugly by a wicked witch.
She was ashamed of her appearance and hid in a distant castle. One day she met a green serpent, who had
himself once been a handsome prince. They travel to a country inhabited by Pagodas, tiny people made of
jewels, crystal, and porcelain where the green serpent is king. Eventually both the Laideronette and the
green serpent are restored to their original forms and marry.

Ravel does not attempt to tell the story in music. He provides a colourful depiction of a scene from the story
where Laideronette is entertained by the Pagodas playing musical walnut-shells and almond-shells as she
bathes. To create the ‘Asian’ sound of the piece Ravel uses pentatonic melodic figures, string tremolo's,
‘exotic’ percussion, and a cheerful ‘oriental’ tune played by the piccolo.

Tom Thumb tells the story of little Tom Thumb, the youngest of seven children in a poor woodcutter’s family.
The children are abandoned in the woods by their parents, but Tom thinks of a way to save their lives. Tom
(portrayed by the oboe) leaves a trail of bread crumbs to help them find their way out of the woods, but birds
come and eat the crumbs and they are lost. The wandering accompaniment in the piece depicts their
journey, and bird calls can be heard in the trills and harmonics played by the woodwinds and violins.

Key musical concepts contained in this work

• Note values h q e
• Pentatonic scale.
• Features of gamelan music.
• Use of the elements of music to create tone colour and aural inspired images.

At the conclusion of the activities students should be able to:

• Recognise key themes from both pieces and discuss the musical difference between them.
• Perform musical material from each piece.
• Explain how the composer uses the elements of music to suggest each scene.
• Experiment with music to create their own soundscapes.

2 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Digital Support Materials
• Slide One: Introduction
• Slide Two: Lesson 1 – Gamelan
• Slide Three: Lesson 1 – Pentatonic
• Slide Four: Lesson 2 – Movement
• Slide Five: Lesson 4 – Performing (gong)
• Slide Six: Lesson 4 – Classroom Ensemble Performance
• Slide Seven: Lesson 5 – Tom Thumb Theme
• Slide Eight: Lesson 5 – String Techniques
• Slide Nine: Lesson 7 – Imagining and Improvising

Audio Tracks
The recordings used in the resource are reproduced with the kind permission from Universal Australia.
The performance is by L’orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ansermet. Decca 433 716-2

Sydney Symphony 2009 Education Program CD:

CD Track 6 RAVEL Tom Thumb
CD Track 15 RAVEL Princess of the Pagodas

How to use the resources

Each folder contains teacher notes, an interactive powerpoint of classroom materials for smartboard use,
and audio excerpts related to that work (if applicable).

If for some reason the embedded audio in the powerpoint slides stop working, you can re-insert the audio
from the excerpts found in the folder.

To access the audio excerpts within the bite-sized resources you will need the latest version of Adobe
Reader and Flash Player installed on your computer. Download for free by clicking the links below

Adobe Reader
http://get.adobe.com/reader/?promoid=KEWEH

Flash Player
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=KEWEI

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 3

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Listening Guide

Princess of the Pagodas – 2009 CD Track 15

CD Cues Features
0:00–0:08 • Quiet Introduction of harp chords, tremolo strings, and a bassoon and horn pattern I
can't hear this).
• Use of pentatonic scale sets up the ‘Asian’ feel of the piece.
0:08–0:24 • Piccolo enters with an oriental sounding pentatonic melody, representing Laideronette.
• Accompaniment continues with the patterns set up in the Introduction.
• Celeste and flute are added to the accompanying instruments.
0:24–0:32 • Loud chords alternating with quiet semiquaver patterns in piccolo, flute and celeste.
0:32–0:56 • Oboe enters with solo melody.
• The melody is taken over by the flute, then by the cor anglais.
• Flute and cor anglais alternate with two bar semiquaver patterns.
0:56–1:09 • Semiquaver patterns in xylophone, celeste, piccolo, and flute over pizzicato (plucked)
accompaniment in strings.
• Dynamics build as more instruments enter with a crescendo (getting louder).
1:09–1:24 • Horns enter loudly with a pentatonic melody that has long note values.
• The melody is doubled at first by flute, clarinet and bassoon, then just flute as
dynamics reduce.
• The melody is punctuated by the tam-tam (gong).
• Dynamics gradually reduce to pianissimo (very soft).
1:24–1:51 • Clarinet plays a variation of the horn melody softly, with tam-tam notes still
punctuating.
• Clarinet and celeste play the melody in canon.
• Strings and harp accompany with long sustained notes, while double basses play
pizzicato notes.
1:51–2:19 • Solo flute plays new melody marked très espressif (very expressive).
• Strings and harp accompany with sustained notes.
2:19–2:39 • Clarinets and violas enter with the pentatonic melody.
• Texture becomes busier as the celeste enters six bars later with the melody from the
beginning while clarinets/violas continue their melody.
• Piccolo and flute join celeste as the cor anglais, and then violins take over motif from
clarinet melody.
• Syncopated1 notes in percussion.
• Section ends with glissandos2 on the harp.
2:39–3:24 • Repeat of cue 0:24–1:24 (bars 24–68):
• Dynamics build as more instruments enter with a crescendo.
3:24–3:29 • Ends with four loud chords.

1 Syncopated: accents occur on a weak beat (off beat).

2 Glissando: moving between two notes playing all the notes in between.

4 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Tom Thumb – 2009 CD Track 6
CD Cues Features
0:00–0:27 • Tom Thumb’s wandering is depicted by meandering notes in the violins played softly.
• Frequent changes in time signatures contribute to the picture of Tom wandering
aimlessly through the woods.
• Oboe enters with a soft and expressive melody representing Tom.

0:27–0:59 • The melody is taken over by the cor anglais.

• Violas and cellos play meandering notes.
• Double basses play occasional pizzicato (plucked) notes supported by low notes in the
clarinet (perhaps representing the bread crumbs being dropped..).
• The clarinet and then the flute take over the melody.

0:59–1:25 • Crescendo (gradually gets louder) as the pitch ascends through the strings.
• Melody in violins, flutes, oboe and cor anglais played loudly.
• Meandering notes continue in the rest of the strings.
• Dynamics reduce to piano (soft).

1:25–1:48 • Very soft cor anglais melody continues to represent Tom.

• Meandering figures in violas and cellos, with occasional pizzicato notes in
the double basses.

1:48–1:58 • New section as the birds eat the bread crumbs.

• Bird sounds created by solo violin playing glissandos3 and harmonics4; two more solo
violins playing trills5; glissandos in violin I; tremolo6 notes in violin II; flutter tonguing7 in
piccolo; and cuckoo calls in flute (falling minor 3rd).
• Bassoons and violas continue meandering figures.

1:58–2:22 • Crescendo (gradually gets louder) as the pitch ascends through the strings.
• Tom represented by melody played in unison (two octaves apart) by solo cello and
piccolo.
2:22–3:00 • Coda.
• Begins with solo flute, pizzicato double basses and quaver ostinato pattern in violas,
supported by long notes in the horn, then harmonics in cellos.
• Violins play meandering figures and oboe hints at the ‘Tom’ melody.
• The movement ends quietly and happily on a C major chord played by oboe and violins
(harmonics).

3 Glissando: sliding between notes playing all the notes in between.

4 Harmonics: high notes achieved on string instruments by lightly placing the finger on the string, producing a ‘glassy’ tone.
5 Trill: an ornament that consists of rapid alternation between two notes either a tone or a semitone apart.
6 Tremolo: repeating the same note over and over very quickly.
7 Flutter tonguing: the player rolls an ‘r’ with their tongue while blowing into the instrument.

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 5

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Sequential Classroom Activities
2009 Education CD, Tracks 6 &15

Lesson 1: Listening (Princess of the Pagodas)

1. Listen to the recording of Princess of the Pagodas (2009 CD Track 15).
Discuss the students’ observations of the music.
• What is the mood of the music?
• What might the music be describing?

2. Tell students the story of Princess of the Pagodas (see page 2).
Discuss the scene that Ravel is describing in the music.

3. In 1889 Ravel heard the music of the Javanese Gamelan at the World Exposition in Paris.
This inspired the Asian sounds in this piece including:
• Pentatonic melodies that are very repetitive and use a short range of notes.
• Shimmering sounds of the string tremolos.
• Use of metal percussion instruments such as the tam-tam

4. Look at this mini documentary on gamelan music: http://safeshare.tv/w/rykNNrGFpB

a) Now revisit the piece by Ravel. Can you hear similarities?
Discuss the features of the music that give it an Asian sound.

b) This video shows how the music plays a role in Indonesian culture:
http://safeshare.tv/w/AWIDAEIXCq

5. What is a pentatonic scale? Play a C pentatonic scale, e.g. C D E G A. Compare its sound with the
sound of a major scale, e.g. C D E F G A B C.
a) Have the children echo sing pentatonic patterns that the teacher creates.

b) Watch the Bobby McFerrin demonstration of a pentatonic scale: http://safeshare.tv/w/dzLFEOTMNB

6. Listen to the pentatonic melodies in Princess of the Pagodas. (Refer to Listening Guide on page 4)
a) Discuss the characteristics of each melody and identify the instruments that play them.

b) Are some of the melodies played more than once? (Yes) Identify the melodies as they are
repeated.

7. Listen to the percussion instruments that play in Princess of the Pagodas.

Try to identify each one as it plays.
a) How do the percussion instruments add to the Asian sound of the piece? (e.g. metallic sounds,
quick notes of the xylophone and celeste, gong (tam-tam) sounds.)

8. Listen to the full track of Tom Thumb from Mother Goose Suite to finish the lesson. (2009 CD Track 6)

6 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 2: Listening and Moving (Princess of the Pagodas)

1. The different layers of this piece are at different rhythmic speeds. When the music gets going you can
hear a slow melody below faster melodies using different note values.

a) As you listen to the piece move firstly in slow steps that take 2 long beats each. (2009 CD Track 15)
NB: the children should look like they are moving in slow motion.

b) Then when all have that slow pace change to stepping on the beat.

c) Then change to taking 2 steps for each beat.

d) As the piece continues, alternate between these three note values until the children change easily
between the slow, medium, and fast patterns.

e) When students have mastered this form 3 circles. The inner circle should have about 4 children, the
next 7, and the outer circle the rest.

The inner circle will walk the slowest pattern, the middle circle the beat and the outer circle on tip
toe should move 2 steps in each beat.

f) Make the point that the students are all moving in the same tempo or speed, the difference is
caused by using different note values / divisions of the beat.

2. Review the gamelan dancing: http://safeshare.tv/w/nAhvZPGvjj

a) Working in small groups improvise movements that fit the different sections of music:
Group 1: faster moving section, cue 0:00–1:09
Group 2: slower moving section, cue 1:09–2:24

b) Try to include movements that reflect the Asian feel of the music.

c) Practise the movements to the recording. (2009 CD Track 15)

d) Perform in the following way:

• Group 1 begins in the centre of a circle formed by Group 2.
• Groups swap positions for slower section.
(Pause CD to make position change if necessary.)

Extension for Older Children

3. Working in small groups:

• Allocate sections of Princess of the Pagodas to each group (see Listening Guide on page 4).
• Groups devise movements that reflect the mood, dynamics, tempo of the section.
• Design and make simple costumes. (optional)
• Perform with the CD recording.
• Join groups/sections to make a class performance item for assembly.

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 7

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 3: Composing (Princess of the Pagodas)

1. The melodies in Princess of the Pagodas are built on the notes of a pentatonic scale.

a) Set up melodic percussion with the notes of the C pentatonic scale:

b) Students experiment with the sound of the scale.

c) Improvise melodies, e.g. fast/slow, loud/soft, in combination with other students.

2. Explore the sounds of different un-tuned percussion instruments.

Select ones that have an Asian sound (e.g. gongs, cymbals played with or without soft mallets,
woodblocks, triangles etc).

3. Working in groups of 4-5 students, devise a short composition based on improvised pentatonic melodies
and un-tuned percussion sounds.

a) Compose a pentatonic melody (or melodies).

b) Add some accompaniment with ‘Asian’ feel on un-tuned instruments, e.g. cymbals played with a soft
mallet (gong), triangle and woodblocks.

c) Add one or two pentatonic ostinatos (repeating patterns) with quick notes played on xylophones
and/or glockenspiel.

d) Practise and record a performance of the composition.

e) Listen to the recording and discuss the effectiveness of the composition.

4. Notate the composition using graphic or traditional notation or available technology.

Extension Activity

5. In groups of 4 make up your own pentatonic scale using any 5 notes.

It does not need to sound like the C pentatonic scale.

a) Create two accompaniment ostinatos patterns.

b) While they are playing have the remaining 2 students start a question and answer improvised
melody above it.

8 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 4: Performing (Princess of the Pagodas)

1. Learn the melody below either playing or singing it.

NB: The excerpt with this theme can be accessed from Slide 5.

2. Use resonant metallic sounds to insert the gong strikes as they are marked on the music.

You may use saucepan lids, cymbals, triangles or pipes – anything that will make a resonant sound!

Sing the pattern and insert the gong sounds – which mainly occur where there is no singing, except
towards the end.

3. Now perform the gong sounds with the excerpt.

NB: The melody is written in an easier key so it will not work with the audio recording but the gong part
will fit in well as it is not a pitched instrument!

4. Learn the class arrangement on the following page of the climax of the Princess of the Pagodas

Younger students might just perform the rhythm if the notes are too difficult.

Older students continue...

a) Learn the patterns slowly, looking out for repeating bars to help learn the top line.
If the top line is too difficult assign bars to different players to learn.

b) When all the parts have been mastered at a slow tempo, put them together and gradually increase
the speed.

c) The final performance should follow the dynamic (volume) plan:

Start very softly (pp) and gradually get louder (cres) to a very loud last five bars (ff)

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 9

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
 Class Arrangement
Climax Section from the Princess of the Pagodas

10 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 5: Listening (Tom Thumb)

Remind students of the background of Mother Goose Suite by Ravel. (See Introduction on page 2)

1. Tell the part of Perrault’s fairy story of Tom Thumb that Ravel depicts in the music.

Tom, the youngest of seven sons, overhears his impoverished parents planning to lose their children in
the forest because they cannot feed them. The self-reliant boy first leads his brothers home thanks to a
trail of stones, but the second time, his trail of crumbs is eaten by birds. Spying a light in the distance, he
leads his siblings to the castle of an ogre, and begins a David-and-Goliath confrontation of wits.8

2. Ravel describes features of the story in the music. These include:

• A meandering accompaniment that represents Tom and his brothers wandering in the forest.
• Bird calls.
• A melody that represents Tom:

a) Listen to Tom Thumb. (2009 CD Track 6)

b) Which instrument plays Tom’s melody? (Oboe)

c) How are the bird calls and the feeling of meandering achieved?
(Wandering notes played softly by strings with notes moving mainly by step; time signature keeps
changing. Bird sounds are created by violins playing glissandos, harmonics, tremolo notes and trills;
flutter tonguing in piccolo; and cuckoo calls in flute (falling minor 3rd).)

d) What is the mood of the piece? (e.g. sad, lonely)

e) Describe the dynamics. (e.g. mainly soft, loud in the middle, before becoming soft again.)

f) Clap the beat and describe the tempo. (e.g. a slow walking pace)

g) Learn to play the above melody if students are able to.

h) Discuss how the dynamics and tempo contribute to the mood of the piece?

i) Students identify the entry of the bird calls by raising their hands when they hear them.

8 From http://www.answers.com/topic/tom-thumb

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 11

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
 j) How does the piece end?
(e.g. very softly; the same as the beginning, with the meandering accompaniment played by violins
(and oboe for the last four notes); on a bright note produced by the violin harmonics.)

k) Listen to the oboe tune again and draw the shape of the tune in the air or on a piece of paper.
Can you see how the music is wandering around like it is lost?

3. Investigate the instruments of the woodwind family that play in Tom Thumb:
piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon:
• Show pictures of the instruments.
• Discuss their features and how they are played.
• If possible, listen to samples of their sounds.

The following websites contain relevant information:

http://www.dsokids.com/
http://www.sfskids.org/

4. Listen to the recording again (2009 CD Track 6) and identify the woodwind instruments that share the
melody throughout the piece. (Refer to the Listening Guide on page 5)

5. What sounds can you find in the classroom environment that could be used to imitate bird sounds?
How might you write this down so that another person would know how to play it?

Older Students

6. Investigate the playing techniques that are used to produce the bird calls.
The links below demonstrate players making these sounds.

Glissandos
http://safeshare.tv/w/CRUfVHJedH

Harmonic notes
http://safeshare.tv/w/dZfDoIFYOd

Trills
http://safeshare.tv/w/aopuVarsOt

Tremolo
http://safeshare.tv/w/dQSzIohYNR

Flutter tonguing
http://safeshare.tv/w/azgTgvISCZ

12 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 6: Composing and Performing (Tom Thumb)

1. Younger Students mime the story of Tom Thumb.

Allocate roles to the students: Trees (forest); Tom; Tom's brothers; Birds

a) Students suggest appropriate actions for each role that fit the story and the music.

b) Use simple props or costumes to help set the scene, e.g. green streamers for trees; ‘breadcrumbs’;
bird masks.

c) Perform the actions with the recording. (2009 CD Track 6)

d) Students swap roles and repeat the mime.

Older Students start here:

2. Working in small groups or as a class students compose a piece that tells the story of Tom Thumb using
the compositional ideas from the piece.

a) Experiment with instrumental, environmental and vocal sounds that can be used to depict the story,
e.g. bird calls, breadcrumbs dropping, Tom and his brothers moving through the woods, leaves
rustling in the wind.

b) Select sound sources for the composition.

c) Compose (or improvise) a ‘wandering’ motif for xylophones that moves mainly by step.
(Use the notes C D E G and A.)

d) Compose (or improvise) a pentatonic melody that represents Tom. (Use only C D E G and A.)

e) Create a sound that depicts the bread crumbs dropping on the ground.

f) Add some ‘bird’ sounds.

g) Decide on a structure for the piece.

h) Practise and refine the composition.

i) Perform the piece for the class.

Extension Listening:

3. Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe has written a lot of music depicting the Australian wilderness.

From the link below, listen to 4:30 to 6:00 from Sculthorpe's piece Kakadu and you'll hear a similar
depiction of a person wandering in the bush on their own amidst the sounds of birds and insects. Ask
students to listen to this and Tom Thumb and compare the two interpretations.

http://safeshare.tv/w/hpxxsqiZVk

Bite-sized Lesson Plans 13

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit
Lesson 7: Imagining and Improvising

Adapting a book from your classroom

Choose a favourite book or text from your classroom or try this exercise using Where the Wild things Are
by Maurice Sendack. The entire text of this story can be found:
http://www.sfasu.edu/echl/documents/Where_The_Wild_Things_Are.pdf

1. Select a portion of text from the story that lends itself to creating a soundscape.

For example consider this excerpt from Where the Wild Things Are:

That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew and grew until his ceiling hung with vines
and the walls became the world all around. An ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max.
He sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the
wild things are.

And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars,
and gnashed their terrible teeth, and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.
Till Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without
blinking once.

2. Group planning questions to inform the creative process:

a) Consider which words or sentences might have specific sound effects.

b) Does the mood of the story change? How can you show this in your music?

c) Will you have a theme for specific characters or a short pattern to use when their
name is mentioned?

d) How will you use the voices reading the story?

e) What unusual sounds can you find in your classroom to use, or make using your
voices and bodies?

f) How will you remember your ideas so you can perform it for the class?

3. Students improve and craft a short soundscape which they rehearse then perform for the class.

Extension for leading into a longer lesson series:

4. Students can be given different parts of the story and then perform the story as a whole
as an assembly item.

14 Bite-sized Lesson Plans

2015 Regional Tour Resource Kit