Music Time: A Christmas Journey
A Christmas Journey is a unit of the BBC schools TV series Music Time from the 1970s and 1980s, covering Music for primary school pupils.
{{Leader|The first term in a new series of Music Time, with new presenters Kathryn Harries and Peter Combe, and made in colour for the first time. The fundamental components of the series remain the same - the presenters sing songs and encourage viewers to join in with the signing or accompaniments and simply listen to music, and this leads to work on pitch & rhythm and creative work with sounds.
The new elements are the style of the presenters and the structure of the series into focussed units of 2 or 3 episodes at a time concentrating on particular types of work.}] This page actually covers 4 different units of programmes all shown within the same term, culminating with a production called A Christmas Journey.
The first unit on Sounds Around Us provides a basic introduction pitch and duration. The next, Feel the Beat covers different types of musical time and rhythm, and Collecting Sounds introduces dynamics of loud and soft sound and tempo changes. The final 3 programmes of the term include work on the story of A Christmas Journey.
This term's programmes deliberately aimed to promote viewers' enthusiasm for joining in with fun songs as much as sensitivity and accuracy in singing[1], and there is no particular use of solfa to teach accurate pitch as there had been in all of the previous Music Time programmes.
A Christmas Journey
A musical production that children could perform themselves at the end of term, although the version produced by Music Time benefits from elaborate sets and costumes in the studio. It begins with a modern 'rock carol'[2], and then follows a journey in a time machine to several periods in British history to sing carols from each era, concluding in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus.
Each journey in the time machine is accompanied by the Travelling song.
The time machine first stops in a Victorian parlour, where children sing the carol See amid the winter's snow and the music hall song Mrs Houlighan's Christmas Cake.
It them travels to an Elizabethan manor house where the guests perform a dance to Good King Wenceslas and a group of wassailers sing the Wassail song.
The time machine moves on to medieval times to witness the procession of the ass accompanied by Orientis Partibus - the teacher's notes explain that this is sung in the original Latin because "juniors often like the sounds of these words."
Finally the time machine arrives at the crib of baby Jesus, and all of the children from each era join together to sing a 'reggae carol' , Jesus Birthday Carol.
Songs
She sat 'neath the lilac and played her guitar,
Played her guitar, played her guitar.
Oh, there was once a sow who had three little pigs,
Three little piggies had she.
Bumpity, bumpity, bumpity bump, As if I was riding my charger.
Bumpity, bumpity, bumpity bump, As proud as an Indian Rajah.
Good day, good day to you, Good day, O dipidu,
Dip, dip, dipidu, Dipidu, O dipidu.
Wake, snake, day is a-breaking, Peas in the pot and the hoe-cakes a-baking,
Green corn, green corn.
Oh the wind blew east, Oh the wind blew west,
Oh the wind blew the 'Sunshine' right down to town.
Tinga Layo! Come little donkey, come.
Tinga Layo! Come little donkey, come.
Will you wear white, O my dear, O my dear?
O will you wear white Jennie Jenkins?
There was one, there were two, there were three little angels,
There were four, there were five, there were six little angels...
The following songs make up the musical A Christmas Journey.
Every star shall sing a carol; Every creature, high or low,
Come and praise the King of Heaven by whatever name you know.
Gliding, gliding, shining blue, the earth ship sails and we're the crew,
We travel past the moon's white face, behind the sun to darkest space.
Hail! Thouever blessed morn! Hail, Redemption's happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem, Christ is born in Bethlehem.
There was plums an' prunes an' cherries,
There was raisins an' currants an' cinnamon too...
Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you, and send you a Happy New Year.
From the lands of Orient, Was the Ass divinely sent,
Strong and very fair was he, Bearing burdens gallantly.
Palm tree lean out over blue sea.
Robin Redbreast and green holly.
Episodes
# | Title | Broadcast | Archive |
---|---|---|---|
Sounds Around Us | |||
1. | Sounds Around Us | 19 Sep 1977 | BBC |
2. | High Sounds, Low Sounds | 26 Sep 1977 | BBC |
3. | Long Sounds, Short Sounds | 3 Oct 1977 | BBC |
Feel the Beat | |||
4. | Marching and Waltzing | 10 Oct 1977 | BBC |
5. | Rhythm | 17 Oct 1977 | BBC |
Collecting Sounds | |||
6. | Collecting Sounds | 24 Oct 1977 | BBC |
7. | Sound Traps | 7 Nov 1977 | BBC |
A Christmas Journey | |||
8. | Introduction | 14 Nov 1977 | BBC |
9. | A Christmas Journey 1 | 21 Nov 1977 | BBC |
10. | A Christmas Journey 2 | 28 Nov 1977 | BBC |
Credits
Presented by | Kathryn Harries Peter Combe |
Producer | John Hosier |
Resources
Pupils' pamphlet
A 24-page pamphlet with words, music and accompaniments for all of the songs.
Illustrated by André Amstutz.
Teacher's notes
The teacher's notes, written by the unit's original producer John Hosier (who left the series in 1978, so the later reprints of the notes were under the new producer Elizabeth Bennett) and include an introduction to the new format of the series and details of the contents of each unit and each episode.
The Autumn 1977 notes were issued as part of the BBC TV Notes combined booklet with pull-out sections for each of Music Time, Merry-Go-Round and Look and Read, but later reprints separated each series into its own booklet.
Record & Cassette
A stereo LP and cassette containing songs from several of the Music Time units presented by Kathryn Harries and Peter Combe was issued by BBC Enterprises in 1979.
The songs included from this term are Jennie Jenkins, Wake Snake, Three Little Pigs, Tinga Layo, Sunday Morning Tune, and Wassail Song and Every Star Shall Sing a Carol from A Christmas Journey.
The record had catalogue number REC 362, and the cassette ZCM 362. Both were released to the general public, and they were available to schools for £2.99.
Broadcasts
- Autumn 1977: Mondays 11:22am, repeated Wednesdays 10:23am.
- Autumn 1979: Mondays 10:15am, repeated Thursdays 2:15pm.
- Autumn 1981: Mondays 10:15am, repeated Thursdays 2:15pm.
Sources & References
- BBC (1977) Music Time teacher's notes, Autumn Term 1977. ISBN 0 563 30001 9
- BBC (1979a) Music Time pupils' pamphlet, Autumn 1979. ISBN 0 563 30924 5
- BBC (1979b) BBC Radio and Television Annual Programme for Schools and Colleges 1979-80. ISBN 0 563 16308 9. p.24.
- BBC (1979c) Music Time: Songs from the BBC Schools TV Series with Kathryn Harries and Peter Combe LP, BBC Records REC 362 Stereo.
- BBC (1981a) Music Time pupils' pamphlet, Autumn 1981. ISBN 0 563 31760 4
- BBC (1981b) Music Time teacher's notes, Autumn Term 1981. ISBN 0 563 31761 2
- BBC (1981c) BBC Education Radio and Television for Schools Annual Programme 1981-82 p.26.
- ↑ BBC (1977) p.4 acknowledged that "perhaps in past programmes we have been too meticulous in our teaching of songs. The average class of first year juniors is unlikely to sound like King's College Choir," and concludes that "in the first instance it is important to establish music as an enjoyable occupation."
- ↑ The Music Time teacher's notes (BBC (1977) p.48 and BBC (1981b) p.15) describe A Christmas Journey beginning "in the present, with a rock carol Follow that star. Your children will be expected to join in with the children in the studio to sing this." Follow That Star is not mentioned anywhere else and the words are not included in the teacher's notes or pupils' pamphlets, so it may be that classes are simply expected to be familiar with a well-known carol without further introduction.
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