Molly's Music

  World  Mental Health Awareness Week Mental Health is a serious topic that I feel isn’t discussed as much as is necessary in our society. It is slowly getting noticed more and the importance of a healthy mental state is becoming more acknowledged but this progress is slow and it needs to change. To make it clearer in your mind, I’m going to start with some statistics to help you realise how vital mental health is and how much it is being ignored. Mental Health problems are becoming one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide Mental health and behavioural problems (eg depression, anxiety) have been noted to be the primary sources of disability worldwide. Mental Health causes over 40 million years of disability in 20 - 29 year olds. Major depression is considered the second leading cause of disability worldwide whilst also being a major factor in suicide rates and ischemic heart disease. Roughly, 1 in 6 people in the past week have experienced a common menta...

Black History Month   Margaret Bonds Quick Fact File: Born: March 3rd, 1913 Died: 1972 Occupation: Composer, Pianist, Arranger, Teacher and Activist Most Famous For: Popular arrangements of African-American spirituals and frequent collaborations with Langston Hughes Bonds father was an active force in the civil rights movement as a physician and writer whilst her mother was a church musician and member of the National Association of Negro Musicians. Margaret was close to both of her parents and it is likely that they influenced her own work as a musician.  Childhood: When Margaret was four years old her parents divorced and Magaret grew up in her mothers home. Her house was frequently visited by black musicians of the era including Abbie Mitchell and composers Florence Price and Will Marion Cook. These visits became influential to her future musical studies and career. Bonds wrote her first composition Marquette Street Blues by the time she was five.  Margaret played the ...

 Black History Month Black Composers who changed Music History If you studied Music at GCSE or A Level or even at any point during your School life, take a moment to pause and reflect on this question…. Did you study any Black composers?  In both of my courses for GCSE and A Level, none of the composers for instrumental or vocal music (Potentially in all of the Areas of Study) were of a Black Heritage. I studied Mozart, Bach, Vaughn-Williams, Beethoven, Purcell and all of these were white composers. Yes, they were talented and they do possess an amazing talent but where is the diversity within the course. Where is the mention of the talented composers of Black heritage? I have studied Music since year 7 and before I started researching it this week, I could not name you a single Black Composer as my education has simply been filled with white Composers.  Recently, Pearson's Edexcel had to change their syllabus slightly after people complained that there were no female com...

Black History Month:   Ignatius Sancho Quick Fact File: Born: 1729 - Atlantic Ocean en route for the West Indies from West Africa Death: 14 December 1780, London, England Occupation: Writer, Composer, Shopkeeper Gender: Male Literary Period: Restoration, 18th Century Genre: Letters Sancho was born on a slave ship on its way to the Spanish West Indies. He grew up an orphan as his mother died when he was an infant and his father chose to commit suicide rather than live a life in enslavement. He was taken to London at the age of two where he became a slave for three sisters. His education was encouraged by John Montagu (the 2nd Duke of Montagu) who gave him books to read; however following Montagu's death, Sancho ran away and persuaded his wife to employ him.  Sancho’s Business and Music: Sancho married Annie Osborne in 1758 and together they opened a grocery store in Westminster. As a financially independent male householder, Sancho was able to vote and did so twice in his life....

  Music Around the World - Chile Another area of Music that I would like to focus on during this blog and bring attention to readers is the different Music that we have the around the World. It's good to be aware of international Music and how it differs with each country. At least once a month I will create a blog that has information on Music from different country's around the world. Tell me in the comments section if there are any particular country's that you'd like me to research into and write about! So without further ado here is the first blog post on Music from Chile. Quick Fact File: Location: South America Population: 18 million people Capital: Santiago Language: Spanish Music from Chile (Chilean music) is closely related to its history and geography. The landscape, climate and lifestyle have a deep impact on cultural traditions and they vary greatly from north to south. Nineteenth Century: Music gradually began to include a national identity as the coloni...