TELEVISION PROGRAMMES MADE BY
THE HELSINKI STRINGS (HELSINGIN JUNIORIJOUSET)
Manuscript and realization by Csaba and Géza Szilvay

About Minifiddlers in Musicland

Minifiddlers I was a television series originally for children at the kindergarten age. But surprisingly enough it proved to be a great success among people of all ages, an educational programme with unexpected appeal for Finnish families. The immense effect of this television series can still be seen in music education in Finland and its ideas have also reached foreign music educators. The most visible result of this series, which was repeated on television not less than three times, was the increasing number of children trying to enter music institutes or to get other forms of music instruction.

Minifiddlers in Musicland II is made mainly for children between 7 and 15 and for their families. The musical, aesthetic, and ethic principles are the same as those in the previous series. But this time the connecting thought is the history of music. The trips in music, 16 in all, range from primitive music up to contemporary music. Each part runs for about 40 minutes. In all of them we meet our old friends, the minifiddlers and the world famous Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra conducted by Csaba and Géza Szilvay. In the programme they play works from each musical period with enthusiasm and high professional skill.

By means of magic time module the viewers will travel through centuries. The thrilling trip will lead one from the cave of the primitive man to the space age. The watchers will be activated and encouraged for example to conduct orchestras, to hum enchanting Gregorian melodies, and to dance minuet and gavotte. One will meet the strict Vivaldi and weary Haendel. The breath-takingly beautiful stages - dark catacombs, bright palaces, noble castles, dusty attics - and the musical masterpieces performed ensure that the dreamland of music is worth visiting, i.e. worth watching.

The little minifiddlers, now at school age, are willing to infect other young people with their musical enthusiasm. They also want to act as a source of inspiration, entertain and share their love of music. By the end of the programmes the viewers will be spurred to continue the trip in Musicland on their own. The producers of the series wished to transmit Kodály’s message to average man:

”Music is not only the compulsory amusement of the musician, on the contrary it is a spiritual source of strength treasured and shared by all civilised nations. Music is intellectual nourishment that cannot be replaced. Spiritual life is not perfect without music.”

1) MINIFIDDLERS IN MUSICLAND I

Subject of programme:

1. On the way to Music land (pitch)
2. Music Land (Violin strings and tuning up)
3. Rhythm City (plucking the strings / pizzicato; the bow)
4. Names (quarter note / TA note; different instruments)
5. A Car and a Train (Eighth note / titi note)
6. The Sun (quarter rest)
7. Sauna (Half note)
8. Rain in Rhythm City (DO note and musical notation)
9. Concert -
10. Train Trip (DO-RE)
11. Music Camp 1. Finger Town (Violin and cello)
12. Music Camp 2. Finger Town (DO-RE-MI)
13. Music Camp in Jump Town (DO-MI)
14. The Neighbouring Town (DO-RE-MI-FA)
15. The Trip to Long Trip Town (Tempo; the bar)
16. Long Town (DO-RE-MI-FA-SO)
17. Puppet Theatre (DO-MI-SO-LA; repeat)
18. Concert in Finger Country (How to behave at a concert)
19. Arrival in Bow Country (Traffic and music signs)
20. Legato Lake (Legato)
21. Nature (Forte and piano)
22. Bouncing (The bouncing bow)
23. Climbing (How the flute sounds; the octave)
24. In the Playground (Moving from string to string: LA-TI-DO)
25. Folk music (LA-TI)
26. Composers -
27. Resting (Basic ideas of rhythm)
28. Concert (The conductor)
29. Rhythm City (Syncopation)
30. The Queen’s Palace (Accompaniment)
31. A Boat Trip to an Island (Three-quarter note)
32. Chamber Concert (Chamber music)
33. The Zoo (Dotted quarter note and eighth note)
34. A Children’s Party (Eighth note and dotted quarter note)
35. A Secret (Eighth rest)
36. A Fairy-tale (Whole note and sixteenth note)
37. A Foot Race (Different rests)
38. So long -

2) MINIFIDDLERS IN MUSICLAND II
Subject of programme:
1. Guidelines to the programme
2. ”Music belongs to everyone”
3. The music of the primitive man
4. Pentatonic music
5. The roots/origins of European Art
6. Gregorian
7. Gothic music / The music of the Gothic
8. Theoretical questions
9. From the Renaissance to the baroque
10. Italian baroque
11. Bach’s music
12. Händel’s music
13. Haydn’s music
14. Mozart’s music
15. The music of the romantic period
16. The music of our century
17. Pedagogical summary

Direction: Iza Lewenstam and Inari Teinilä
Original title: Viuluviikarit musiikkimaassa
Music duration: Part I 38 x ca. 10’, Part II 17 x 40’
Oy Yleisradio Ab/Finnish Broadcasting Company TV-Centre