Flower of Beauty

By John Clements

Galaxy Music Corporation

Medium Easy Difficulty (JW Pepper)
SATB with Divisi

Mary Higgins
9th-12thGrade Mixed Choir
 Table of Contents – Teacher Guide
General Information......................................................... 2
Learning Goals................................................................... 2
National Standards Addressed .................................... 2-3

Score Analysis .................................................................. 4-6

Composer Information ............................................................. 4
Historical Context .................................................................... 4
Text .............................................................................................. 4
Melody ....................................................................................... 4-5
Harmony ..................................................................................... 5
Rhythm ....................................................................................... 5
Form .......................................................................................... 5-6
Timbre ......................................................................................... 6
Texture ........................................................................................ 6

Concept Lessons ............................................................. 7-20

Lesson 1..................................................................................... 7-9
Lesson 2................................................................................... 10-13
Lesson 3................................................................................... 14-16
Lesson 4................................................................................... 17-18
Lesson 5................................................................................... 19-20

Resources ........................................................................... 21
Glossary ..................................................................................... 21
Recordings ................................................................................ 21
Related Compositions ............................................................. 21
Informational Websites .......................................................... 21

1
 General Information
Title: Flower of Beauty
Composed by: John Clements
Text by: Sydney Bell
Publisher: Galaxy Music Corporation
Grade Level: Medium Easy (9th-12th Grade Mixed Choir)
Label: English Art Song
Style Period: Contemporary (Mid-Late 20th Century)
Voicing: SATB with divisi
Accompaniment: Piano, for rehearsal only
Performance Time: 2:45
Performance Notes: Each voice has a divisi at some point in the piece, so it would
be best to identify student splits at the beginning. Be sure to emphasize suspension
notes and how each voice sings them at some point.

Learning Goals (Instructional Objectives):

1. Students will demonstrate understanding of the text and create musical
phrasing/text painting for “Flower of Beauty” while maintaining musical and
lyrical integrity. (Affective)
2. Students will interpret the historical and cultural context of “Flower of
Beauty” by writing their own poems and putting themselves in the poet’s
shoes. (Affective)
3. Students will write in and perform proper counts of challenging rhythms in
“Flower of Beauty.” (Skill)
4. Students will analyze and label chord structures of “Flower of Beauty” while
identifying key signature with 80% accuracy. (Knowledge)
5. Students will apply knowledge of key signatures and chord structure to
identify all suspensions within their part of “Flower of Beauty” with 80%
accuracy. (Knowledge)
6. Students will listen to recordings of strophic music and use body movements
to identify the different sections with 95% accuracy and then apply this
knowledge of form to “Flower of Beauty.” (Skill)

National Standards Addressed

 MU:Cr1.1.E.5a Compose and improvise melodic and rhythmic ideas or
motives that reflect characteristic(s) of music or text(s) studied in rehearsal.
 MU:Cr1.1.E.8a Compose and improvise ideas for melodies and rhythmic
passages based on characteristic(s) of music or text(s) studied in rehearsal.
 MU:Pr4.2.E.Ia Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate,
how compositional devices employed and theoretical and structural aspects of
musical works impact and inform prepared or improvised performances.

2
 MU:Pr4.1.E.8a Select a varied repertoire to study based on music reading
skills (where appropriate), an understanding of formal design in the music,
context, and the technical skill of the individual and ensemble.
 MU:Pr4.2.E.5a Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate,
how knowledge of formal aspects in musical works inform prepared or
improvised performances.
 MU:Pr4.3.E.5a Identify expressive qualities in a varied repertoire of music
that can be demonstrated through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Pr5.3.E.8a Develop strategies to address technical challenges in a varied
repertoire of music and evaluate their success using feedback from ensemble
peers and other sources to refine performances.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5a Demonstrate attention to technical accuracy and expressive
qualities in prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire of
music.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5b Demonstrate an understanding of the context of the music
through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Re7.2.E.8a Describe how understanding context and the way the
elements of music are manipulated inform the response to music.
 MU:Re7.2.E.Ia Explain how the analysis of passages and understanding the
way the elements of music are manipulated inform the response to music.
 MU:Re8.1.E.5a Identify interpretations of the expressive intent and meaning
of musical works, referring to the elements of music, contexts, and (when
appropriate) the setting of the text.
 MU:Re8.1.E.8a: Identify and support interpretations of the expressive intent
and meaning of musical works, citing evidence the treatment of the elements
of music, contexts, and (when appropriate) the setting of the text.
 MU:Re9.1.E.Ia Evaluate works and performances based on personally- or
collaboratively-developed criteria, including analysis of the structure and
context.
 MU:Cn11.0.T.Ia Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music
and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.

3
 Score Analysis
Composer Information
Not much is known about John Clements. He was born in England in 1910
and died in 1986. He has two known compositions, which include “Flower of Beauty”
and “There is Sweet Music Here.” “Flower of Beauty” is his most well-known
composition and is widely available via sheet music and recordings.

Historical Context
White not a folksong in the strictest sense, “Flower of Beauty” is reminiscent
of folk singing. The music, set to a lilting melody and lovely harmonization, is
inspired by the English part-song style listeners might associate with Hubert Parry,
Edward Elgar, or Charles Villiers Stanford. The text is by British poet Sydney Bell
and was set to music by fellow Englishman John Clements in 1960.

Text
The text in this piece comes from a poem written by Sydney Bell. The speaker
expresses in this poem the beauty of their future bride and compares her to a flower
with her delicate features. The setting of the music emphasizes the word “she,”
which highlights the speaker’s complete infatuation with the woman. It can also be
inferred that the stem of the flower compares to her body and the petals of the
flower compare to her face and hair.

She is my slender small love,

my flow’r of beauty fair
From the whiteness of her little feet
to the shining of her hair;
More fair she is than April rain
on daffodil or tree:
She is my slender small love,
my flow’r of beauty, she.

I know she walks in the evening

down by the riverside,
And the grasses lean to kiss her robes
who soon will be my bride:
More dear to me her little head
than earth or sky or sea!

Melody
Though the voices all move together throughout the piece, the melody is set
in the soprano line for the entirety of the piece. This is typical in the part-song style
of singing. In the poem, there is only one speaker, so the fact that all of the voices

4
move together makes sense. It is likely that Clements chose to have the sopranos
sing the melody to give the sound a more delicate and, simply put, “female” sound to
match the description of the woman in the text. Overall, the piece has a major
sound quality, which is driven by the melodic line.

Harmony
The piece is set in Eb Major, with about 4 measures total of the piece
modulating to D Major and then immediately moving back to Eb. All of words align
vertically throughout each of the voice parts. Each voice has a suspension note at
some point in the piece. The chordal structure tends to move from I to iii to V to I.
When each verse comes to a close, 7th tones are added into the closing chords so that
the tension grows and comes to a more satisfying resolution when the I chord finally
sounds. This piece is very vertically aligned when it comes to chords, so it will be a
good experience for students to learn how their part/note fits into the overall
sound/chord. There are also many suspension notes in the piece in each voice part,
so this would be a great topic to focus in on to teach the students about consonance
and dissonance.

Rhythm
Each verse is in 3/4 and ends on 4/4. One measure of 2/4 occurs at the end to
serve as a pick-up measure. The music then returns to 4/4 for the ending. The
rhythm is mostly the same in all parts, making this piece homorhythmic. Whenever
one voice part has a non-chordal or suspension tone, their rhythm differs from the
other voice parts. Each phrase is made up of mostly quarter and eighth notes and
usually ends on a half note.

Form
The piece is strophic in form, the second verse being slightly different from
the first, thus A then A’. Each section of the song has two distinct phrases.
Normally I would categorize this song as A A’, but for the purposes of breaking
down each verse of this relatively short piece even further, I will use A B A’ B’.

Section/Measures Key Text Other Notes

A (mm. 1-8a) Eb She is my slender small The tone is set by
Major/D love, my flow’r of starting at p and
Major beauty fair growing into “shining,”
From the whitness of at m. 7, where the
her little feet to the climax of the phrase
shining of her hair; takes place. The music
begins with wonderful
text painting.
B (mm. 8b-17a) Eb More fair she is than The music moves
Major April rain on daffodil or towards the word “she”
tree: in mm. 16-17a and

5
 She is my slender small creates a very intimate,
love, my flow’r of loving sound. Meter
beauty, she. shifts to 4/4 at the end
of this phrase.
A’ (mm. 17b-25a) Eb I know she walks in the Meter shifts back to 3/4.
Major/D evening down by the The climax of this
Major riverside, phrase takes place at m.
And the grasses lean to 24 on the word “soon.”
kiss her robes who soon
will be my bride:
B’ (mm. 25b-36) Eb More dear to me her Again, the music moves
Major little head than earth toward the word “she,”
or sky or sea! emphasizing the
She is my slender small purpose of the author’s
love, my flow’r of words. The song is all
beauty, beauty, my about the woman, not
flow’r of beauty she. about the person in love
with her or the love that
they have.

Timbre
The music insinuates to us that the timbre of the piece should remain warm
and rounded. There is no instrumental accompaniment, and each voice part sings
the same words at the same time. The music centers around chords and
suspensions, so the notes must be clear, in tune, and have a focused sound in order
for each chord to be clear and for all of the suspensions to have a satisfying
resolution.

Texture
Although all of the voices in this piece have mostly the same rhythm and sing
the same words at the same time, the soprano line does have the melody and the
other three voices make up the “accompaniment,” which makes this piece
homophonic in texture. The melody is easy to pick out, whereas the lower voices
serve as the background and are not as easy to identify.

6
 Concept Lessons

Lesson 1: Introducing the Text/History

National Standards Addressed:

 MU:Pr4.3.E.5a Identify expressive qualities in a varied repertoire of music
that can be demonstrated through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5b Demonstrate an understanding of the context of the music
through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Re8.1.E.8a: Identify and support interpretations of the expressive intent
and meaning of musical works, citing evidence the treatment of the elements
of music, contexts, and (when appropriate) the setting of the text.
 MU:Cn11.0.T.Ia Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music
and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.

Rationale:
 This lesson’s purpose is to give the students an understanding of the text and
how it affects the music. The students will discover the symbolism and
meaning of the text independently, create a drawing that encompasses the
meaning, and then apply their knowledge and interpretations when they
speak through the piece.

Objective(s):
 Students will analyze the text of “Flower of Beauty,” taking notes of their
interpretation of the text.
 Students will create an art piece they believe represents the text using
markers, colored pencils, crayons, and blank paper.
 Students will speak through “Flower of Beauty” with musical phrasing and
emotion.

Materials:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN97cx4VtKA
 “Flower of Beauty” text
 Notebook paper
 Blank paper
 Colored pencils
 Markers
 Crayons
 Computer
 Projector
 Rubric

7
Warm-Up:
 Teacher will play the recording of the piece and have students take notes on
their reactions to the music and the text they hear.

Activity Sequence:
1. T passes out text sheets to each student.
2. Students will read the text of “Flower of Beauty” and respond with at least
four complete sentences of thought (to be turned in later).
3. T asks 4 students to share their response to the text.
4. T passes out paper and explains to the students that they will be creating a
drawing to represent the poem.
a. Ss can choose from markers, colored pencils, and crayons, which will be
in bins at the front of the classroom.
b. T will have the rubric for the drawing projected on the board so that all
Ss can see.
5. Ss take 10 mins to create their drawing.
6. T has 5 Ss volunteer to share their drawing with the class and explain the
artistic decisions behind their work.
7. Ss turn in drawings.
8. T has students identify key words and phrases of the text and discuss how to
communicate the meaning through musical phrasing.
9. T and Ss then reads through text with the musical phrasing and emotions
students suggest.
10. T asks the Ss if they would change anything. T may suggest certain
phrasings he/she feels are appropriate.
11. Repeat process until T feels that all of the phrasing is meaningful and
communicates the text well.

Assessment:
1. T will informally assess the students through observation of the group and
discussion as a class.
2. T will give feedback to Ss on their paragraphs of response they wrote.
3. T will use a rubric to assess Ss drawings.

Sample rubric for drawings:

0 1 2 3
Criteria
Unsatisfactory Needs Work Good Exceptional

8
 Mostly
Mostly original
Unoriginal or unoriginal and Unique, original,
and
copied, did not unimaginative, and imaginative
Creativity imaginative,
use symbolism used very little ideas, intelligent
used some
intelligently intelligent use of symbolism
symbolism
symbolism
Final project Final project
Final project Final project
made little mostly made
made no sense, made sense,
sense, sense,
demonstrated demonstrated
Understanding demonstrated demonstrated
incorrect or no solid
very little loose
understanding understanding of
understanding understanding
of text text
of text of text
Drawing was Drawing was
Drawing was Drawing was
messy, lacking
mostly neat, very neat,
unorganized, neatness,
Visual Appeal organized and organized, and
and completely organization,
visually visually
lacked visual and visual
appealing appealing
appeal appeal
Did not use time Seldom used Used time
Used time
wisely, did not time wisely, somewhat
wisely, followed
Effort and follow followed few wisely, followed
all directions,
Completion directions, did directions, most directions,
completed
not complete incomplete completed
project
project project project

TOTAL POINTS EARNED ___/12

9
Lesson 2: Historical/Societal Context

National Standards Addressed:

 MU:Pr6.1.E.5b Demonstrate an awareness of the context of the music
through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Re7.2.E.8a Describe how understanding context and the way the
elements of music are manipulated inform the response to music.
 MU:Re8.1.E.5a Identify interpretations of the expressive intent and meaning
of musical works, referring to the elements of music, contexts, and (when
appropriate) the setting of the text.
 MU:Cn11.0.T.Ia Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music
and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.

Rationale:
 The text of the piece is from a poem and not much is known about the history
of the text. By writing their own poem, the students will be able to put
themselves in the original poet’s shoes and gain a better understanding of the
context. They will also be able to infer more about what time period the
original poem might have been written in and thus what the state of the
world would have been.

Objective:
 Students will read as a class The Cat in the Hat while the teacher adds in
challenges for them.
 Students will write a poem in the same style as the poem used in “Flower of
Beauty,” but making theirs about someone or something they love.
 Students will write two paragraphs about their artistic choices for their own
poems as well as what they believe to be true about the history of the original
poem, including time period and country/culture.

Materials:
 “Flower of Beauty” text
 Notebook paper
 Pencils
 Computer
 Projector
 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
 Document camera

Warm-Up:
 Teacher uses document camera to project The Cat in the Hat onto the board
and has the class read it aloud together. After several pages, T adds in a

10
 challenge and flips book upside down, then has students continue reading.
Once students get comfortable reading upside down, T adds in another
challenge and uses a piece of paper to slowly cover the words as the students
are reading, forcing them to read ahead more quickly. T continues to add in
challenges until the book is finished. The number of challenges added in will
depend on T informal assessment of how well students are doing. Other
challenges include covering up the words more quickly, turning pages more
quickly, having students emphasize every other word, having students
audiate each rhyming word instead of saying it out loud, etc. T transitions
into the activity sequence by comparing the book to the text of “Flower of
Beauty.”

Activity Sequence:
1. T projects “Flower of Beauty” poem onto the board.
2. T has Ss read through the poem as a class, as they did in the warm-up.
3. T takes 10 min to lead discussion with the class over what the poem is about,
what time it may have been written, and the country/culture it was written
in, helping guide them to find the evidence that points toward certain
possible answers.
a. We know for sure that the poet was British. We do not know the time
period the poem was written, but we know that the song was set to the
poem in 1960 and that generally in the part-song style that text was
taken from contemporary English poetry. All of these facts indicate
that it was probably written in the early 20th century.
4. T asks Ss about major events that happened in this time period in England.
a. Ss should come up with general ideas, T should go into specifics and
relate the events to the poem.
i. World War I (1914-1918)
ii. Women’s suffrage movement
iii. World War II (1939-1945)
iv. King Edward VII was king from 1901-1910. Strengthened
England’s ties with the rest of Europe. Reformed military and
navy.
v. King George V was king from 1910-1936. Played an active role
in supporting the troops during WWI.
vi. King Edward VIII reigned for less than a year. He abdicated the
throne so that he could marry a woman who had previously been
divorced once and was in the process of divorcing her second
husband.
vii. King George VI reigned from 1936-1952. Led England through
the second world war and gave Winston Churchill complete
support.

11
 viii. Winston Churchill was Prime Minister and helped the Allies
(UK, USA, China, Soviet Union, among others) win the second
world war.
ix. Modernist poetry—short, compact melodious lyrics based on the
human experience—becomes dominant form of poetry.
5. T points back to “Flower of Beauty” text, which is still projected onto the
board.
6. T asks Ss which lines rhymed with each other.
a. A: Every other line beginning with the second line.
b. Point out that the other lines do not have to rhyme with each other.
c. Point out that this poem’s format is the same as the one used in The
Cat in the Hat.
7. T invites Ss to put themselves into the shoes of a British poet in the early 20th
century.
8. T instructs students that within the mindset of the early 20th century British
poet, they are to come up with a subject (something/someone they love) and
write a poem in the same style as “Flower of Beauty” and The Cat in the Hat.
9. Ss are given 10 minutes to write their poems.
10. Ss swap poems and use the form below to assess their peers’ work.

Assessment:
1. Students will assess their peers by filling out a peer assessment form. All
forms will be turned in to the teacher.
2. Teacher will assess students through a tally checklist to track large-group
discussion involvement. The teacher will make a tally next to a student’s
name when they participate in the discussion. This method will help the
teacher track the individual levels of engagement among the students.

Sample Peer Assessment Form:

Name of Evaluator: ________________________________________________

Name of Student Being Evaluated: __________________________________

1. What is something that was well-executed in this poem?

2. What is something that could use some work?

Grade your peer on the following criteria (1 being worst, 5 being best):

12
 Creativity 1 2 3 4 5

Adherence to Poem Style 1 2 3 4 5

Rhythm Flow 1 2 3 4 5

Spelling/Grammar 1 2 3 4 5

Word Choice 1 2 3 4 5

Sample checklist for tracking discussion:

Name Question Tally Comment Tally

Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Etc…

13
Lesson 3: Rhythm

National Standards Addressed:

 MU:Pr4.1.E.8a Select a varied repertoire to study based on music reading
skills (where appropriate), an understanding of formal design in the music,
context, and the technical skill of the individual and ensemble.
 MU:Pr4.2.E.5a Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate,
how knowledge of formal aspects in musical works inform prepared or
improvised performances.
 MU:Pr5.3.E.8a Develop strategies to address technical challenges in a varied
repertoire of music and evaluate their success using feedback from ensemble
peers and other sources to refine performances.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5a Demonstrate attention to technical accuracy and expressive
qualities in prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire of
music.

Rationale:
 In this piece, it will be very obvious if there are any students that get rhythm
incorrectly since everyone is singing the same words and most of the same
rhythms. This activity will help the students break down more complicated
rhythms in a safe environment to the point of understanding and
implementation.

Objective:
 Students will write in counts of musical excerpts from their music with 100%
accuracy.
 Students will read and perform musical excerpts using half, quarter, eighth,
sixteenth, and dotted notes in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 meter.

Materials:
 Computer
 Projector
 White board
 White board marker
 Pencils
 Student scores
 Music excerpts (mm. 7-8, mm. 13-15, mm. 17-19, mm. 30-31, mm. 33-34)

14
Warm-Up:
 T will lead students through a quick game. For this game, T will clap
rhythms to the class and Ss will repeat. However, there is one rhythm that
when Ss hear it, they are not supposed to clap back. If they do, they are “out.”
Continue playing, and if Ss are getting it, T can add in more rhythms that
they’re not supposed to clap until there is one winner.

Activity Sequence:
1. T will choose several rhythmically challenging portions of the piece and
compile them into a PowerPoint or presentation of some sort.
2. T projects the first excerpt onto the white board.
3. Ss will look through their scores and find the rhythm where it takes place in
their music.
4. For the first example, T will call on one student at a time to give the count for
each note.
a. Ex. 1 - Student 1 says “rest,” student 2 says “and,” student 3 says “2,”
etc.
b. Ss copy down all of the counts into their music.
5. Once all Ss have the counts written in, T leads them through counting the
excerpt in rhythm.
6. T projects the next example onto the board and instructs Ss to find where it
takes place in their music and write in the counts in their own music.
7. Continue until all excerpts have counts written in.
8. T has Ss partner up and compare their answers for max. 5 minutes.
9. T goes back to example 2 and asks a group to share their answers for the
counts.
a. If incorrect, T has other students help correct.
b. If correct, T moves on to the next example and calls on another group.

Assessment:

15
1. T will circle around the classroom, listening in, while students are in their
Think-Pair-Share discussions. T can assess comprehension of subject matter
and then identify any students who have a lack of understanding when they
share their answers with the full class.

16
Lesson 4: Melody vs. Harmony

National Standards Addressed:

 MU:Pr4.2.E.Ia Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate,
how compositional devices employed and theoretical and structural aspects of
musical works impact and inform prepared or improvised performances.
 MU:Re7.2.E.Ia Explain how the analysis of passages and understanding the
way the elements of music are manipulated inform the response to music.
 MU:Re9.1.E.Ia Evaluate works and performances based on personally- or
collaboratively-developed criteria, including analysis of the structure and
context.
 MU:Cr1.1.E.5a Compose and improvise melodic and rhythmic ideas or
motives that reflect characteristic(s) of music or text(s) studied in rehearsal.

Rationale:
 The chords in this piece are very important, and this is shown by the fact
that the voices are always vertically aligned. The students must know where
the piece is moving chordally and how each voice part fits in in order to be as
accurate note-wise as possible.

Objective:
 Students will analyze and label the I, IV, and V chord structures/triads in
“Flower of Beauty” with a minimum of 80% accuracy.

Materials:
 Projector
 Marker
 Piano
 Solfege chart that is visible to all
 Pencils
 “Flower of Beauty” sheet music

Warm-Up:
 After vocalizing as a full group for a warmup, the teacher will lead the
students through the solfege triad challenge, first by demonstrating and then
having the students join. For example, if the teacher points at do, the
students will sing “do, mi, sol.” If the teacher points to fa, they will sing “fa,
la, do,” and so on. The teacher will continue pointing to mainly do, fa, and sol,
but can gradually choose other syllables if the class is excelling.

Activity Sequence:

17
 1. T will place 3 measures of a blank grand staff projected onto the board, with
the words “Do, Fa, and Sol” and their respective numbers (I, IV, and V)
written next to it.
2. T explains that we will be writing some harmonies but must use these three
chords.
3. T has 3 volunteers to come up to the board; each student will write one chord
in each measure. Students can write the I, IV, or V chord in any position as
long as all three notes of the chord are used and only three notes are written
in each chord (no doubling).
4. T then has 3 other volunteers come and write out the solfege syllable options
for each chord (for example, I chord is “do mi sol”; IV is “fa, la, do”; V is “sol,
ti, re”)
5. T then has the choir split into three groups. Lowest part sings “do, fa, sol, do,”
middle voices sing “mi, la, ti, mi,” and upper voices sing “sol, do, re, sol.”
6. Then have parts switch—low moves to middle, middle moves to upper, upper
moves to lower. Continue until each student has sung each part. Do this until
the students have at least 95% accuracy so that they can hear the quality of
the I, IV, and V chords as well as how each note sounds in each chord.
7. T has students split into groups of 4-5.
8. T guides students to find the key of the piece (Eb Major) as well as the note
names that make up the I, IV, and V chord. Once students have named all of
these, T writes them on the board.
9. T instructs groups to work together to label all of the I, IV, and V chords as
well as circle all of their suspension notes in the piece.
a. There are 32 total I, IV, and V chords in the piece.
b. There are 5 suspensions in the sopranos, 14 in the altos, 14 in the
tenors, and 5 in the basses.
c. Whatever they don’t get done in class will be homework.
10. Students turn in their music the next class period for assessment by the
teacher.

Assessment:
1. Teacher will grade students based on how many I, IV, and V chords they got
correct out of the 32 throughout the whole piece. T will also grade students
based on how many suspensions they were able to correctly identify in their
voice parts (5 for S and B, 14 for A and T). If students get less than 80%, they
will be given the opportunity to correct their answers for ½ a point back on
each chord and suspension corrected.

18
Lesson 5: Form

National Standards Addressed:

 MU:Cr1.1.E.8a Compose and improvise ideas for melodies and rhythmic
passages based on characteristic(s) of music or text(s) studied in rehearsal.
 MU:Pr4.3.E.5a Identify expressive qualities in a varied repertoire of music
that can be demonstrated through prepared and improvised performances.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5a Demonstrate attention to technical accuracy and expressive
qualities in prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire of
music.
 MU:Pr6.1.E.5b Demonstrate an understanding of the context of the music
through prepared and improvised performances.

Rationale:
 The form of the piece is important because it will help the students be
accurate in both sections knowing that it repeats but is still a little bit
different. By listening to different recordings of strophic songs, they will come
to better understand the form as a whole, helping them apply their
knowledge to “Flower of Beauty.”

Objective:
 Students will listen to examples of popular strophic songs and identify when
each section occurs/begins again by doing different body movements.
 Students will identify the A section and the A’ section in “Flower of Beauty”
and discuss why the second section is an A’ section as opposed to a B section.

Materials:
 Recordings
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNpiQwgStNA
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb0LKINJtgY
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58XWF6B3AA
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_a46WJ1viA
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bK9h12Qdvs
 Recording of “Flower of Beauty”
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN97cx4VtKA
 “Amazing Grace” text
 Computer
 Speakers

Warm-Up:
 Teacher will have the students sing 1 verse of “Amazing Grace,” instructing
them to make up their own words on the second verse. T will demonstrate an
example of improvised words by singing for the class. T will then have

19
 students all sing first verse of “Amazing Grace” and make up their own words
on the second verse.
Activity Sequence:
1. T has Ss stand somewhere in the room.
2. T instructs Ss to walk around the room doing some sort of body movement
(marching, tip toeing, galloping, skipping, etc.) and when they hear the
section being repeated to switch their body movement to something else while
they keep moving around the room.
3. T begins the first recording and does movements along with Ss to help them
and to see who understands when the next verse begins and who makes
mistakes.
4. T plays the second recording, not doing movements with Ss to encourage
individual thought as well as to be able to more closely observe them.
5. T continues this process by playing different recordings until Ss seem to have
a grasp on the AA/AA’ form.
a. T doesn’t necessarily have to play the entire song for each recording,
just as long as the song is played long enough for Ss to hear the
repeated section once or twice.
b. T does not have to use every recording, just as many as he/she sees fit
based on assessment of the Ss and time available.
6. T then plays a recording of “Flower of Beauty” and has the Ss do the same
activity.
7. T instructs Ss to go back to their seats and pull out their sheet music for
“Flower of Beauty.”
8. T asks Ss to point out where each A section begins.
9. T asks Ss why the second A section is an A’ section as opposed to another A
section or a B section.
a. Use the sandwich comparison. A section – bread. B section – meat. A’
section – white bread vs. wheat bread.

Assessment:
1. In this activity, assessment will take place through a checklist kept by the
teacher while the students are doing their movements. T will put a tally by
each student’s name as they make a mistake, just for purposes of seeing who
grasps the concept and who still needs help.

Name # of Mistakes
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Etc.

20
 Resources
Glossary
A cappella – (with reference to choral music) without instrumental
accompaniment.
Consonance – the combination of notes that are in harmony with each other due to
the relationship between their frequencies.
Dissonance – lack of harmony among musical notes.
Homophony – a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more
additional strands that flesh out the harmony.
Homorhythm – a texture where there is a sameness of rhythm in all parts.
Modernist poetry – short, compact melodious lyrics based on the human
experience.
Part Song - an unaccompanied secular song with three or more voice parts,
typically homophonic rather than contrapuntal in style.
Strophic – having the same music for each successive stanza.
Suspension – a means of creating tension by prolonging a constant note while the
underlying harmony changes, normally on a strong beat.

Recordings
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN97cx4VtKA

Related Compositions
 There Is Sweet Music – John Clements
o https://www.alfred.com/there-is-sweet-music-here/p/00-60383/

Informational Websites
 https://musicaldeli.iheartteachingmusic.com/students/commonforms.htm
 http://uabchoirs.blogspot.com/2007/03/flower-of-beauty-john-clements.html

21
 Flower of Beauty
By John Clements

Galaxy Music Corporation

Medium Easy Difficulty (JW Pepper)
SATB with Divisi

Mary Higgins
9th-12thGrade Mixed Choir
 Table of Contents – Student Guide
Learning Goals................................................................... 2

Score Analysis .................................................................. 2-5

Composer Information ............................................................ 2
Historical Context .................................................................... 2
Text ............................................................................................ 2-3
Melody ......................................................................................... 3
Harmony ..................................................................................... 3
Rhythm ....................................................................................... 3
Form ............................................................................................ 4
Timbre ....................................................................................... 4-5
Texture ........................................................................................ 5

Practice Guide ................................................................. 6-7

Activity #1................................................................................... 6
Activity #2................................................................................... 6
Activity #3................................................................................... 7
Activity #4................................................................................... 7
Art Examples ...................................................................... 8
Assessments ..................................................................... 9-11
Lesson One ................................................................................. 9
Lesson Two ................................................................................ 10
Lesson Three ............................................................................. 11
Lesson Four............................................................................... 11
Lesson Five ............................................................................... 11
Glossary .............................................................................. 12

1
 Learning Goals (Instructional Objectives):
1. Students will demonstrate understanding of the text and create musical
phrasing/text painting for “Flower of Beauty” while maintaining musical and
lyrical integrity. (Affective)
2. Students will interpret the historical and cultural context of “Flower of
Beauty” by writing their own poems and putting themselves in the poet’s
shoes. (Affective)
3. Students will write in and perform proper counts of challenging rhythms in
“Flower of Beauty.” (Skill)
4. Students will analyze and label chord structures of “Flower of Beauty” while
identifying key signature with 80% accuracy. (Knowledge)
5. Students will apply knowledge of key signatures and chord structure to
identify all suspensions within their part of “Flower of Beauty” with 80%
accuracy. (Knowledge)
6. Students will listen to recordings of strophic music and use body movements
to identify the different sections with 95% accuracy and then apply this
knowledge of form to “Flower of Beauty.” (Skill)

Score Analysis
Composer Information
Not much is known about John Clements. He was born in England in 1910
and died in 1986. He has two known compositions, which include “Flower of Beauty”
and “There is Sweet Music Here.” “Flower of Beauty” is his most well-known
composition and is widely available via sheet music and recordings.

Historical Context
White not a folksong in the strictest sense, “Flower of Beauty” is reminiscent
of folk singing. The music, set to a lilting melody and lovely harmonization, is
inspired by the English part-song style listeners might associate with Hubert Parry,
Edward Elgar, or Charles Villiers Stanford. The text is by British poet Sydney Bell
and was set to music by fellow Englishman John Clements in 1960.

Text
The text in this piece comes from a poem written by Sydney Bell. The speaker
expresses in this poem the beauty of their future bride and compares her to a flower
with her delicate features. The setting of the music emphasizes the word “she,”
which highlights the speaker’s complete infatuation with the woman. It can also be
inferred that the stem of the flower compares to her body and the petals of the
flower compare to her face and hair.

She is my slender small love,

2
 my flow’r of beauty fair
From the whiteness of her little feet
to the shining of her hair;
More fair she is than April rain
on daffodil or tree:
She is my slender small love,
my flow’r of beauty, she.

I know she walks in the evening

down by the riverside,
And the grasses lean to kiss her robes
who soon will be my bride:
More dear to me her little head
than earth or sky or sea!

Melody
Though the voices all move together throughout the piece, the melody is set
in the soprano line for the entirety of the piece. This is typical in the part-song style
of singing. In the poem, there is only one speaker, so the fact that all of the voices
move together makes sense. It is likely that Clements chose to have the sopranos
sing the melody to give the sound a more delicate and, simply put, “female” sound to
match the description of the woman in the text. Overall, the piece has a major
sound quality, which is driven by the melodic line.

Harmony
The piece is set in Eb Major, with about 4 measures total of the piece
modulating to D Major and then immediately moving back to Eb. All of words align
vertically throughout each of the voice parts. Each voice has a suspension note at
some point in the piece. The chordal structure tends to move from I to iii to V to I.
When each verse comes to a close, 7th tones are added into the closing chords so that
the tension grows and comes to a more satisfying resolution when the I chord finally
sounds. This piece is very vertically aligned when it comes to chords, so it will be a
good experience for students to learn how their part/note fits into the overall
sound/chord. There are also many suspension notes in the piece in each voice part,
so this would be a great topic to focus in on to teach the students about consonance
and dissonance.

Rhythm
Each verse is in 3/4 and ends on 4/4. One measure of 2/4 occurs at the end to
serve as a pick-up measure. The music then returns to 4/4 for the ending. The
rhythm is mostly the same in all parts, making this piece homorhythmic. Whenever
one voice part has a non-chordal or suspension tone, their rhythm differs from the
other voice parts. Each phrase is made up of mostly quarter and eighth notes and
usually ends on a half note.

3
Form
The piece is strophic in form, the second verse being slightly different from
the first, thus A then A’. Each section of the song has two distinct phrases.
Normally I would categorize this song as A A’, but for the purposes of breaking
down each verse of this relatively short piece even further, I will use A B A’ B’.

Section/Measures Key Text Other Notes

A (mm. 1-8a) Eb She is my slender small The tone is set by
Major/D love, my flow’r of starting at p and
Major beauty fair growing into “shining,”
From the whitness of at m. 7, where the
her little feet to the climax of the phrase
shining of her hair; takes place. The music
begins with wonderful
text painting.
B (mm. 8b-17a) Eb More fair she is than The music moves
Major April rain on daffodil or towards the word “she”
tree: in mm. 16-17a and
She is my slender small creates a very intimate,
love, my flow’r of loving sound. Meter
beauty, she. shifts to 4/4 at the end
of this phrase.
A’ (mm. 17b-25a) Eb I know she walks in the Meter shifts back to 3/4.
Major/D evening down by the The climax of this
Major riverside, phrase takes place at m.
And the grasses lean to 24 on the word “soon.”
kiss her robes who soon
will be my bride:
B’ (mm. 25b-36) Eb More dear to me her Again, the music moves
Major little head than earth toward the word “she,”
or sky or sea! emphasizing the
She is my slender small purpose of the author’s
love, my flow’r of words. The song is all
beauty, beauty, my about the woman, not
flow’r of beauty she. about the person in love
with her or the love that
they have.

Timbre
The music insinuates to us that the timbre of the piece should remain warm
and rounded. There is no instrumental accompaniment, and each voice part sings
the same words at the same time. The music centers around chords and

4
suspensions, so the notes must be clear, in tune, and have a focused sound in order
for each chord to be clear and for all of the suspensions to have a satisfying
resolution.

Texture
Although all of the voices in this piece have mostly the same rhythm and sing the
same words at the same time, the soprano line does have the melody and the other
three voices make up the “accompaniment,” which makes this piece homophonic in
texture. The melody is easy to pick out, whereas the lower voices serve as the
background and are not as easy to identify.

5
 Practice Guide
Activity #1:
This rhythm activity will help you work on accuracy of several rhythms in “Flower
of Beauty” in multiple meters. Write in the counts for each excerpt. Set a
metronome to keep track of the quarter note beat and then speak each excerpt out
loud on counts.

Activity #2:
This activity will help you understand the key of Eb Major and the solfege pitches.
Write in the solfege syllables for each note. Set a metronome, then sing through the
exercise on syllables in your own octave.

6
Activity #3:
This activity will help you understand the ideal sound and expression for this piece.
Listen to this recording of “Flower of Beauty” and write down 5 things you like
about the recording and 3 things you think you would change if you were to sing
this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN97cx4VtKA

Activity #4:
This activity will help you identify the form of “Flower of Beauty” as well as the
different sections/stanzas. In your music, identify the measure number where the A
section begins by writing a large A above the measure. Then identify the measure
number where the second stanza begins by writing a large A’ above the measure.

7
Art Examples
Woman-flower by Picasso
Pablso Picasso created this painting in 1946. It is meant to represent Francoise
Gilot, a woman with whom he was infatuated. This painting can help the students
visualize a woman being described as a flower, just as in the text of “Flower of
Beauty.”

Sleeping Beauty
Princess Aurora is one of the many characters that comes to mind when I think of a
fair, slender woman with shining hair. This forest scene also reminds me of the text
when it says, “I know she walks in the evening down by the riverside, and the
grasses lean to kiss her robes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOu8V0cFFwU

8
 Assessments
Lesson 1 Assessment:
T will informally assess the students through observation of the group and
discussion as a class.
T will give feedback to Ss on their paragraphs of response they wrote.
T will use a rubric to assess Ss drawings.

Sample rubric for drawings:

0 1 2 3
Criteria
Unsatisfactory Needs Work Good Exceptional
Mostly
Mostly original
Unoriginal or unoriginal and Unique, original,
and
copied, did not unimaginative, and imaginative
Creativity imaginative,
use symbolism used very little ideas, intelligent
used some
intelligently intelligent use of symbolism
symbolism
symbolism
Final project Final project
Final project Final project
made little mostly made
made no sense, made sense,
sense, sense,
demonstrated demonstrated
Understanding demonstrated demonstrated
incorrect or no solid
very little loose
understanding understanding of
understanding understanding
of text text
of text of text
Drawing was Drawing was
Drawing was Drawing was
messy, lacking
mostly neat, very neat,
unorganized, neatness,
Visual Appeal organized and organized, and
and completely organization,
visually visually
lacked visual and visual
appealing appealing
appeal appeal
Did not use time Seldom used Used time
Used time
wisely, did not time wisely, somewhat
wisely, followed
Effort and follow followed few wisely, followed
all directions,
Completion directions, did directions, most directions,
completed
not complete incomplete completed
project
project project project

TOTAL POINTS EARNED ___/12

9
Lesson 2 Assessment:
Students will assess their peers by filling out a peer assessment form. All forms will
be turned in to the teacher.
Teacher will assess students through a tally checklist to track large-group
discussion involvement. The teacher will make a tally next to a student’s name
when they participate in the discussion. This method will help the teacher track the
individual levels of engagement among the students.

Sample Peer Assessment Form:

Name of Evaluator: ________________________________________________

Name of Student Being Evaluated: __________________________________

3. What is something that was well-executed in this poem?

4. What is something that could use some work?

Grade your peer on the following criteria (1 being worst, 5 being best):

Creativity 1 2 3 4 5

Adherence to Poem Style 1 2 3 4 5

Rhythm Flow 1 2 3 4 5

Spelling/Grammar 1 2 3 4 5

Word Choice 1 2 3 4 5

Sample checklist for tracking discussion:

Name Question Tally Comment Tally

Student 1
Student 2
Student 3

10
 Etc…

Lesson 3 Assessment:
T will circle around the classroom, listening in, while students are in their Think-
Pair-Share discussions. T can assess comprehension of subject matter and then
identify any students who have a lack of understanding when they share their
answers with the full class.

Lesson 4 Assessment:
Teacher will grade students based on how many I, IV, and V chords they got correct
out of the 32 throughout the whole piece. T will also grade students based on how
many suspensions they were able to correctly identify in their voice parts (5 for S
and B, 14 for A and T). If students get less than 80%, they will be given the
opportunity to correct their answers for ½ a point back on each chord and
suspension corrected.

Lesson 5 Assessment:
In this activity, assessment will take place through a checklist kept by the teacher
while the students are doing their movements. T will put a tally by each student’s
name as they make a mistake, just for purposes of seeing who grasps the concept
and who still needs help.

Name # of Mistakes
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Etc.

11
Glossary
A cappella – (with reference to choral music) without instrumental
accompaniment.
Consonance – the combination of notes that are in harmony with each other due to
the relationship between their frequencies.
Dissonance – lack of harmony among musical notes.
Homophony – a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more
additional strands that flesh out the harmony.
Homorhythm – a texture where there is a sameness of rhythm in all parts.
Modernist poetry – short, compact melodious lyrics based on the human
experience.
Part Song - an unaccompanied secular song with three or more voice parts,
typically homophonic rather than contrapuntal in style.
Strophic – having the same music for each successive stanza.
Suspension – a means of creating tension by prolonging a constant note while the
underlying harmony changes, normally on a strong beat.

12