December 2017 Introducing the Young Student to Master Works and Master Composers

Introducing the Young Student to Master Works and Master Composers

In our fast paced society, listening, as an event, is a skill that needs to be taught and nurtured from the earliest of ages. For a relatively small investment, the following materials can be purchased and then checked out to your younger students on a regular basis. The stories and picture books are sure to keep their attention while introducing them to master composers and master works, and building listening skills. All materials are readily available on Amazon.com plus many more selections that are not listed below. The students simply take home the audio CD, or book and CD, and listen during the week. Alert parents via email or formal letter that the student’s will need access to a CD player to listen to music and stories about and by master composers. As well, be sure to explain the value of art music and of building engaged listening skills. Encourage the parents to participate in the listening and to make it quality family time enhancing the value of music in the home.

The following are audio storybooks introducing composers and their music through narrative story and listeing from the Classical Kids Colletion. Though some are available in movie form, I encourage you to use the audio CD to really build listening skills in your students.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs  

Gershwin’s Magic Key

Mozart’s Magic Voyage

Tchaikovsky Discovers America

Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery

Hallelujah Handel

Mr. Bach Comes To Call

The following master works of program music by master composers for children come with CD's and illustrated picture books.

Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf: With f Fully-Orchestrated and Narrated  CD by Schulman 

The Nutcracker by Schulman

The Carnival of the Animals (Book & CD) by Prelutsky

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Flannery

Saint-Saens’s Danse Macabre by Celenza

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Celenza