music program

[happy1nluv]

I am loving the discovering great artists book by maryann kohl, and im wondering if there is a musical equivalent...  I love how it goes through different styles/artists, giving examples of their work and a quick biography...  does anyone know of a music version?  I want something that goes through all the different genres with the notable people in each...  it doesnt need to include a music cd -- I can find those on my own, but a brief biography and a notable compositions bit would be great! :)

thanks!

[moominmamma]

Mike Venezia has a set of cool books about famous composers suitable for 5-10-year-olds. If your library has them they would be great and closest, IMO to the Discovering Great Artists book in approach (though of course missing the whole hands-on element).

For somewhat older or musically sophisticated kids, the books by Stephen Isserlis ("Why Handel Waggled his Wig" and "Why Beethoven Threw the Stew") are fantastic ... written with such affection and delight. They're somewhat oddly organized/edited, but have wonderful content and great suggestions for listening. They're more suitable for 10 through 14-year-olds. "Lives of the Musicians" by Kathleen Krull is also a fun compilation of biographical information about an assortment of composers. Again, musicians' lives tend to be messy and sometimes sordid, and this book is probably more suited to the older (pre-teen) set.

For the youngest children (ages 3-8?), the Children's Group CD's ("Beethoven Lives Upstairs," "Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery" etc.) can't be beat. The music is totally integrated into historical fiction where the composers play believable roles. Pleasurable repetitive listening to these, more than anything else I've ever encountered, can give young children a lasting appreciation of the composers' great works and of "what makes Vivaldi Vivaldi" for example, in terms of style, instrumentation and approach.

I don't know of anything for children that works through things historically by genre.

Miranda

[tankgirl73]

Those are good suggestions.  I'd also add "Meet the Great Composers" and "Stories of the Great Composers", published by Alfred music publishing.  Meet is for older kids (say, 10 and up) and Stories is for the younger ones.  There's also The Time Traveller's Guide to Music History... I think that's the title... I think it's also Alfred... it's for younger kids too and is quite cute.

If you want something more intensive, there's a composers lapbook out there... I'll have to look up the source again... It's absolutely massive in the amount of information, I think it covers about 70 composers and goes into detail for all eras.

Another approach might be "Ancient Art and the Orchestra", the middle school level from Harmony Fine Arts and Music.  It's a guided course in artwork of the ancient world, but folded into it is some music study as well -- it's more along the line of 'music appreciation', features an instrument for a week or two along with a composer known for that instrument, has links to web resources/activities, lots of listening, etc.  

They also have resources for lower grades, guided composer introductions and music appreciation, etc... The middle school one is the only one I've used personally, though.  They look nice though!  They use some of the books I've mentioned above, in fact... heh...

[Mama Shifra]

I think that My First Classical Music Book by Genevieve Helsby and Jason Chapman might be close to what you are looking for.  It includes a section on Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahams, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and John Adams that includes brief biographies of these composers and why they are significiant in the musical world.  The books also comes with a CD that has samples of music being discussed in the book.  The biographies are not a complete story of the composers life, just highlights.