A blog designed to help kids and parents learn to enjoy classical music. Families come together around great composers and learn the difference between a symphony and a sonata. Find out who Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart were and enjoy many more works of music throughout history.
Today is Halloween, and we are completing our playlist with two excellent selections. First, is Hector Berlioz’ Symphony Fantastique, and second some selections from the animated classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. These two pieces may seem random, but they share something in common.
Read MoreDeath And The Maiden Quartet by Franz Schubert. Halloween reveals our fascination with mortality. Death is something that frightens us and motivates us. Schubert composed this second to the last quartet not long after being diagnosed with an incurable disease. This work is about a young woman facing her death, but there is the underlying reality that Schubert is also contemplating his mortality at the young age of 25.
Read MoreThe Phantom of the Opera was originally a book from 1909 by Gaston Leroux, published a few chapters at a time in the French magazine Le Gaulois. The tale takes place at the Palais Garnier when a mysterious figure who lives in tunnels surrounding a lake beneath the opera house begins to terrorize the performers and managers.
Read MoreThe Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegender Holländer) is an opera about a ghostly sea captain doomed to sail the seas until he can find redemption from a woman’s pure love. This story of sailors, love, death, and immortality is a classic tail and an incredible journey into the dark world of Richard Wagner.
Read MoreDay 5. Franz Schubert and Johann Von Goethe tell the tale of chase, mystery, and death. This masterpiece for voice and piano weaves a tale with five characters. Watch the video post on my blog and learn how Schubert does this miraculous feat. Also, I have provided a worksheet with translation for you and your kids to follow.
Read MoreTwo notes can create a powerful psychological effect on listeners. The Theme from Jaws is famous for two notes.
Read MoreDay 3 of Classical Halloween Music. Giuseppe Verdi composed one of the greatest Requiem Masses even. A requiem is typically used for a funeral service, but this one was so grand that it is only performed in concert. The Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) is actually speaking about God’s wrath upon all evildoer at the end of time, but it makes for a dramatic piece for Halloween as well. The first words are “Day of Wrath and Doom Impending…” Be sure to listen for the promenade bass drum part.
Read MoreClassical Music For Halloween, No. 2! Danse Macabre is one work that was actually written about Halloween. It is a tone poem so be sure to listen to these three things…
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