Classical Music Curriculum

Adult Sources:
A. Copeland, What to Listen for in Music
B. Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
C. Fuller, How to Grow a Young Music Lover

October Vivaldi
Suggested Music: The Four Seasons (a must), Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 3, 6
Audio: Classical Kids: Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery, Douglas Cowling,
Other possible sources: Introducing Vivaldi, Roland Vernon Musical concept: volume

November Peter Tchaikovsky
Suggested Music: 1812 Overture, Nutcracker Suite
Audio: Classical Kids, Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Susan Hammond
Famous Children Series, Ann Rachlin
Fieldtrip: Nutcracker Suite
For older kids and read aloud: Two by Opal Wheeler
Other: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers Series, Mike Venezia
Musical concept: tempo

December Handel
Suggested Music: Messiah, Joy to the World (about Second Coming), Soulful Celebration (try it!), Firework Music, Water Music
Adult: Spiritual Lives, The Man who Wrote Messiah, D. Berreby, Reader's Digest Apr. '92
Audio: Classical Kids Series, Hallelujah Handel, Douglas Cowling
Book: Famous Children
Video: Handel's Last Chance, Devine, D. For older kids or read aloud: Handel at the Court of Kings, Opal Wheeler
Fieldtrip: Handel's Messiah
Other: Handel: Who Knew What he Liked
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers Series, Mike Venezia
Musical concept: melody

January Bach
Suggested Music: Joy to Man's Desiring, Brandenburg Concerto #2, Minuet in G
Adult: Spiritual Lives
Audio: Mr. Bach Comes to Call, S. Hammond (Classical Kids Series)
Video: Bach's Fight for Freedom
Book: Famous Children Series, Ann Rachlin; Bach's Goldberg Variations, Anna Harwell Celenza
Older Kids or read aloud: Sebastian Bach: Boy from Thuringa, Opal Wheeler
Other sources: Sebastian, J. Winter
Glory and Honor: The Musical and Artistic Legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, Gregory Wilbur
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers Series, Mike Venezia
Musical concept: rhythm

February Franz Joseph Haydn
Suggested Music: Thanks to our Father, Primary Children's Songbook p. 20, The Seasons, The Creation, Symphonies 45 and 94, Op. 76, #3; 76, # 4
Book: Famous Children Series, Haydn, A. Rachlin; The Farewell Symphony, Celenza; The Surprise Symphony, Celenza
For older kids or read aloud: Haydn: The Merry Little Peasant, Opal Wheeler
Musical concept: pitch

March Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart
Suggested Music: Ah, Vous Dirais-je (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star), The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro Overture
Adult: Spiritual Lives
Audio: Classical Kids Series: Mozart's Magic Fantasy: a Journey Through the Magic Flute, Mozart's Magnifican Voyage, D. Cowling
Book: The Magic Flute: Anne Gatti (book and CD),
Famous Children Series
Video: The Magic Flute (DVD in system claims to be for children)
For older kids or read aloud: Mozart the Wonder Boy, Opal Wheeler
Mozart, Scenes from the Childhood of the Great Composers, E. Brighton
Mozart Tonight, J. Downing
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers Series, Mike Venezia
Musical concept: harmony

April Ludwig von Beethoven
Suggested Music: Symphonies 5 and 9, The Heroic Symphony, Piano music 8 and 14, Hallelujah Chorus from Christ on the Mount of Olives
Adult: Spiritual Lives
Video: Beethoven Lives Upstairs (also in book and audio)
Book: Value Tales: The Value of Giving, The Heroic Symphony, A. H. Celenza, Famous Children Series
For older kids or read aloud: Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells, Opal Wheeler
Other sources: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers Series, Mike Venenzia
Musical concept: some singing instruction

May Frederic Chopin
Suggested Music: Revolutionary Etude Op. #10, #20, Fantasy Impromptu Op. #66, Etude in A Minor, Op. #25, and #11
Adult: Spiritual Lives
Book: Famous Children, Chopin, A. Rachin
For older kids or read aloud: Frederic Chopin: Early Years, Frederic Chopin: Later Years, Frederic Chopin: Son of Poland all by Opal Wheeler

June
Other Stuff Too Good to Miss! Maybe take a week on each?
Camile Saint Saens: Carnival of the Animals (look for the video, too), Danse Macabre
Pacabel's Cannon
Gerswin: Rhapsody in Blue, Book: Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue, Anna Harwell Celenza
For older kids: George Gerswin, American Composer, C. Reef
Meet the Orchestra, by Ann Hayes in conjunction with Peter and the Wolf
Musical concept: tone color

Other Composers for some other time
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Hark, the Herald Angels sing
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Spiritual Lives
Hidden Music: The Life of Fanny Mendelssohn, G. Kamen
Mendelssohn, Melodic Masterpieces
Famous Composers for Young People, G. Burch

Johannes Brahms, Hungarian Dance #5
Wiegenlied, Brahms Lullaby
Symphony #1, Op.68
Savior Hear Us When we Pray
Spiritual Lives
Famous Children Series

Paper Music: Bobby McFerrin conducts and sings classics
Discoveries in Music or Melody Lane, Calvert School
Classical Kids, Song of the Unicorn and A Classical Kids Christmas both by Susan Hammond
The Accidental Voyage (a Mr. Pipes), Douglas Bond
Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation, Douglas Bond
Mr. Pipes comes to America, Douglas Bond
books by Majorie Persons?
Can You Name that Classical Tune?
Pictures at at Exhibition
World's Very Best Opera for Kids
The A to Z of Classical Music
Franz Schubert: Life and Words
Famous Children Series: Schumann
Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera, Anne Siberell
Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff, Opal Wheeler
The Gift of Music, Smith
Classical Kids: Bizet's Dream, Liszt's Rhapsody, Rossini's Ghost, D. Devine
Silent Night: The song and its Story