CLASSICAL MUSIC STANDARDS FOR KIDS
Carnival of the Animals, by Camille Saint Saens
Glass armonica (also called glass harmonium) demonstration. The performer, William Zeitler, explains that Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790) developed the glass harmonium used today. Franklin saw musicians performing music by wetting their fingers and rubbing the rim of a crystal glass; the glasses had different pitches depending on how full of water they were. Franklin then went to a glassblower and had him make one instrument. It rotates on a single axle powered by foot pedals:
Demo: Glass armonica
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (glass armonica)
Glass harmonium part used in Carnival of the Animals – a bit hard to see detail. It’s from “The Aquarium:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t71bzSF3r_0
Bugs bunny version of Carnival of the Animals. Animation alternates with a conductor (Michael Tilson Thomas) and orchestra. Poetry: Ogden Nash. Not performed in it’s entirety (no glass harmonium):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUsZ-M09SMw
One last version (another one without glass harmonium), see musicians play full score:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SjagpXeNhM
Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev
Prokofiev, a Russian composer, wrote music and text for Peter and the Wolf in 1936. It was intended for children, and was hardly performed for many years.
This version is stop-action animation:
https://video.link/w/a7EZc
This is an older version is from the Mexico Symphony with puppets:
https://video.link/w/vBEZc
DESIGN YOUR OWN OPERA
University of Southern California’s KUSC Classical radio station has a great interactive version of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. Based on a Grimm brother’s fairy tale, it was written in 1891-92.
http://classicalkusc.org/kids/opera/base.htm
FUN GEOGRAPHY SONGS
Fifty Nifty United States – video with lyrics
Fifty Nifty United States – slow version with US map and colonies
Seven Continents Song – big to small
Countries Rap – countries and their capitals
Five Oceans Song – a few fun ocean details
FUN MUSIC WEBSITES
New York Philharmonic website for kids: listening, instruments, etc. http://www.sphinxkids.org/index.html
Virtual piano keyboard you can play on your computer keyboard
http://virtualpiano.net/
Cool website makes your computer keyboard into a drum machine!
http://www.ronwinter.tv/drums.html
A drum machine that shows you the beats
http://www.onemotion.com/flash/drum-machine/
Jacob’s Pillow is an annual dance festival in Massachusetts where top dance companies come to perform. Here are a few of my favorites:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dorrance-dance/etm-double/
GOOGLE CHROME MUSIC LAB
This site has lots of fun ways to understand music through looping, physics of sound, playing your voice backwards/faster/slower, chords and
harmony, and interpreting your own art as sound. Have fun:
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
LINE RIDER
William Tell Overture – Rossini, Overture for the opera, 1829
In the Hall of the Mountain King – Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite, 1875
Star Wars – Williams, 1977
Beethoven’s 5th – Beethoven, 5th Symphony,1st movement, 1804-1808
Beethoven’s 5th – new version
Can Can – Offenbach, from the opera Orpheus in the Underworld, 1859
Harry Potter – (Hedwig’s theme) – Williams, 2001
Waltz of the Flowers – Tchaikovsky
Radetsky March – Strauss, 1848