Classics For Kids

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Ralph Vaughan Williams 2: Musical Fantasies Dec 10, 2022

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Originally, a musical fantasy was a piece that instrumentalists made up as they went along. Eventually, fantasies evolved into pieces that composers built out of various melodies they liked — […]

Ralph Vaughan Williams 1: About Ralph Vaughan Williams Dec 03, 2022

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Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important 20th century English composers. He spent years traveling the country collecting English folk songs, writing them down, and publishing them. Many […]

Charles Ives 4: American Hymns in Classical Music Nov 26, 2022

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Charles Ives loved to put hymns into his music. Several other composers borrowed hymn tunes; here are several examples from 20th Century American compositions.

Charles Ives 3: Folk Tunes in Classical Music Nov 19, 2022

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The Country Band March has 12 recognizable popular and folk tunes in it. But Ives was not the only composer to put borrowed tunes in his music. Many classical composers […]

Charles Ives 2: Marching Through the Country Band March Nov 12, 2022

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Charles Ives wrote the Country Band March about amateur musicians — people who make music for the love of it. In the Country Band March Ives combines a tune that […]

Charles Ives 1: About Charles Ives Nov 05, 2022

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The music that Charles Ives wrote was greatly influenced by his father, George. From the time he was a kid, Ives heard his father experiment with sound. George Ives always […]

Igor Stravinsky 5: Halloween Music Oct 29, 2022

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Appropriately spooky classical music for Halloween.

Igor Stravinsky 4: Composer Teachers and their Students Oct 22, 2022

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov spent years as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Many of his students became famous composers themselves: Anatol Liadov, Alexander Glazunov, and Igor Stravinsky. A lot of […]

Igor Stravinsky 3: Fire Music Oct 15, 2022

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To go with this month’s music from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, some more music by composers who were playing with fire.

Igor Stravinsky 2: The Firebird Oct 08, 2022

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Igor Stravinsky based his ballet The Firebird on a Russian folk tale about an evil demon named Kashchei, who has thirteen princesses under his spell. A prince who wanders into […]

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