Composer Study: Brahms

The upcoming Composer Study on the AO rotation for fall is Brahms.


"Johannes Brahms" by C. Brasch, Berlin - http://www.oberlin.edu/library/graphics/SCP/Brahms.gif. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
As far as I can remember, I know next to nothing about him, so I am looking forward to reading, listening and learning along with my kids this term. Here's the information I've gathered so far. I'll plan to do composer study much the same way we always have.

In the old days, I used to try to help y'all out by linking to youtube vids and making printables and such, but now there are mama's way quicker than I am. I'm so thankful for AO users over at the forum... they were a HUGE help by doing all the work this time around! See helpful links.

Helpful Links:

See discussion over at the AO forum about Composer Studies... Not a member yet? Sign up here.

One generous AO user put a Brahms youtube playlist together for us! Thank you Islavet!
And another helpful AO user made a pdf with short bios of all this year's composers, from Harriet Brower's book, The World's Great Men of Music: Story-Lives of Master Musicians. Thanks Keac!

If you have an amazon prime account you can stream the Big Brahms Box for free!

OR

Buy the Brahms album here (100 tracks for a little more than $2!):

Contribute to the 'Get Books to Deepest Darkest Peru' FundWhenever you use the above amazon links to make purchases, you contribute to the fund that enables us to get our books overseas. So, click, click, click away! :)

Need to get a Handel on something?! {amy's amazing amazon links}

Well, I haven't listened in yet, but there's this seemingly amazing deal on a Handel mp3 album.

There are 302 tracks, with over 14 hours of music. You might even get tired of Handel, but at least you'll have enough to last a lifetime, so you can afford to spread it out a little.

Click and grab it for less than a DOLLAR!

Go directly, and tell them I sent you. :)

And have you ever read anything by Thomas Tapper?
Well, he's super and there's a FREE kindle book on... wait, you'll never guess...
That's right! Handel. So, while you're there, grab that too.

I hope you have enjoyed the latest installment of {amy's amazing amazon finds}!!
Brought to you from the AMAZON.

an amazing amazon album deal... and thoughts on opera

I just bought this album, and though I have not listened to it yet, I can't see that I could have gone too wrong... It's 12 CDs worth of music for less than $10! Not only does it have TONS of famous classical music, but it includes several of the AO selections for this year's term 3, as well as from other years' selections! As per the AO composer study rotation, until the end of the school year, we'll be listening to opera.

Yep, you read that right... opera.

I never thought I'd see the day.

I can't say I'm overly excited about it either, even if it IS one of my dad's favorites. I remember opera performances oftentimes constituting his television programming of choice when I was little. I was never quite equally convinced of it's pleasure viewing value. Of course, over the years I've often been surprised at how much my kids and I end up enjoying the various AO composer selections. So, we'll see. If it weren't for this aspect of homeschooling, just think how seriously uncultured we'd be!


If you too decide to buy the album based on my recommendation, please use the following link so that we both benefit! (I earn a tiny commission off every purchase made... even a little bit helps!)


A 12 CD Set Of Romantic Classics For Every Month Of The Year


On that note, have I mentioned lately that I am SUPER thankful for everyone who uses my blog(s) to link through to make their amazon.com purchases?! Well, I AM! Thanks to you folks, we've seen a small dent in our homeschool purchases! Those affiliate earnings, as a result of your linking, especially help to offset the cost of transporting things internationally! We regularly spend more than $250 a year in shipping for books, at least that much, and your linkage earned us $104.59 over the last 3 months!

Thank you!

So, as I could hardly bring myself to buy an album entirely composed of opera, this other album was also a great find for me! The operas are all sung in ENGLISH. Oh yeah. While I'm sure the opera elite would grimace, as for me and my house, we're thankful for these 'baby steps' kinds of offerings. :)

Composer Study: Bartok

AO's Composer for the latest term is Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Randomly, or perhaps because I thought the name sounded interesting, for our listening enjoyment and observation this week I selected his work called Bluebeard's Castle, a one-act opera with libretto written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. Who knew Béla was a common man's name?

As I read more about it, I think I may have discovered why this opera was not chosen as one of the AO listening selections for students... but still, the opera is based loosely on the Charles Perrault's folktale: Bluebeard. So we read the folktale (I edited as I went), will listen to the opera in its entirety and then will probably pursue it no further as interpretations can be morbid and strange. For more info see the wiki here.

I do not recommend studying this opera without pre-reading the folktale and giving it some prior thought as to its fitness for your family. :) It is rather morbid as fairy tales can often be. 



Illustration by Gustave Doré for Perrault's tale Bluebeard; Source: wikicommons

Bartok's music is not the most wonderfully pleasing to the ear, in my opinion... but we're going to endure for a while anyway.  I do prefer his duets for violin and piano concertos over some of the other works.

AO's composer selections for Term 3 of 2011-12:

    Bela Bartok: 

• String Quartet no. 1 in A minor
• Concerto for Orchestra (Sz. 116, BB 123)
• Mikrokosmos (especially "Boating" and "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythym.")

    Paul Hindemith: 

• Mathis der Maler (the symphony, not the opera; "Matthias the Painter," based on painter Matthias Grunewald)
• Ludus Tonalis (solo piano)
• Kammermusik No. 5, op. 36 no. 4 'Viola Concerto'

Mendelssohn mp3 music for $2.49

Ambleside Online's scheduled composer for study this term is Mendelssohn... yay!

I found many of the selections on this mp3 album.
(It has 99 pieces for only $2.49! Sadly, it only has two Songs Without Words, but see below*)




If for some reason this link isn't product specific (I tried!), just type in 99 Mendelssohn and it should come up in the search :)


*Never fear because my compadre Naomi over at Living Charlotte Mason in California has put together a playlist which includes a good selection of aforementioned Songs Without Words on grooveshark - click here.

I'll be posting more on this subject in the weeks to come :)

Reflections on the Messiah for Advent

We've been so enjoying our Advent readings thus far into this Christmas season. Among our readings are, Ann's book, AO Christmas poetry, and we've also been enjoying reading/listening to Handel's Messiah. All the words are taken straight from Scripture, starting with prophecy of the coming Messiah, interwoven with passages of his birth, life, death and resurrection! It's beautiful. I'd heard it before, but before now I'd never read along, so I hadn't really heard it, if you know what I mean.

As we are about halfway through (or at least halfway to Christmas – we'll be catching up, see below), I'm making a few notes of observations you and I might find helpful in the future. :)

• We take turns reading the selection out loud before listening to the selection. After listening, on occasion, we'll talk about how the sound or tone or particular instruments leant to our understanding of the passage. Most days, we don't discuss, we just enjoy the music.

• It would be more meaningful for everyone to be able to read along. For that purpose, I've made a handy-dandy printable so that should help (we tried using our Bibles, but it's a different version, and that seemed to throw the littles for a loop – literally. I found them not listening at all, instead they were actually throwing themselves into loops by flailing their limbs and contorting their bodies into fantastical positions).

• Encourage self-expression. We take turns at director of the symphony or as the opera singers. It can make things VERY interesting. ;) Warning: this activity may lead to the aforementioned flailing limb-type activity, jumping up and down, and even cartwheels. Just sayin'.

• It's better to listen to a smallish section at a time rather than attempt several sections (thanks Miss Charlotte!) This may seem fairly obvious to long-time CMers, but really, if you want to listen to several sections per day, or if you get behind and want to catch up, spread them out throughout the day rather than piling them all on top of one another. The kids might actually enjoy it that way, and you will too. And, you will avoid finding yourself frustrated that they will. not. sit. still. for. just. one. more. accompagnato. I know this can happen. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience... ;)

I hope your Christmas is bright as you bask in His Light!
:)

Composer Study: Handel {for Christmas!}

Image courtesy of wikipedia

After reading this post by Cindy Rollins over at the Circe Institute, I was truly inspired to use Handel's Messiah as part of our anticipation of Advent this year. I wouldn't mind if it became a yearly tradition either!

I'm so excited.

I downloaded the Libretto (text of the Messiah), checked to make sure I have the complete version on mp3 by comparing the Libretto with the music (many music versions are abridged I found out!!).

Tomorrow, during our Bible/devo time, I'll read from the Libretto and we'll listen to parts 1, 2 & 3 to begin. Then every weekday we'll do the same (a couple of parts) until Christmas Day, when I hope and plan to listen to the whole thing as part of our day.

Like Cindy, mentioned, some parts are smaller and so even if we miss some days (as is inevitable at this time of year!), we can make it up easily.

Download here for free, or buy Handel's Messiah on CD

For further reading:
Wiki on Handel's Messiah
An online study course (saylor.org) on Handel's Messiah - Libretto and Online listening guide + Assignment

oh. vivaldi.

"oh. vivaldi."

"We've listened to that music every day for the last 23 days straight, Mom."

"Even though I don't play violin or guitar, I'm certain I could perform every piece in the entire orchestra since we've listened to it so many times... it's actually become the background music to my dreams."

:)

...just a few of the things you might hear around our house.

Composer: Antonio Vivaldi (Baroque)

Okay, so this term's already started for us, and since it's outta control with moving and all, this post will be like no other.  (Normally term 2 is Jan-Mar, ours will just be stretched out).  I'm just going to point out some of the links that I'm looking at.  Sorry, I don't have time to find all the music online as free downloads this time.  I have a bunch of CDs (thanks Mother and Daddy!) that are pretty much gonna cover for us this term.  I am SO happy that I planned this term so far ahead!!  Note that Vivaldi's Gloria is a Christmas-y song!  So get a head start by listening to that one now!  ;)  One somewhat completely unrelated thing I'd like to say is, that I LOVE THIS album that has *note* only ONE Vivaldi piece on it:

{LOVE, love, LOVE, love it.}

Here are the AO selections for this term 
(each song is linked, but I haven't listened to all the selections,
nor do I know if they are complete... the links are perfect for a little sampler):

2010-2011 TERM 2 Antonio Vivaldi (1730) (Baroque)
    Gloria (choral work);
    The Four Seasons (complete at wikipedia);
    Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82; (at youtube in parts; one, two and three)
    plus 3 concerti - maybe one for violin, one for guitar (for example: Trio Sonata in C Major, RV 82: III. Allegro)and one for a woodwind instrument such as oboe or bassoon.

We have this:

And would like to read this:
(if only we had a local library!!! perhaps you don't know how spoiled you really are?!)

 {Comes with Teacher Guide, CD and bonus CD... }



We have planned to listen to:
Week 13-14: Gloria (choral work)
Week 14-15: The Four Seasons
Week 16-17: Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82
Week 18-19: Concert for woodwind     <-- we are here :)
Week 20-21: Concert for violin
Week 22-23: Concert for guitar

Composer: Beethoven - free download

whoops!  I forgot to put this on the last post...
I made a Beethoven coloring sheet:

download it here

(right click and 'save as...' or click on the link to print it off)


Enjoy!

Composer Study: Beethoven

This term's composer is the notorious Beethoven.  Ever heard of him?  heheh.  I know.  Kinda obvious.

But just to clarify, I'm not referring to the dog.
(I'm sure there are actually kids out there these days, who would in fact need me to explain this... sad.  Yay, for homeschooling!)






I actually think I'd heard of Beethoven even before I knew classical music for the first time.  Beethoven, after all, is kind of a memorable name.  I even remember where I was when I learned about him... or at least where I was when I contemplated him for the first time.  It was in front of a baby grand piano at my friend's house when I was young.  I remember marveling about the art of composing... how to hear all those notes of different instruments in your head at the same time and for them to make into something beautiful... yes.  I was awed.  In fact, I still am.  Composing is AMAZING to me.

I even had dreams growing up about composers.  Dreams that I still remember.  weird.  Or else it is memories of what I envisioned while reading a book from long ago... either way, I remember it vividly.

But, I'll spare you the details and get on with this post.

You're welcome.

So this term's composer studies are focusing on Beethoven... surely you guessed that already ;)

Here are the AO selections (all free downloads)...

Piano Sonata 8 (Pathetique) Opus 13
Piano Sonata 14 (Moonlight) Op 27
Symphony No. 3 (Erocia-meaning 'heroic') Opus 55
String Quartets opus 59, no.1-3 (Razumovsky Quartets)
          they look like this (click ctrl+F to find on the page):

Quartetto d'Archi in Fa maggiore op. 59 n° 1
Quartetto d'Archi in Mi minore op. 59 n° 2
Quartetto d'Archi in Do maggiore op. 59 n° 3

Piano Concerto 5 (Emporer) Op 73 - sheet music here
Symphony No. 9  Opus 125 (the one with Ode to Joy at the end)
           it looks like this (at the way bottom of the page):

Sinfonia n° 9 in Re minore op. 125

(thanks goes to Kathy on the AO list for several of these links!)

Here's a link to a playlist on GrooveShark that has all these selections to listen online.  Thanks Phyllis!







A book we're reading:





Helpful tips:
This term I discovered a REALLY helpful thing that I'd never thought of before.  There are 6 selections per term (see above) and as there are 12 weeks per term, that means you can make it nice and straight forward by studying each selection for 2 weeks!  (Well, yes, it is obvious... but it takes me a while sometimes to catch on.)
*AO terms are as follows, Term 1 / Sept-Nov; Term 2 / Jan-Mar; Term 3 / Apr-June

Helpful links:
Ludwig van Beethoven - classics for kids
AWESOME resource - by arts alive! canada (39 pages - pg11-35 has info in kid-friendly format and workbook activities, if you're into those)
Beethoven squidoo w/ LOTS of info
Mini-unit study from HomeschoolShare with coloring sheet, copywork selections and other notebook pages... if your kids like that sort of thing) - having the book is not necessary to using the resources.

Composer Study: Ravel

2009-2010 TERM 3 Maurice Ravel (1915)

Ravel was an atheist... sad.  And single...  real sad.  Like many composers he was unique, borderline strange.  But we like this about him:

"From childhood he had a particular liking for minute objects, miniatures, the tiny world of figurines, little things that worked by clockwork, mechanical birds 'whose heart-beats he felt' and miniscule Japanese gardens which evoked for him the giants of the forest." 
   (Marguerite Long, At the piano with Ravel)

Here's a timeline of his life... 

Some additional somewhat interesting facts about him are, that he was French.  After an experimental brain surgery as a result of a brain injury as a result of a car accident... the result was, he died.  On April 8, 2008, the New York Times published an article saying Ravel may have been in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia in 1928, and this might account for the repetitive nature of Boléro. (I did actually think this was funny. [sorry... not in the laugh at someone while they're down kind of way... just the fact that the song IS rather repetitive and this would explain it!])  Despite that last fact, Stravinsky did once call Ravel the "Swiss Watchmaker", for the intricacy and precision of his works.**

Listening selections for this term:

    Daphne et Chloe - selections
    Bolero (read more about Bolero here) & (the wiki here - *WARNING image at top right hand of page)
    Mother Goose Suite
    Pavane pour une infante dufunte
    Piano Concerto in D for left hand, (part 1) and (part 2)

    Rhapsody espagnole


Ravel's Bolero:

Listen to the music:

See the ice skating:
(thanks to Susan in PA for pointing this one out)

Here is another version of Bolero for comparison (in two parts):

Yes, they ARE different, see if you can tell how?

Part One

Part Two

(thanks for this one Janet!)

Here are the instruments in order of appearance:
snare drum
flute
soprano clarinet
bassoon
E-flat sopranino clarinet
oboe d'amore
muted trumpet & flute
B-flat tenor saxophone
B-flat soprano saxophone
piccolo & french horn & celesta
various woodwinds
tenor trombone
woodwind section
strings, strings & winds in various combos to end...

(thanks bassoonlady!)

Ravel's Mother Goose Suite:

A very nice performance of Ravel's Mother Goose Suite for Piano 4-Hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8TrlHUSJnE&feature=fvw

(thank you KayP)

Here are the CDs we're enjoying this term:

Click here to read about how we do Composer Study
We also use: Composer Response Questions by Jimmie
More Composer Study links

**Random information gathered from classicalcat.net & maurice-ravel.net

Composer Study: Edvard Grieg

Activities:

Read Grieg's  Biography: (see links in left side bar for background, childhood, etc)

Listen to Classic For Kid's audio shows on Edvard Grieg HERE (you can also read the transcripts there).

Print this off for a timeline figure!!

Edvard Grieg
June 15, 1843 - Sept. 4, 1907

Image courtesy of Bergen Off. Library

Edvard Grieg Music to buy:

I am thinking about downloading this mp3 album from amazon.com - $9.49 for TONS of music (38 tracks to be exact!):

This CD has several of the AO selections on one disc:  (Peer Gynt No.1&2, Finlandia, Norwegian Dances) $6.49 w/ prime shipping

And last but not least, here's the album I would totally buy if the cover art were the only consideration :)

Free downloads of AO term selections:
(I have downloaded and actually listened to all 3 - all perfectly suitable for a basic intro!)

Peer Gynt - look for 'McKeeverDuoGriegPeerGynt' - this is very nicely done!
Norwegian Dance No.2 - scroll 1/3 of the way down the page, look for 'Pianoteq Grieg' / Grieg Norwegian Dance 2 
Piano Concerto in A - Op.16, I,II, III - download links at the bottom of the page
  
Some helpful links:

Ambleside Online's Composer Schedule page - lists the composers to be studied each term
How we do Composer Study - A how-to by Fisher Academy, yay!  


And still more links (maybe helpful):
A teacher's lesson plan for an activity based on Grieg's Peer Gynt - The Tale of the Mountain King.  Looks fairly interesting.  

A wordsearch (pdf) with important words from Edvard Grieg's bio on the makingmusicfun.com site (left click to save file as).
A unit study (pdf) from jaysilveira.com for your perusal... seems a bit technical/band class/ music lesson-ish to me, but heh, I know that someone could find it useful :)

A downloadable biography of Edvard Grieg, by Henry T. Finck - from archive.org (I have NO idea of it's literary quality...)
A lesson plan/activities from BBC's Parents' Music Room - Motivate your Child with Music, using Peer Gynt - Tale of the Mountain King including a how-to for teaching your kids how to compose some music themselves.



Enjoy!

PS. Please leave a comment if you've found any other helpful resources online or from your library!  It would be helpful to everyone else who comes along!! 

 

Thanks everyone for pointing this one out!! We LOVED it!

Yay, for the Lego orchestra!

How we met Mozart and Carroll

H a P p y  B i R t h D A y ! !

Today is Mozart's birthday (1756-1791). I just happen to have learned somewhat recently to truly appreciate classical kinds of music... (thank you Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online for teaching us a love for great music!  I'm just sorry that I haven't always listened to this music since early in childhood)

Mozart is on the AO rotation for Composer Study coming up in 2011, and I can't wait!         Here are the selections: (the following information is taken from this page, click here for more links)

2011-2012 TERM 1 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (early classical)
Listening selections for this term:
Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
Requiem [A Vocal work]
Symphony no. 41 in C major (Jupiter)
Sinfonia Concertante
Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major (K.467) Mozart-Archiv has free mp3 downloads of all Mozart's works; the main page is in German and offers eight identical servers, but I can only get 4 and 5 to work.

It's Lewis Carroll's birthday too! He lived from 1832-1898. Our favorite books by him are Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (AOy3). Reading the book was WAY better than watching the Disney film, which is all the exposure I had had previous to AO ;)  This one in particular, Hammy read aloud to the boys a couple of years back.  We had a lot of laughs!  Like at this part:

Which road do I take?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter.”

If it hadn't been for homeschooling, we may never have had an intimate acquaintance with either of these two men. I'm so glad that we have. I'm very much loving learning right alongside my kiddos!  Yay, for lifelong learners!

Other Helpful Links:

Composer Study - Our Method

The Mozart Project

Poets.org - Lewis Carroll page

Image borrowed from fromoldbooks.org

Living Math - part one

This is the first post in my Living Math series.

In part one, I'll start out with our math history :) This will give you a little insight to our struggles and why we are turning to more living math methods! Then, I'll list some living math ideas that are working for us, and where we're headed. And last, I have a bunch of links I've found in my research of the topic, that I'd like to have handy and hopefully they'll help someone else out too. And then someday, I'm going to post again on the books that have really helped my boys - this is spoken in true faith :) ...they WILL be helped!

...this is my oldest (several years ago) doing math the painful way!

Our story:
One of my boys is seriously coming to deeply despise math. I have come to terms with the fact that math will never be his strong area. But I will not settle with the excuse that he has to hate it! Now, I didn't care much for math either growing up... too time consuming. So, I know that not everyone will like math, though if you're like me, maybe you will like it more later on when you see the practical use for it. The real problem is the effect it is having on his outlook on learning in general. I've heard him or his brother say things like, 'Oh, he's just not that smart...' And that simply cannot be! We have tried a few things over the years. I'm not in a position to try every curriculum out there, but we've seen some stuff. Everything I buy I have to mail or bring down in a suitcase which about triples its price. SO... for the last 3 years, we have been using MUS (which I actually really like). But the fact is, I don't want to try everything, I just want one thing that will work. Now, that should be easy, right?

--We used Miquon and it was from what I could see similar to Singapore... yikes. Teacher intensive. That was tearful for both of us (I might add though, the lady at the homeschool convention who recommended it to me really liked it! ;). We tried MEP for approximately 3 weeks... WAY too much work for me! I have too many kids for that! I did like that math, had it not been so intensive, I probably would've kept with it. I have experience with Saxon as well, too many problems! I knew that wouldn't go over well in our house!--

I have two boys, the younger of which is really quick to catch on, he is good at memorizing facts... you might say he's naturally mathematical. On the other hand his alter ego is represented in my oldest boy (older by 12mos). The main thing my struggler has a problem with, is simply memorization of facts. I thought it was a problem with curriculum. Matter of fact, I even had them both redo a year (this wasn't totally fair for the one boy who was doing fine, but since he didn't really seem to care, it worked). But for my oldest, math has always been a struggle. Since day one. ALL the math facts have been hard for my boy. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and now Division have all been the same. He knows it one day, and then I am not kidding, forgets it the very next day. It IS astounding. However, we are realizing that it IS there... somewhere... deep. way deep, deep down in there. He has this mindset problem. He thinks he can't do it, and by golly, when he's thinking that way, no matter the consequence, no matter how long he tries, he can't do it!

So. In the last year we have begun to incorporate some Living Math into our studies. This means fun math, really. Real life math. I'm doing this to try to remedy the fact that my boy HATES math and seriously is beginning to think poorly of himself because of this problem area. I want him to see the other side of math, that math can be enjoyable... and that mathematicians are people too... even if he isn't ever one of them!! ;)

We will get into that in the next post :)

Stay tuned :)

Composer Study: Our method

We have Composer Study scheduled once a week, on Wednesdays. At different times, though, throughout the week, it is my goal to have us listen to the term's composer's work, at least once a day... we rarely achieve this, but we always ought to aim high, right?

Wednesdays, which are also our Geography and Artist Study focus day, we take a closer look at AO's term composer. For example, AO had scheduled Liszt for the 2008-2009 winter term. We have just finished reading a mini-biography and have listened enough to his work to be able to recognize some of our favorites of his pieces.

Steps 1 - 3, I get done on a Homeschoolplanning Day at some point long before I need them, as soon as the links are available. I usually do this as part of my planning at the beginning of the year.

Preparation:

1. Check the Ambleside Online Composer Schedule page, for the music selections for the term. Note the selections on paper or in a Notepad file.
   
2. I go to the library and check out some cds containing the composer's works. (Of course, that's what I did when in the US.) I tried to find one cd that had all or most of the term's selections.
   
3. When the library is unaccessible, I look online for free downloads. I usually first google the name of the work... "Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan) free download" It turned up this link from last.fm which you can mark to listen online & this one from classical archives - you can play a preview online or buy.
4. When I can't find anything free online, I buy mp3 downloads from amazon or walmart. The nice thing is that you can buy ONLY the music you want, but you do have to sometimes buy it in several parts. For the Symphony no.1 I found 4 separate downloads, but for the no.9, I was able to find all four parts in one. Yay! :) However in this case, I opted for buying an entire mp3 album (Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works), because it had ALL the symphonies I was looking for, for $7.49... less than I could buy them all separately for.
   
   • Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works
     
     
     
   • Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan):
     
     
   • Mahler Symphony 9
     
     
   • Bruckner Symphony no.4:
     (these are the same, just by different orchestras... choose between these two - if you're like me, you'll choose by the cover art ;)
     
     
   
   
5. After I've gathered/purchased my term's music selections, I can burn a cd. I haven't done this yet... I just make a file on my computer under 'My Music' with the composer's music in it. For example, I make a new folder, Mahler_Bruckner. But burning a cd would be VERY convenient if we had a stereo! ;)
   

Weekly Study

1. I have a cd case that has all our AO music in it. For some people this is their regular listening... we are not so refined as yet. :) This cd case is accesible to the kids and they are welcome to ask for any music at any time - as long as it doesn't unreasonably distract anyone else. We have a rule that the kids don't handle the cds, to minimize scratching (it still happens inevitably, but it cuts done on the damage!).
2. On Wednesdays, we officially have scheduled Composer Study suring our reading time 10:30-11:30. During this time I put on the music for a little bit and then we read from The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower or Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia, if we have one on the term's composer. We read just a little section to divide it up over the term.
3. As this is one of those 'icing on the cake' studies I do NOT stress if it doesn't happen every week.

Someday Ideas:

1. We do occasionally look up the term selection on YouTube. That's fun. There are a lot of well done informative videos with bio information on the composer with their compositions as background music.
   
2. Sometimes, I look up sites on the internet that are safe for all to peruse.
   
3. I'd love to take the kids to a symphony... someday
   

Our materials:
Recordings of the Composer obtained from internet, library cds or home cd library.
Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower
Internet searches on the term's composer.

Composer Study: Links

Link to AO's composer schedule:
Ambleside Online Composer Schedule

Online (free) Books with bio information on many of the composer's lives.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower

Listen Online:
http://www.kcme.org/ One Advisory member's favorite. No ads, wide programming, friendly announcers.

Other related links:
A super complete SQUIDOO page on Charlotte Mason style Composer Study by Jimmie!
Composer timeline figures
Composer Lapbook by Amy Pak from Homeschool in the Woods, music included. I'm very interested in this to use as a supplement. I have not used it yet though.
Free Artist/Composer Notebooking pages - has some coloring pages as well.
Classics for Kids - Very cool interactive site with many activities for kids. There are lesson plans and an interactive composer timeline. They have all their broadcasts archived as well as podcasts on many composers. Interesting.
Composer Study 102 - Higher Up and Further In - a post on Composer study in their homeschool
MFW discussion

2008-2009 Winter Composer Study - Liszt

Franz Liszt
Another AOer made up this playlist on youtube:


This one's fun for the kids to watch... Tom & Jerry cartoon - Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 Liszt



This one shows paintings/photos of Liszt while it has text of a mini biography of his life -
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 Orchestra in C sharp

2008-2009 Fall Composer Studies - Bach

Songs on playlist:
Jascha Heifetz plays Bach Chaconne (part 1)

Jascha Heifetz plays Bach Chaconne (part 2)

1. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750).

I. Choir: Magnificat.
II. Aria (Soprano II): Et exsultavit spiritus meus.
III. Aria (Soprano I): Quia ...

2. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

V. Aria (Bass). Quia fecit mihi magna.
VI. Duet (Alto, Tenor): Et misericordia.
VII. Choir: Fecit pote...

3. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

XII. Aria (Alto): Esurientes implevit bonis.
XIII. Duet (Soprano, Bass): Virga Jesse floruit.
XIV. Cho...

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - i: Allegro

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - ii: Adagio ma non tanto

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - iii: Allegro

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 1

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach - Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 2

J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750): Contrapunctus 3 (Fugue) BWV 1080

bach - art of fugue - contrapunctus 4 - glenn gould

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus V, VI, VII (Koopman, Mathot)
The art of fugue BWV 1080
Counter-fugues, in which a variation of the main subject is used in both regular and inverted form
Contrapunctus V
Contrapunctus VI, a 4 in S...

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus 8 (T. Koopman, T. Mathot)
The art of fugue BWV 1080
Contrapunctus VIII

Ton Koopman, Tini Mathot, harpsichord

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach - Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 9

The art of fugue: Canon alla Duodecima, Contrapunctus 10, Canon alla Decima (Koopman-Mathot)

Koopman and Mathot play Contrapunctus 11

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus 12-13 (Koopman-Mathot)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The art of fugue BWV 1080

Art of fugue(Contrapunctus XIV)

Canon alla Ottava, alla Decima, alla Duodecima (H. Walcha)