More Classical Music for Children
I Hate Music!, The Telephone, Amahl and the Night Visitors
Classical music that is sure to delight both young and old.
Classical music offers all sorts of gems for small ears. For a list of ballet and orchestral music for children, please see the related article Classical Music for Children. This article highlights some delightful, kid-friendly vocal music.
I Hate Music! Song Cycle: Leonard Bernstein's set of five rather short songs was written for soprano and piano (and not for kids to perform), but the text is related from a youthful perspective. The whimsical text and helter-skelter pacing are sure to engage a child's attention (as well as his or her parent's).
1. My Name is Barbara: Slow and contemplative, the singer introduces herself through the important questions that often puzzle youngsters, questions such as where do babies come from?
2. Jupiter Has Seven Moons: The singer ponders what life would be like if Earth had as many moons as Jupiter possesses.
3. I Hate Music!: Music in all its formalities is boring, but active participation (i.e., singing) is fun.
4. A Big Indian and a Little Indian (Riddle Song): Hectic tempos, interspersed with spoken text, give us a new twist on an old riddle.
5. I'm a Person, Too: Being a kid means that sometimes adults don't take you seriously. But the singer likes warm things and red things and horses, just like everyone else.
Hello! Hello? (Lucy's Aria) from The Telephone: Gian Carlo Menotti is well-known for his operatic works and this excerpt from The Telephone is perhaps his most whimsical and entertaining. The song imitates a one-sided phone conversation complete with giggling and gossip.
Amahl and the Night Visitors: A Christmas operetta also by Menotti, Amahl and the Night Visitors relates the tale of a lame boy and his mother who receive three mysterious visitors during the night. Dressed in rich robes and burdened by lavish gifts, these royal visitors are on their way to visit the King whose star they have seen illuminate the sky. Amahl has no gift to give such a great Child, but at last he thinks of the perfect present: his crutch. Though Amahl is ridiculed at first for offering such a lowly gift, his lameness is miraculously healed and he leaves his mother to accompany the visitors on the rest of their journey to meet the Christ child.
