Live music
The main recommendation is that, if you have access to any live musicians, let them perform. The impact of live music will amaze many children. The higher quality the musician, the greater the impact will be.
Recorded music
You can select music in a number of ways:
- Children bring music they like.
- The European classical tradition gives you over five centuries of great material.
- Then there is the entire world of jazz, folk music and film scores.
- Leave the West behind and the array of music seems endless with particularly rich traditions from China, India, South Asia, Africa and South America.
With all this music to choose from, don’t restrict the experience to music that you are sure your pupils will like. A negative response, if well framed, can be just as interesting, informative and productive as a positive one. The only real restriction is length. To start off with, a piece lasting between 3 and 5 minutes should be ideal – that is the length most people are used to from popular music.
Some suggested music for listening
The wealth of music available is vast, and you’ll find your own favourites, but here are just a few suggestions if you need a pointer to where to start.
Peaceful
- Debussy – L’après Midi d’une Faune
- Arvo Pärt – Speigel im Speigel
- Barber – Adagio for Strings
- Erik Satie – Gymnopédies
- Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on Greensleeves
- Albinoni – Oboe Concerto in D minor, 2nd movement
- William Byrd – masses for 3, 4 and 5 voices
- Satie – Gymnopédies
- Saint-Saëns – The Swan (Carnival of the Animals)
- Debussy – Clair de Lune
Cheerful
- Moussorgsky – Great Gates Of Kiev
- Holst – Jupiter from The Planets
- Dvořák – Slavonic Dances
- Benny Goodman – Sing, Sing, Sing
- Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
- Charlie Parker – Ornithology
Sad
- Mahler – Symphony no. 1, 3rd movement
- John Tavener – Song For Athene
- Purcell – Chaconne in G minor
- Shostakovich – Piano Concerto no. 2, 2nd movement
- Beethoven – Symphony no. 7, 2nd movement
Energetic
- Janáček – Sinfonietta, 1st movement
- Glinka – Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture
- Holst – Mars and Mercury from The Planets
- Shostakovich – Symphony no. 5, 4th movement
- John Adams – Chairman Dances
General listening
- Mozart – Piano Concertos nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27
- Bach – Goldberg Variations
- Bach – Cello suites
- Ravel – Ma Mère L’Oye (Mother Goose)
- Chet Baker and Stan Getz – Quintessence 1 (album)
- Ella Fitzgerald with Joe Pass – Fitzgerald and Pass again (album)
- Frank Sinatra – Where are you (album)
- Housemartins – Caravan of Love
World Music
- Classical Indian Music: Moods of the Day – Evening Ragas – musicians: Chaurasia / Sharma / Khan. Decca 448 677-2, 1995 Polygram India
- Javanese Gamelan and vocal music: The Sultan’s Pleasure – from the palace of Yogyakharta. Music of the World, CDT-116
- Flamenco Guitar: Luzia – Paco De Lucia. 1998 Polygram Iberica.
- Africa: In the Heart of the Moon – Ali Faka Toure and Toumani Diabate – guitar and kora, 2005 World Circuit Ltd WCD072
- Iraq: Munir Bashir: The Art of the Ud
- Klezmer: Di Shikere Kapelye – Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars. Piranha records CD PIR1467
- Roumanian gypsy music: Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses and Evil Eye; Taraf De Haidouks. Musique de Tsiganes de Roumanie vol. 2. 1994 Crammed Discs
- Gypsy music for brass: Gili Garabdi – Fanfare Ciocarlia. Asphalt Tango Records CDR-ATR 0605, 2005.
Film Music
Film music is a very rich and varied genre. Next time you go to the cinema, listen more attentively to the music, and if you like it look at the credits to see who composed it and find out what other music was written by that composer. Here are some film composers to look out for:
- John Williams (eg. Jaws, Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, E.T., Star Wars)
- Yann Tiersen (eg. Amelie, Goodbye Lenin, The Piano)
- Hans Zimmer (eg. The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Carribean, Gladiator, The Lion King)
- John Barry (eg. James Bond movies, Born Free, Out of Africa)
