Introduce Classical Music to Children

It wasn’t until college that I began appreciating classical music. From that time on, I’ve always been intrigued with classical music, in particular, those compositions that musically paint vivid pictures. I distinctly remember Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Spring), Mendelssohn ’s “Overature to a Midsummer Night's Dream” and Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overature.” Each one captured my imagination and helped me to hold on to music that for my first 18 years was boring, foreign, and did not hold a candle to the Beatles, Jim Croce, Carol King . . . As my ear became more discrete, I moved on to Saint Saens “Carnival of the Animals” (Cuckoo in the woods), Berlioz's "The March to the Scaffold," and Mossorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition."

The love and appreciation for music would eventually provide an entrée for my serving as president of a local symphony board. In this position I became intimate with the conductor’s work, the beauty of a symphony orchestra, and the exquisite sound of individual instruments.

Try playing the selections above to children and see the pictures they paint for them and for you.