June Summer Listening List
- Sara Schott
- Jun 8, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 9, 2020
To become a good musician, you have to listen to a wide range of music. Knowing and appreciating various music styles helps us develop our ear and our playing ... we learn what a really great ritardando sounds like, or we discover what beautiful articulation brings to a Baroque piece. We learn the sound of a great orchestra or choir, and we hear interpretations of great performers, both on piano and on other instruments. We start to hear subtle differences in performances, and form our tastes as musicians and music lovers. And best of all, we discover pieces that we will love for the rest of our lives.
My Summer Listening Lists are an eclectic variety of pieces that I think everyone should know. Parents can help kids listen to these pieces by either sitting down together to deliberately listen to one piece at a time during the month, or by just casually having the music in the background as the kids color, play with Legos, or do other quiet activities. You can play the music in the background while you get dinner together, have breakfast, or whatever. Whenever you are casually gathered, having some classical music playing really sends a message to your kids. Just as kids who see parents reading will often become readers themselves, kids learn to love a wide variety of music when they are exposed to it and share it with their families. And if you particularly like something on the list, you can explore other pieces by the same composer or in the same genre.
This month's list includes:
Raindrop Prelude, a beautiful introduction to the piano music of Polish composer Frederic Chopin. Hearing the beautiful phrasing and dynamics of this piece gives pianists an idea of the range of emotions they can express on the piano.
You're a Grand Old Flag sung by the Tabernacle Choir in honor of Flag Day on June 14th
Take Me Out to the Ballgame -- played on an old time player piano and on the list because everyone needs to know how to sing this when baseball finally returns. :)
O mio babbino caro by Puccini. Opera is a bit of an acquired taste, but early exposure to some of the beautiful melodies is a gift. This gorgeous melody is sung by the incomparable American soprano Renee Fleming.
A little bit of Scott Joplin -- The Entertainer, played by Joplin himself. Ragtime is an all-American art form that grew out of the African-American community.
Mozart's Fantasia in d minor: A short piano piece from the Classical Period. Can you hear the different emotions in the sections? What story could you tell with this piece as the background music?
Debussy's Reverie, a favorite of the Impressionistic period. Notice how everything sort of blurs together, just like the colors in an Impressionist painting.
Two pieces for strings: the Pachelbel Canon, in honor of wedding season, and the wonderful work of Yo-Yo Ma on cello with the most famous of Bach's cello sonatas.
And one symphonic work, the New World Symphony by Dvorak. The second movement is the much-loved Largo, with the melody that was turned into the song, "Going Home". And the 4th movement is a barn-burner that ought to get anyone moving ... use it for background when you want the kids to clean up their rooms or hurry up in the shower!
Here's the playlist. Enjoy!
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