Woods: The Carnival of the Dinosaurs (A musical fairytale)
Tyxart
CD
$22.99Apr 05, 2024
Thomas J. Woods (b. 1969): The Carnival of the Dinosaurs – A musical fairytale
Tyrannosaurus Regina is the tyrant Queen of the dinosaurs and preparations are underway for the Carnival celebrating her birthday. Always suspicious, she sends out spies to observe her subjects including a melancholy Brontosaurus, partying Triceratops and a tattooed Ankylosaurus. But perhaps the real threat comes from the Pterodactyls above?
“The Carnival of the Dinosaurs” is a musical fairytale that will delight listeners and readers young and old. Narrated and interpreted by Rachel Teear (Narrator), Freddy Kempf (Piano 1) and Natalia Woods (Piano 2).
Die schönsten Weihnachtslieder - Christmas for Children / Ulmer Spatzen Choir
Carus
CD
$21.99Oct 21, 2022
When we make ourselves comfortable at home with the children at the most wonderful time of the year, songs can't be missing, of course. And the time until Christmas also passes much faster with melodies to listen to and sing along with. On this release, the Kinderchor SingsalaSing and the Ulmer Spatzen Chor present reimaginings of favorite Christmas songs, including Still, still, still, Ding Dong Merrily On High, Stille Nacht, and many more. These are songs for children, sung by children, which can also be enjoyed by young and old alike.
From new to classic Disney songs, this new album features collaborations with Adassa (the original voice of Delores in "Encanto"), Laura Osnes, Anthem Lights, One Voice Children’s Choir, The All-American Boys Chorus, and more! Vocal Point was founded in 1991 by two students at Brigham Young University. Vocal Point is BYU's world-renowned all-vocal ensemble and has earned acclaim the world over, including being identified as one of “greatest college a cappella groups of all time.” In 2006 the group took home the title of International Champions of College A Cappella, and the following year were voted the nation’s favorite male collegiate a cappella group by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America.
Various: Nån av varje sort - Sånger för små barn och stora / Various
BIS
CD
$10.99$21.99Save 50%Aug 06, 2021
People sometimes say that ”there are more people in Sweden who sing in choirs than play football”. Young or old, Swedes do love to sing, and not just at Midsummer celebrations or Christmas concerts – more half a million Swedes turn up to choir practice every week (of course, the choirs have been silenced during the pandemic). The Swedish tradition of nursery rhymes goes way back, but during the 1960s and 70s, the scene was enriched further, helped by children’s programmes on radio and TV. Parents, grandparents and teachers moved on from singing to kids to singing with them, a change of perspective which naturally influenced the new songs being written. Many existing recordings of these songs are made by adults, singing in registers that are difficult for children to sing along to. With decades of experience in working with children, choir leaders at the Adolf Fredrik’s Musikklasser in Stockholm saw the need for one that would encourage kids to sing. They decided to record an album of some very popular children’s songs with their pupils and a five-piece pop band. Behind the micro-phones is Ingo Petry, of award-winning Take5 Music Production, and the result is a disc of children’s songs, sounding just like they should – one that will provide hours of fun for kids of all sizes!
Lebanese-born, Canadian-Armenian-American soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is as celebrated for her beauty, dynamic presence, and style as for her strikingly multidimensional voice. With this deeply personal project, she gathers a selection of haunting and poignant lullabies that draw on the memories and experiences of the Armenian people. 29 tracks trace an arc from the Ottoman Empire through the Genocide and beyond, with songs and transcriptions by the country’s beloved folk composer Gomidas Vartabed, Parsegh Ganatchian who joined the diaspora in Lebanon, and Ganatchian’s contemporary Mihran Toumajan. For Isabel, these evocative songs span two centuries and five generations. Sung by her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, and now to her own children, Isabel’s Armenian Songs have an appeal to children of all ages.
REVIEW:
The arrangements are enlivened by their variety, featuring not only flute and harp but the less familiar and quite haunting duduk. All this said, there are a lot of lullabies on the program, in similar tempos, and one wonders whether an "Armenian Songs for Children and Others" program, with other examples of the abundant folk-influenced material in the Armenian tradition, might have been a bit livelier. Certainly, though, listeners with children are invited to try the album out.
The great American folk songs and rhymes on this release have enthralled young people for generations. This recording embodies the true spirit of these songs, delightfully sung by Jill Trinka and accompanied by a wide variety of acoustic instruments, including guitar, dulcimer, autoharp, piano, percussion, string bass, and violin. The illustrated album booklet includes complete lyrics and song directions. And all of the performances are in step with John M. Feierabend's philosophy of providing a nurturing environment for musical growth. Children and their families are sure to enjoy this and the other imaginative and engaging albums drawn from John's eight collections of folk songs for kids ages three and up. UPDATE: Over the past year, a committee formed by the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) developed a set of standards for evaluating repertoire associated with the curriculum. With their guidance, we have removed several songs that were deemed to be harmful, derogatory, or disrespectful in regard to their histories or context. We have also added a number of new songs and rhymes from a variety of world cultures. A link is available on the product page at www. Giamusic. com that details these revisions for the curriculum book and the supplemental folk song collections.
Gershwin's Magic Key / Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
CHILDREN'S GROUP
CD
$16.99Feb 26, 2021
The first new release in 20 years from the award winning Platinum selling Classical Kids Series, most famous for Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Extra, extra! Read all about it! Step into the streets of 1920s New York City, where a newspaper boy has a chance encounter with the famous composer George Gershwin, and together they explore the many sights and sounds of the city. Gershwin's Magic Key is the first-ever educationally entertaining musical story introducing children to the extraordinary life and musical masterpieces of one of America's greatest composers! An award-winning series that introduces young listeners to Classical music through storytelling, the Classical Kids series of recordings are respected by parents and educators around theworld. The music is magically woven into a 50-minute story as the two actors share their anecdotes and observations based on true incidents from the composer's life. Presenting history, drama, music and fun this engaging album and enhanced audio book is designed to be enjoyed by the entire family. The Children's Group is excited to release the studio recording of the Classical Kids LIVE! Production, Gershwin's Magic Key, featuring the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and including the two actors featured in the original theatrical concert, which premiered with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Classical Kids series has won an unprecedented 6 JUNO Awards for Best Children's Recording, Billboard International Achievement Award, Parent's Choice Awards, iParenting
A collection of six short stories for Christmas, written and adapted for American children of the 1940s and 1950s and featuring stars of the silver screen, including several first-time official CD issues. The celebrity narrators include Bing Crosby (The Small One), Loretta Young (The Littlest Angel), Gregory Peck (Lullaby of Christmas), Ronald Colman (A Christmas Carol), Charles Laughton (Mr. Pickwick's Christmas). In the days when families gathered around the wireless and the radiogram, Christmas stories made popular entertainment for children and adults alike. The most successful of them were transferred to record with musical accompaniments supervised by experienced Hollywood hands, none more so than Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Hitchcock's composer of choice, who in 1944 composed and conducted a score to an adaptation by Orson Welles of Oscar Wilde's tale of The Happy Prince. Bing Crosby took the part of the Prince, and two years later became narrator for a new story by Charles Tazewell, The Small One. Two further Tazewell stories for radio captured the imagination of the American public in 1948 and became Christmas-time fixtures, rather like The Snowman on British TV in the 1980s. The Littlest Angel and Lullaby of Christmas both told a touching tale, in the tradition of Andersen's Little Match Girl but with a happy ending, of a child whose fortunes are transformed at Christmas time. When Decca released them as 78s and 10-inch LPs, they were narrated by Loretta Young and Gregory Peck respectively. According to Peck, 'This is the holiday drama I've always hoped to find'. English leads were used for the two English stories recorded by American Decca: Ronald Colman as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and Charles Laughton as Mr. Pickwick in another Dickensian picture of poor souls redeemed by kindness at Christmas time - this last scored by none other than Hanns Eisler, seven years before he fled the US after being denounced by the Committee for Un-American Activities. In all these tales, there is a warmth and a delight in the telling that struck a chord in their audiences of the 40s and 50s, and will do so again in these newly remastered transfers.
This new release is an album of eloquent contemporary music for children performed by Mr. E and Me and The Norwegian Radio Orchestra. The wonderful songs are written, arranged and sung by the highly accomplished duo Mr. E and Me, which consists of Martin Hagfors and Erik Johannessen. Martin, American born, is an artist, composer and lyricist in his own right and a popular collaborator for the likes of Ellen Andrea Wang, Bobby Bare, Big Bang, Motorpsycho etc. Erik is a Norwegian composer, arranger and trombone playing member of Jaga Jazzist, he is also known for his studio work with Susanne Sundfor and The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. New Orchestral Hits 4 Kids also includes a guest appearance by the world music icon, Mari Boine on the hauntingly eerie, Long, Long and performances by The Norwegian Girls Choir. New Orchestral Hits 4 Kids aims to open ears to the wonderful sounds of the orchestra while introducing whimsical, imaginative songs about friendships, forests, wet socks, dancing, space, a robot, a birthday, and a beautiful narrative about a girl on the moon.
Footprint Records is proud to present a new release by the compelling Swedish vocal quartet Tetra. Once again, Tetra takes us around the world- this time, in search of lullabies. As always, they treat us to a cultural feast, deliciously prepared and spiced with their tasteful arrangements for vocals and percussion. They also have some extra star power, with appearances by Jonas Simonson, flutes; Ahmad al-Khatib, oud; and Senegal’s spellbinding Adama Cissokho. Four distinctive vocalists come together in Tetra, all sharing a world music background: Ingrid Brannstrom represents the Nordic folk tradition, while Sanna Kallman sweeps us off to the Caribbean. Anna Ottertun leads the way to the Arabic culture sphere, and Maria Stellas has Greek ornamentation in her blood. This is Tetra’s third release on the Footprint label, following “Hiyya” and “Viv tolerans.”
In Classic Folk Songs for Kids, curator Jeff Place culls a cross-section of 26 classics from the Smithsonian Folkways vaults to tell an intriguing story of American signature sing-alongs. The songs' origins are as fascinating as the songs are fun: centuries-old European ballads, an American Revolutionary tune, 19th-century American folksongs, African-derived game songs, a sea chantey, a railroad jingle, camp songs, and even an opera song! And the singers themselves are a who's who of American folk music artistry-Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Cisco Houston, Suni Paz, Tom Glazer, Lord Invader, and many more. 56 minutes, 40-page booklet with lyrics.
Realizing that early exposure is key to a lifetime of classical enjoyment, Amelia and pianist Carol Rosenberger (now Delos’ director), made the production of recordings for the very young one of their pet priorities. The resulting Family Classics Series (numbering more than 25 albums) has been hailed by critics and customers alike as the finest and most comprehensive series ever produced for young people. And a key component of this vibrant and varied series is the eleven-disc array of “Baby Needs” recordings. Three of these are being re-released, all with attractive new artwork. “Baby Needs Baroque” (DE 1609) is a varied and charming collection of Baroque-era jewels, selected individually for their “kid appeal.” Similarly, “Baby Needs Beethoven” (DE 1610) and “Baby Needs More Mozart” (DE 1614) offer gentle and accessible selections from their respective composers that are sure to captivate and soothe the spirits of little people … big people too! It’s family listening at its best.
It's time for Beethoven to be recognized as an important part of the young-of-age or -spirit's musical curriculum. Baby Needs Beethoven is an excellent place to start! This release explores all aspects of Beethoven's more introspective work, with music from his symphonies and chamber works to the solo performances for piano. The pieces chosen may be familiar to many, but there are a few lesser-known gems that will be of interest even to the Beethoven connoisseur.
Roven: The Runaway Bunny; Chappell: Paddington Bear; Kleinsinger
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98Apr 08, 2008
ROVEN The Runaway Bunny.1,3 CHAPPELL Paddington Bear’s First Concert.2 KLEINSINGER Tubby the Tuba2 • Barry Wordsworth, cond; Brooke Shields (nar);1 Stephen Fry (nar);2 Ittai Shapira (vn);3 Royal PO • SONY 22855 (66:42)
What follows may disqualify me as a reviewer of the above. First, I never grew up, and at age 62, I have no intention of doing so. Second, I still occasionally watch an episode Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood solely on the grounds that he likes me just the way I am—one of the most empowering benedictions ever bestowed upon a child of any age. As the father of two grown and quite accomplished daughters who were daily regaled during their formative years by the choicest examples of children’s lit that my late wife, a children’s librarian, could obtain, I am well acquainted with the texts that so eloquently inform this release. The Runaway Bunny is from Margaret Brown’s classic 1942 children’s book of the same title; Paddington Bear’s First Concert is based on Michael Bond’s series of children’s books about a marmalade eating bear “from Darkest Peru”; and Tubby the Tuba is the word-half of the 1941–1945 collaboration between author/actor Michael Tripp and composer George Kleinsinger, which over the years has been successfully disseminated via multiple recordings and film animations, and which has been cited by the Library of Congress in 2006 as a landmark in audio history.
The Runaway Bunny was originally conceived by composer Glen Roven as a piece for solo violin, singer, and orchestra—designed as a vehicle for Israeli violinist Ittai Shapira. In the course of the project’s development, Shapira suggested substituting a narrator for the singer. Given the results, it was an excellent choice that spotlights the powerful eloquence of the seemingly modestly unpoetic words. I found the music coupled with Brooke Shields’s narration deeply moving.
Most of the “audio product” aimed at children which has come across my desk over the years has been plagued by mawkishness, condescension, terminal cuteness—afflictions that most children I know find inherently repulsive. On that topic I recently had a conversation with my eldest daughter, who is currently continuing her anthropological studies of Central Asia on a Fulbright grant in Helsinki. I asked her if she, like me, ever felt embarrassed when adults spoke to us, when we were children, in baby talk. Her answer, “I felt more sorry and embarrassed for the adults than for myself.”
The texts on this release are self-recommending and are delivered by Brooke Shields and Stephen Fry as one ageless human being speaking to another, and in ways that uncannily convey the metaphorically richness of the words. The music is witty, urbane, often ironic, and as sophisticated as all children inherently are until our adult-controlled world succeeds in dumbing them down. The music to The Runaway Bunny proves to be a fine ad hoc violin concerto that highlights Ittai Shapira’s estimable skills.
One of this offering’s agendas is to introduce children to the joys and richness of the symphony orchestra. To put this into a larger perspective, this offering is, in its own way, on the exalted level of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, or Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
The sound is up to the highest of current standards, and the performances by the Royal Philharmonic conducted by Barry Wordsworth show them in fine fettle, as have so many others by him that currently grace my library.
In searching for a way to close this piece, I was tempted to say something to the effect of “recommended to the child in all of us.” Instead I will take my leave by saying that it helps us to respect the child in all of us, especially that which resides in our children.
This CD features traditional or new songs interpreted by Marcel Zaragoza to illustrate each of the four seasons : birdsongs, the rain, the snow, school games, summer and vacations. A joyful way to initiate the children to the sound dimension of their life. In French.
