Little Creatures: An Introduction to Classical Music

Little Creatures: An Introduction to Classical Music by Ana Gerhard. Performed by various musicians. Book and CD. The Secret Mountain. 2019. $16.95. Book: 72 pp. CD: 35 min.  

2^nd – 5^th grades

20 bright and lively classical music pieces feature small creatures including insects, spiders, amphibians, and snakes. Each double-page spread contains a stunning illustration of the creature by Mauricio Gómez Morin, who uses a variety of painting styles, from comic, to stylized, to dreamy and Victorian retro. Each spread also includes a text box with the title of the composition, the name of the composer, and a short description of the creature and the musical piece. The contents include “Flight of the Bumblebee” from The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), “He Spake the Word…” from Israel in Egypt (George Frideric Handel), “From the Diary of a Fly” from Mikrokosmos, Volume 6 and “The Night’s Music” from Out of Doors (Béla Bartók), “Overture” from  The Wasps, Aristophanic Suite (Ralph Vaughan Williams), The Child and the Spells (Maurice Ravel), Violin Concerto (Georg Philipp Telemann), The Wandering Tadpole and Sensemayá (Silvestre Revueltas), “The Frog,” aka String Quartet opus 50, no.6 (Franz Joseph Haydn), The Cricket (Josquin des Prez), “March of the Grasshoppers” from Music for Children (Sergei Prokofiev), “The Grasshopper” from Two Insect Pieces (Benjamin Britten), “Song of the Flea” from Faust (Ludwig van Beethoven), The Flea (Joseph Bodin de Boismortier), “Tarantella” from Bardic Sounds (Johann Kaspar Mertz), “The Spider In Its Web” and “Entrance of the Ants” from The Spider’s Feast (Albert Roussel), The Butterflies (François Couperin), and Seven Butterflies (Kaija Saariaho). A number of musical groups give superb performances, including Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Aradia Ensemble, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Ensemble Baroque, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Kodály Quartet, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Capilla Flamenca, and Mexico Festival Orchestra. Additionally, various individual musicians give outstanding performances on piano, oboe, harpsichord, guitar, and cello. A couple of pieces feature professional vocalists. Several appendixes appear at the back of the book, including Listening Guide to each piece; a brief biography of each composer; a glossary of musical terms; and a timeline with a chart of each composer in his/her musical period: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20^th Century. This ambitious picture book, first published in Spain, is a must for every child’s musical education.

Website: www.thesecretmountain.com