# Good programme music for children?



## GMMM (Jul 5, 2011)

Does anybody know of good programme music for children. Like short pieces (2-3 minutes). I would like to show some paintings to the music, so preferable something that can be painted (so not feelings for example). Prefable the same composer....
I know of course of Carneval of the animals, but maybe something like that?? Or sunset/ water/ people/ birds/ - something with a story in mind.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

something like that?


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## GMMM (Jul 5, 2011)

I would like to be able to combine classical music with paintings...so the children maybe can recognize the music in the paintings....it does't have to be written for paintings, but music with a small story or picture so I can find som painting suitable.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

How about _The Flight of the Bumblebee_ by Rimsky-Korsakov:






or_ March of the Little Tin Soldiers_ by Gabriel Pierné:






or maybe _Sabre Dance_ by Khachaturian:


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I like the first seven or eight Mozart symphonies...very simple, short movements...easy to create with


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Respighi's _The Birds_ may be good. There's a Dove, a Chicken, a Nightingale, and a Cuckoo, all quite recognizable.


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## PhillipPark (Jun 22, 2011)

Pieces out of Saint Saens 'Carnival of the Animals' would be a hit with the kids, I think.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Prokofiev's _Peter and the Wolf_!


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

PhillipPark said:


> Pieces out of Saint Saens 'Carnival of the Animals' would be a hit with the kids, I think.


I think these would be ideal - there was an educational project in Lancashire UK where they used the Carnival of the Animals - it was a collaboration between many schools in the area and the Lancashire Sinfonietta.

This is the link to the Sinfonietta's webpage http://www.lancs-sinf.com/learning-participation/ages-511/carnival-of-the-animals


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Well, there's Grieg's Morning Mood, which depicts the sun rising. As do parts of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra. Grieg is probably better for kids, though. There are also quite a few programmatic or picturesque titles among his many Lyric Pieces. Butterfly, Sheperd's Boy, March of the Trolls, Peace of the Woods etc.. They are probably more 'impressionistic' than 'narrative', though.

I can think of a few works that are based on pictures already, but I doubt they are very kids friendly
Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition
Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead
Reger's Böcklin Suite


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Norse said:


> Well, there's Grieg's Morning Mood, which depicts the sun rising. As do parts of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra. Grieg is probably better for kids, though. There are also quite a few programmatic or picturesque titles among his many Lyric Pieces. Butterfly, Sheperd's Boy etc.. They are probably more 'impressionistic' than 'narrative', though.
> 
> I can think of a few works that are based on pictures already, but I doubt they are very kids friendly
> *Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition*
> ...


I think many of the pictures could be very interesting. Like the Chicken Ballet, the Tuileries, the Limoges one, and also Baba Yaga. Possibly.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

This Villa-Lobos piece might appeal to kids. They tend to be interested in trains:


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I think an orchestral version of Mussorgsky's "Pictures" would rock the kids' socks! There are a couple of dark moments, but they are not too dark, and kids love those, right? They are also short, and have an extremely visual quality.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

GMMM said:


> Does anybody know of good programme music for children. Like short pieces (2-3 minutes). I would like to show some paintings to the music, so preferable something that can be painted (so not feelings for example). Prefable the same composer....
> I know of course of Carneval of the animals, but maybe something like that?? Or sunset/ water/ people/ birds/ - something with a story in mind.


Something I found that might be interesting to you


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## GMMM (Jul 5, 2011)

so many interesting things....thank you


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