With clarity and with admirable simplicity, keyed to the understanding of children, Opal Wheeler has traced the many-sided career of George Frederic Handel, whose restless nature vied always with his tremendous ability as a composer and director.Handel?s strange boyhood, clouded by the fact that his father did not want him to become a musician, and the later years when, thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, his music was played before the greatest music lovers of Europe ? all this makes absorbing reading. The selections of Handel?s music included here are those best understood and most apt to be mastered by young musicians. One evening, back in 1691, conservative Doctor Handel was shocked and dismayed to find his small son carrying the torch at the head of a band of singers wandering through the little town of Halle. The good doctor never quite understood the all-consuming love of music which drove his son from childhood on and on to the great heights he eventually attained as the beloved Father of the Oratorio, the composer of the magnificent MESSIAH. Opal Wheeler has given us here the most finished, most completely satisfying book on her list of fine music biographies. Handel at the Court of Kings should be a favorite of all children who love music, whether they are young musicians themselves or not.
A great composer comes to life in this vivid, exciting story of Peter Tchaikovsky, a young man driven by his genius through the early years of his career and on to enviable success and world recognition. Peter's unhappy apprenticeship in law ended when he absentmindedly nibbled on and ruined an important legal document. If his family considered his failure a disgrace, to Peter it was an omen. Now he was free to pursue and perhaps capture the music that sang in his head. When he left St. Petersburg to teach in Moscow, he took the first decisive step on his colorful road to fame. But success did not come easily, and Peter learned to endure the hard pinch of poverty before the wealthy Madame von Meck became his patroness, providing him with a generous income. Always enchanted with the world of childhood and far more at ease in it than in the more demanding world of adults, Peter began to write ballets for his sister Alexandra's children. The Sleeping Beauty was followed by Swan Lake, and finally he created The Nutcracker Ballet, which assured his place in the hearts of children and adults alike. Opal Wheeler writes with happy and intimate warmth, portraying a great man as appealingly human, and presenting simple piano arrangements of six of his most familiar, best-loved compositions.
Little Peter was born in the small mining town of Votkinsk, Russia, not far from the border of Asia. His father was a mine inspector. Miss Wheeler has shown sympathetically yet quite frankly what a nervous, unpredictable child Peter was and how his love for music, even as a very little boy, was almost greater than he could bear. Any sort of routine or application to work was impossible for him, and as a result, when a young man he could not bring himself to practice law. However, music still beckoned, and under the great Anton Rubinstein, he made certain progress. Here again, though, he broke all the established rules for composing and drove his master to despair. It was early one morning, seated at a table in the deserted dining room of an inn, that he wrote the first draft of his first symphony. Here is a fascinating picture of Tchaikovsky the brilliant composer and delightful companion. It is perfect for young readers.
Written with warmth and understanding, the present book on Paganini begins with his unhappy childhood along the wharves in Genoa and carries him straight through the tempestuous years when great genius and poverty waged an endless battle, which genius finally won. The boy gave his first concert at eleven, and his success was immediate and brilliant. The later years, however, were given over almost entirely to composing. His compositions were so exquisite and intricate that they became the despair of other musicians, as often only the master was able to play them. Added to a delightful story are some of Paganini's simpler compositions for the young music student to try. It is altogether a perfect biography for the younger group, full of action and exciting adventure, too.
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