Help me build a starter kit for my students.

[hornteacher]

Okay the school year is getting ready to start and I have a new group of middle school kids coming in, most of which have little or no Classical background.  In your opinion what are the first 5 CDs I should have them purchase.  Remember these are 12 year olds in an instrumental music class so the 50 CD Beethoven Boxed Set would not work.

Please suggest Five individual CDs that in your opinion cover the absolute basics.  No wrong answers here, just for fun, and to give me some ideas.

[Renfield]

Price range?

[hornteacher]

Price range?

How about a total of around $75.

[Renfield]

How about a total of around $75.

Roger. Will think on it.

[Bogey]

Or, have them download a different piece each week, or every other week, of your choice, or theirs.  Just a thought.

[hornteacher]

Or, have them download a different piece each week, or every other week, of your choice, or theirs.  Just a thought.

I thought about that, and it would be a great idea if all my kids had a computer to download stuff.  Believe it or not they all don't, and its a rather well-off demographic of students.

[Bogey]

I thought about that, and it would be a great idea if all my kids had a computer to download stuff.  Believe it or not they all don't, and its a rather well-off demographic of students.

I understand.  Could they download from yours or the school's?  Or would this be a major headache for all?

[hornteacher]

I understand.  Could they download from yours or the school's?  Or would this be a major headache for all?

Oooo, major liability issues there with monitoring what the kids are actually downloading.  Again, nice idea assuming all the students are trustworthy.  Unfortunately, someone would screw it up for everyone else.

[71 dB]

In your opinion what are the first 5 CDs I should have them purchase.

This is some kind of music school, right? 

Please suggest Five individual CDs that in your opinion cover the absolute basics. 

Since they are 12 year olds it's important to have them hooked. I think these works appeal to children:

Grieg: Peer Gynt (Naxos 8.570236)
Mussorsgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/"A Night on the Bare Mountain" (Naxos 8.571052)
Chopin: Piano Concertos (Naxos 8.554540)
Vivaldi: Four Seasons (Naxos 8.571071)
Orff: Carmina Burana (Naxos 8.570033)

They are all Naxos for low price and availability. The quality should be good.

[(poco) Sforzando]

This is some kind of music school, right? 

Since they are 12 year olds it's important to have them hooked. I think these works appeal to children:

Grieg: Peer Gynt (Naxos 8.570236)
Mussorsgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/"A Night on the Bare Mountain" (Naxos 8.571052)
Chopin: Piano Concertos (Naxos 8.554540)
Vivaldi: Four Seasons (Naxos 8.571071)
Orff: Carmina Burana (Naxos 8.570033)

They are all Naxos for low price and availability. The quality should be good.

Actually, that's an excellent list. I couldn't do much better. Maybe a Beethoven symphony disc instead of the Chopin.

[71 dB]

Actually, that's an excellent list. I couldn't do much better. Maybe a Beethoven symphony disc instead of the Chopin.

Thanks! Yes, Beethoven's (the ninth?) symphony instead of Chopin is not a bad idea. 

[Mark]

Actually, that's an excellent list. I couldn't do much better. Maybe a Beethoven symphony disc instead of the Chopin.

Or, if you want to replace the Chopin Piano Concerti with something in a similar vein, how about at least the Brahms First Piano Concerto?

[karlhenning]

Generally good list, Poju, though the Orff of course is not an instrumental work.

[karlhenning]

Bach
Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 4, 5 & 6
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Marriner
($16)

Mozart
Symphonies Nos. 40 & 41
LSO
Abbado
($12.50)

Beethoven
Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8
North German Radio
Wand
($15)

Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto
Sibelius
Violin Concerto
Vengerov
Berlin Phil / Abbado (Tchaikovsky)
CSO / Barenboim (Sibelius)
($14)

Stravinsky
Le sacre du printemps
Musorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition
Phila
Muti
($8)

[Mark]

From your list, Karl, I'd second the first two choices (although, I suspect the Bach wouldn't be heard as quite as exciting as, say, some sections of the Grieg or Mussorgsky which Poju recommended). The Stravinsky would seem a sensible choice if we were asked to list works which weaned a newbie into (relatively) more modern times, but I imagine a much younger, much less classically literate audience might baulk at what they may hear simply as noise.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Or, if you want to replace the Chopin Piano Concerti with something in a similar vein, how about at least the Brahms First Piano Concerto?

Too big and heavy for young kids (imagine them fidgeting through the slow movement).* Same thing with the LvB 9th (imagine them fidgeting through the slow movement). I'd use any of the LvBs except 3 or 9.

You could, hornteacher, give them a core list of 4 CDs for the whole group and then give each kid their "own" additional disc from a grab-bag. Each kid could do a little presentation for the class accompanied by excerpts from the CD.

--
* (Actually, I still fidget through the slow movement.)

[(poco) Sforzando]

Generally good list, Poju, though the Orff of course is not an instrumental work.

True. But it's a very accessible work for a young age group, with lots of color and easily remembered repetitious melodies. I wouldn't rule it out.

[karlhenning]

From your list, Karl, I'd second the first two choices (although, I suspect the Bach wouldn't be heard as quite as exciting as, say, some sections of the Grieg or Mussorgsky which Poju recommended). The Stravinsky would seem a sensible choice if we were asked to list works which weaned a newbie into (relatively) more modern times, but I imagine a much younger, much less classically literate audience might baulk at what they may hear simply as noise.

Well, there's no one path which will serve for everyone, of course, Mark;  but I disagree, I don't think that much younger, much less classically literate listeners will necessarily hear Le sacre simply as noise.  No way of knowing for certain, but I believe that if I had heard the piece at age 12, I should have taken to it right away — as I did quite a variety of stuff.

Maybe it's actually an older listener who has learnt to dismiss some literature as noise . . . ?

[karlhenning]

Please suggest Five individual CDs that in your opinion cover the absolute basics.

You already know this, but . . . you won't cover the absolute basics on five CDs 

[Mark]

Too big and heavy for young kids (imagine them fidgeting through the slow movement). Same thing with the LvB 9th (imagine them fidgeting through the slow movement). I'd use any of the LvBs except 3 or 9.

I'm tempted to agree about the 'Choral' Symphony. After all, it has 'opera' in it, doesn't it? (At least, that's how many young kids at my own school would've put it. ) But the Brahms is so huge, so rich in colour - and the slow movement seems to me so relaxing, rather than a cause for fidgeting. Mind you, I'm no longer 12 ...

I don't think that much younger, much less classically literate listeners will necessarily hear Le sacre simply as noise.  No way of knowing for certain, but I believe that if I had heard the piece at age 12, I should have taken to it right away ...

Again, I can only speak from the perspective of the kids I was at school with. They (and I, I'm ashamed to admit now) would've come away from the Stravinsky with perplexed looks on their faces and mutterings of, 'What a load of ****!' under their breaths. As to whether or not older audiences are wont to be more dismissive, I disagree: with age, I'm inclined to believe, comes a broadening of one's tastes. Hell, three years ago I couldn't stomach Mozart and Shostakovich. This year, I attended a BBC Prom that featured Messiaen. That's progress.