Emily's Music

Last week Emily started Piano Lessons and this week she started Choir! She's going to have a musical year.

We are also reading together as a family, "The Gift Of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence." Each chapter is on the life of a composer, his story and influence during his lifetime and afterward. The author gives suggestions for pieces to listen too. I've been able to get some CDs from the library that correlate with each lesson. Every Tuesday after lunch we read a chapter and listen to some samples of the composer's music. I let the CD run while we do our art class. I just love this book, written by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. Ms. Smith had been an opera singer before she got saved and moved to L'Abri in Switzerland. While not a complete overview of music, the stories are interesting and give a good glimpse at the composers lives. This is my favorite quote. "The more we acquaint ourselves with that which is truly great and beautiful, the more we will dislike and turn away from that which is shallow and ugly." Listening to classical music in this way helped our day be more cheerful. And when Emily noticed the bust of Mozart on Jenn's piano and found out who it was, she was so excited that she knew him and had heard his music. She especially loves "The Magic Flute" and the Queen of the Night.