A HISTORY OF MUSIC FOR CHILDREN

Music approached from many angles.

Richards and Schweitzer ask young readers to think about many different ways we can make and appreciate music, including creating, feeling, performing, and listening, peppering their invitation with a profusion of examples. Early on, they ask the question, When is a sound considered music? This is answered, in part, with an extensive, eclectic Spotify playlist, tracks from 155 albums including such disparate music as the dawn chorus of birds, John Cage’s silent “4’33”,” and music composed by artificial intelligence. But the text, set among appealing graphics, including some photographs and art reproductions, stands alone. What distinguishes this approach is its breadth. In a single, early page about the inspiration of bird songs, the authors bring up Bob Marley, Ludwig van Beethoven, Camille Saint-Saëns, Amy Beach, and Olivier Messiaen and his wife, Yvonne Loriod. (In the accompanying playlist that theme continues with selections from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an anonymous medieval songwriter, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Charlie Parker.) They offer examples from jazz, popular and classical music from many ages, folk music, background music for movies and video games, and music from many countries. They include vocalists, instrumentalists, composers, instruments, emotional effects, storytelling, and different ways we can listen to music. Each chapter is divided into shorter segments; topics are sometimes covered in a paragraph or two and sometimes fill a page.

Wide-ranging and accessible, this is a rich resource for musical exploration.