Music with Chequered Ears

Par BALAZS ARPAD. Television viewers of nearly a hundred countries have experienced Árpád Balázs's touching melodies. The series of cartoons have neither dialogue nor text: the music presents the amiable and entertaining adventures of the rabbit with chequered ears and its friends. Balázs has rephrased and developed the well-known melodies and as a result a ''children's story symphony'' of seven movements has been created in which, in contrast with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, there is no narrator but the instruments themselves represent the story-tellers. The composer has again associated the groups of instruments with one another in a colourful and varied manner, skilfully alternating the modes of solo, chamber orchestra and orchestra. Movements I, II, IV and VII represent a ''short suite'' that can be independently performed, thus due to its duration of four minutes and easier level, ensembles with more modest opportunities can also perform it. The most well-known parts of the cartoon series music - the main title and the ending - are included in both versions./ Répertoire / Concert Band

Toy Box - Very First Pieces For Piano contains 26 simple yet impressive Piano songs composed by experienced teacher June Armstrong. This book is ideal for a beginner to put theory into practice with a wide variety of pieces in a number of styles.Each title in this songbook is evocative of the way the piece is meant to be played, with songs like Ballerina, Hula Hoop and Kaleidoscope suiting the instructions that Armstrong has provided like ?Daintily? and ?Steadily?. Unique touches like this make Toy Box perfect for a young child who is working their way towards grade one standard, as the composer has skilfully attempted to represent the nature of various toys through the medium of music. This will help a young musician to learn the basic concepts of musical theory in a fun and familiar context, with songs like Jumbo and Slinky sure to entertain all who are within earshot through humour and musicality. If you would like to listen to audio recordings of all the songs included in Toy Box, they are all available to download free of charge from the author's website.What sets this songbook apart from other beginner books is the personality and dedication that June Armstrong brings to her compositions, noting that her pieces are all inspired by her own Piano students and giving detailed and informative notes for each song at the beginning of the book. For the song Dinosaur, Armstrong writes that ?You will want to create a very scary atmosphere?The right hand note heads are strange bird calls in the forest. The left hand Ds, Es and Fs are the dinosaur??. The care that has been put into creating this sheet music shows that Armstrong is acutely aware of the best way for students to learn, and that she truly wants students to learn effectively, but in a fun and light-hearted way.Each song in Toy Box occupies a single page making it easy for a player to track their progress and learning, while there are additional helpful bits of information peppered throughout to clarify anything that may be unfamiliar to the student. Armstrong is keen on developing a student's ear for tone and atmosphere, so these extra notes not only reinforce how to play the piece physically, but also how to include emotion and feeling in music, for example how to conjure imagery like that of Blowing Bubbles. The songbook will be perfect for a child who already understands basic musical terms, will be able to play in a few keys other than C Major and is able to play in simple time signatures. As a first step into new compositions, Toy Box will introduce new concepts as well as reinforce what a student is already accustomed to, nevertheless, Armstrong's message is clear - ?Have fun!?. / Piano