new to classical music?

oh yeah Mike it is a wonderful piece, I really enjoy Britten. As school children we had music classes and I remember Peter and the Wolf and later Beethoven's 5th then Scherezade, Pictures at an Exhibition. Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. Tho I didn't do well reading music my teacher said I had good sound memory. Then why have I taken such joy in Hendrix and Dylan's gravelly voice? And once I heard Rite of Spring I could shoot for the stars.

I thank my parents for taking me in the early, mid-70s to Saturday morning performances of the Arthur Davison children's concerts at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon. They still continue under the new moniker the Arthur Davison Family Concerts.

These were quite light, but they introduced a young listener to both the orchestra and composition, explaining the background to the music and how it worked.

From these building blocks, I was able to successfully explore further and can only say "thank you," even if at the time pop music might have sometimes been a little more compelling

thanks for the post Mike, 25 years listening meself, but your post inspired me to buy Peter and the Wolf for my three year old son

...and Huwge, what age do you recommend the Croydon concerts from? My son can sit through a
Pixar movie at the cinema but he talks to me quite a bit as he is doing so, would this spoil it for others?
SJ

quote:

Originally posted by stephenjohn:

...and Huwge, what age do you recommend the Croydon concerts from? My son can sit through a
Pixar movie at the cinema but he talks to me quite a bit as he is doing so, would this spoil it for others?
SJ

SJ - I went between the ages of 10 and 13, but I had heard classical music at home from an earlier age. Also, we had a very good music master at school who had concentrated on orchestral music so things weren't particularly strange.

I think the concerts, if structured as when I was young, last no more than 90 minutes with a lot of talking between the playing. My best guess is to give the ticket office a call, but if you think your son can sit through a movie then he should manage a concert. I am not sure how expensive it is these days, but they are billed as family concerts so you would expect a lot more tolerance than you might get at an "adult" concert.

If you go, enjoy!

Huw

Thanks Huw
I Googled it, the next one's in April. I think we might give it a go.
atb
SJ