Classics For Kids

After Christopher Columbus made his first trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and other European countries began to colonize the Americas. Spanish music had a big influence on Latin American […]

‘En el siglo XVI, los "conquistadores" – soldados de España – navegaron hasta México, y se apoderaron del país de los indígenas que vivían allí. Los españoles llevaron su idioma, […]

In the 16th century, “conquistadores” – soldiers from Spain – sailed to Mexico, and took over the country from the Indigenous people who lived there. The Spanish brought their language, […]

‘Cuando los compositores usan las canciones, danzas y ritmos folclóricos de su país para pintar cuadros musicales de lugares y leyendas locales, se llama nacionalismo musical. Escucha cómo compositores como […]

When composers use their country’s folk songs, dances, and rhythms to paint musical pictures of local places and legends, it’s called musical nationalism. Hear how composers like Isaac Albeniz, Enrique […]

¡Bienvenidos! Escucha y explora la música de algunos de los compositores e intérpretes más influyentes de España, desde el rey Alfonso X (también conocido como “Alfonso El Sabio”) hasta Francisco […]

¡Bienvenidos! Listen and explore the music of some of Spain’s most influential composers and players, from King Alfonso X (a.k.a. “Alfonso El Sabio”/Alfonso the Wise) to Francisco Tárrega, known as […]

Zoltan Kodály developed a method for teaching music. It is still used by teachers around the world today. Jill Trinka, who teaches the Kodály Method, talks with Naomi Lewin.

Zoltán Kodály was not the only composer to use folk tunes in the music he wrote. Here are some others.

Kodály’s opera Háry János is about a real person who told real whoppers – big, fat lies. If you listened to him, you'd think he defeated Napoleon's army all by […]

Zoltán Kodály was born in a small town in Hungary. His father worked for the Hungarian railroad, so the family moved around a lot. This meant that as a kid, […]

“Rhapsody” is an ancient word that means “songs stitched together”. The Greeks used to write long poems in praise of their heroes, and then take bits and pieces of those […]

In his day Franz Liszt was most famous as a pianist. So, were Mozart, Beethoven and a lot of other composers.

Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies were greatly influenced by gypsy, or Romani music. Brahms, Telemann and Verdi are among the many composers were attracted to this distinctive music.

Inspired by violinist Niccolo Paganini, Franz Liszt became a piano superstar. Many classical music superstars followed, including Jan Paderewski, Jenny Lind, Van Cliburn, Enrico Caruso, Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang.

Franz Liszt was a pianist, composer, conductor and teacher who came up with musical innovations in all those fields. He was the first of the virtuoso performers and invented the […]

From the late 1800’s to the early 1900's, professional bands toured all over the United States, and many towns in this country had their own amateur bands.

The United States Marine Band is this country’s oldest military band. Each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces has its own band, and song. Captain Don Schofield, associate conductor of […]

John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official march of the United States of America. Sousa composed his most famous march in his head when he was […]

John Philip Sousa — the most American of composers — was the son of immigrants to the United States. Because of his love for bands and band music, John Philip […]

Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, was a talented pianist and composer. So was Clara Schumann, wife of composer Robert Schumann. Also featured: music of Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, […]

A child prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn began composing when he was 10. This week on Classics for Kids hear about other composers who started just as early — or even earlier.

Probably no playwright has had more music based on his work than William Shakespeare. Felix Mendelssohn, Henry Purcell, Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi are just a few of the composers who’ve […]

When Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn put on Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream to entertain their family, the two of them played all the characters! Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer […]

By the time he was a teenager, Felix Mendelssohn was already an excellent pianist and composer. And Mendelssohn was very talented in other areas. In addition to German (his native […]