Kirjahaku

Here is the story of Ludwig van Beethoven, greatest master of all, told with feeling and delicate skill for boys and girls. "Perhaps he, too, will become a musician, like all the Beethovens " said Father Johann...From then on, the four-year-old Ludwig was kept at the piano hour after hour until the long exercises were mastered. The chiming bells in the chapel tower comforted him and wonderful melodies crept into his mind as the twilight crept over the city... "So...then you are a composer, as well as an organist," said Herr Zenser, the chapel organist. "But Ludwig - this is very difficult music - much too difficult for your small hands to play " "Oh, that does not matter, Herr Zenser," answered the young Ludwig, "I will play it when I am bigger." "Surely he will be another Mozart some day," some said...Later he was to study with Mozart - go to Vienna - lead one of the finest orchestras in all the city - create great symphonies - until the name of Beethoven was spoken everywhere and eager visitors made their way to his door... This is his story...an inspiring story of his achievements against all odds...of his growing deafness..."Long live Beethoven " shouted the audience ..."But the master could not hear them, and as a singer turned him gently to face the audience, the noble head bowed low as he saw from the flutter of handkerchiefs, the applause that rained upon him."... Thus Opal Wheeler captures the superb quality of musical greatness of Beethoven and communicates it to boys and girls...a deeply stirring tribute to the greatest composer of all.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

With clarity and with admirable simplicity, keyed to the understanding of children, Opal Wheeler has traced the many-sided career of George Frederic Handel, whose restless nature vied always with his tremendous ability as a composer and director. Handel's strange boyhood, clouded by the fact that his father did not want him to become a musician, and the later years when, thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, his music was played before the greatest music lovers of Europe - all of this makes absorbing reading. The selections of Handel's music included here are those best understood and most apt to be mastered by young musicians. One evening, back in 1691, conservative Doctor Handel was shocked and dismayed to find his small son carrying the torch at the head of a band of singers wandering through the little town of Halle. The good doctor never quite unde rstood the all-consuming love of music which drove his son from childhood on and on to the great heights he eventually attained as the beloved Father of the Oratorio, the composer of the magnificent MESSIAH. Opal Wheeler has given us here the most finished, most completely satisfying book on her list of fine music biographies. Handel at the Court of Kings should be a favorite of all children who love music, whether they are young musicians themselves or not.

Robert Schumann lived happily and pleasantly from the time he was a little boy, playing with his beloved cat, Ziff, in his home village in Saxony, until he became the famous composer, friend of Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Liszt. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he had few major problems to overcome. His work, his family life, all brought him the reward of renown and joy. Even the stiff finger which virtually ended his career as a musician was the means of emphasizing his genius as a composer. Opal Wheeler has written a most engaging story for children of this great man s life, and the carefully chosen selections from his compositions which have been added make this a distinguished acquisition to any young reader s library."

Frederic Chopin, celebrated pianist and probably the greatest composer for the piano the world has ever known, was born in a little cottage in Poland on the estate of Count Skarbek, whose children were tutored by his father, Nicolas Chopin. The child loved music from babyhood and when the family moved to Warsaw a few years after his birth, he was placed under the tutelage of the best masters of music in Poland. His astounding performance in playing the solo part of a difficult concerto with the full Warsaw orchestra when only nine years of age marked little Frederic as the genius he was. Through the early years to that momentous day in Vienna when his playing at the theater of Count Gallenberg actually launched his career as a major figure in the world of music, Frederic Chopin's childhood and boyhood are dramatically presented. Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Later Years completes the great man's life story.