Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!

This is a great introduction to different orchestral composers and their work. We use it in our homeschool as an easy 20 minute lesson once a week. Each week, my daughter (age 10) and I read about a different composer and then listen to excerpts of their work on the CD and watch their pieces be played by an orchestra on Youtube. I have two younger daughters, ages 5 and 2, that also like to listen in when we play the CD and watch Youtube videos even though they have a hard time sitting still during our reading aloud about the composer. (Note: the Youtube videos are not part of this book, just added that as a note in case you want an easy way to further enrich the experience and see the instruments being played.)This week, we learned about Igor Stravinsky and his "Rite of Spring." My daughter liked the dissonance found in the piece and we were intrigued to learn how many people in the audience hated it when it first premiered in Paris and how the theatre was in an uproar. My daughter likes to compose her own music on the keyboard and this week, I've noticed that she is experimenting with throwing some dissonance into her playing because of this lesson. :)

This book provides a wonderful introduction to classical music and the orchestra, at a level suitable for the entire family.Part I highlights 15 major composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. Part II, which is the main part of the book, covers nearly all of the instruments in the orchestra from the string, woodwind, brass, percussion, and keyboard sections.All of this is described with engaging narrative and effective graphics. And most importantly, the text is accompanied by an audio CD, so that you can actually hear what's being described. Considering all of this, this book is an utter bargain at this price.So why 4 stars? Because, to the shock of my entire family, we found that there are no audio selections for a significant handful of composers and instruments. Encountering these omissions created a jarring feeling of discontinuity, like becoming absorbed in a great novel only to encounter missing chapters. I have no idea why these omissions were allowed.The omissions aren't quite a fatal flaw, so I can still certainly recommend this book, but be prepared to fill in the gaps using other sources if you want to avoid a feeling of incompleteness.

We bought this book (with accompanying CD) as a self-contained music course for our homeschooled son (10). Although he had no prior interest in orchestra music, he is reading along together with Mom in the book and listening to an excerpt of orchestra music once a week. The first part of the book has interesting tidbits on musical eras of orchestra music, with biographical overviews of some of the major conductors of each era. The second part of the book contains drawings and descriptions of various orchestra instruments. After a composer or instrument is discussed, the book then refers you to listen to a track on the CD that illustrates the composer's work or the instrument's sound. It's surprisingly difficult to find a good self-contained program for teaching music to children. This book and CD worked well for us.

I play violin & viola and purchased this book for a lesson plan for one of my education courses. The only "issue" you could say, that I have with this book is the example that is given for the viola track. 45 seconds of a concerto that makes it sound like a violin (the Bartok finale!). They could have chosen a better clip to use (like say the Telemann). haha! Maybe I'm a bit bias.The book is great with all things aside, and very informative for those that know nothing of the orchestra. It's too bad they don't list the performers on the CD! Don't let my bias deter you from purchasing this book! It's great for kids!

Although designed as a learning tool for children, I believe this would be a great gift for a senior adult. The music is streamed together extremely well moving from the joyful to calming sounds and each song is presented in a way the listener will stay with the entire presentation. I played it using a blu-Ray player just to test quality n listen to the entire disc.

the material presented in the book is not visually presented in a cohesive manner. There are blurbs of information scattered about on a page or two, for example. Also, I was surprised at how many typos there were. "BASE" for the bass? Come on. Some descriptions were worded strangely, as if it was a poor English translation of a term paper. There were some instruments that were not accommodated by the CD which is ridiculous considering most of the music is in the public domain. This set had good intentions and has certainly served its purpose for my kids but I'm not impressed enough to re-purchase and gift.

This book is responsible for catapulting my then-5-year old's moderate interest in classical music into a wild passion. At 7, she is now fervently pursuing biographies of composers, instrumentation, opera, singing, music lessons, her own music composition - and writes stories named after composers and drawing on their lives. She listens to the cd - now one among over a dozen classical collections - regularly. The music selection is well-rounded, and the book is accessible, well-written, informative and wonderfully illustrated. If your child gets even a tiny *fraction* of what mine did out of this book, it's well-worth it!

Used this book in a home school study. LOVED IT! It was really fun. We enjoyed the pieces of music from the artists. Now that we are done we just like to listen to the CD in the car. Also we went to see an orchestra when we were done. I would recommend it to everyone. Whether you home school or not. All kids should be introduced to orchestra. I can't even count the times that my girls have noticed the orchestra music in movies, cartoons, hearing it playing in stores.... Well worth it!

This book was recommended by a friend and my 8 year old loves it. It is uncomplicated and fun in style and has him naturally understanding Baroque vs Classical and speaking about Vivaldi, Bach or Brahms and recognising their work. The accompanying CD is pivotal in the charm of this book for children.

My boy loves this book, we bought two copies in the end from amazon warehouse, slight marks on book but who cares.Goes through the instruments well and something for them to listen to on long journeys

This was a gift so as yet not sure how it was received. But from the point if vine as the giver of the gift it looked very good and what was needed.

Excellent, granddaughter loved it

Loved at home and at nursery