Something for the Kids

Classical music is for people of all ages, but many pieces have been composed for children, some of which are intended to be performed by young musicians.

Schumann’s Album für die Jugend (Album for the Young) is a collection of pieces for children to play. He persuaded a famous illustrator of children's books, Ludwig Richter, to draw the title page in exchange for twenty-four hours of composition instruction for Richter's son. The album consists of two parts. Numbers 1-18 are easier works, while numbers 19-43 are more challenging and “Für Erwachsenere” (“For Adults”). Here are a couple of selections played by young pianists:

Aram Khachaturian is probably best known for the Sabre Dance from his ballet Gayane. He published his Children’s Album in two volumes, Pictures of Childhood (1947) and Sounds of Childhood (1965). Here are selections as performed at a recital in honor of the composer’s 120^th birthday:

And a young pianist playing the piece that opens Book 2, Skipping Rope:

Chinese composer Ding Shande attended the Paris Conservatory in the 1940s, where his teachers included Nadia Boulanger (whose other students included Aaron Copland in the 1920s).

Returning to China he joined the faculty of the Shanghai Conservatory. His charming Children’s Suite includes pieces representing childhood activities like butterfly chasing, hide and seek, and jumping rope. (Where have we seen that last one before?)

Louise Talma, born in France in 1906, was raised and educated in New York City. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from NYU and a masters from Columbia University, her training included many years in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Among the many tributes to Talma was her election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974, the first woman to receive this honor. Talma’s Soundshots is a set of twenty “scenes from childhood.” Here are three selections:

Although he had none of his own, Ravel loved children. He particularly enjoyed the company of Mimie and Jean Godebski, the daughter and son of his friends Cipa and Ida Godebski, a young Polish couple whose Paris apartment was a gathering place for some of the greatest artists of the day, including André Gide, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, and, from time to time, Igor Stravinsky. Ravel often made up stories to tell the Godebski children, and, when they were apart, he sent them postcards. But his greatest gift to them was a suite of inspired by the Mother Goose stories. His intention was to evoke “the poetry of childhood.” The music was originally written for piano duet and intended to be played by children. Ravel dedicated the score to Mimie and Jean in the hope that they would give the first performance, but although they were unusually accomplished pianists for children, they happily accepted the gift but declined the premiere. Two more precocious children, then only six and seven years old, premiered the suite in April 1910.

Gabriel Fauré expressed his affection for Madame Emma Bardac by composing a piece for her daughter Dolly. At first glance, the Dolly Suite seems to concern cats. (Two of its movements are “Mi-a-ou” and “Kitty Waltz.”) But as it turns out “Mi-a-ou” was Dolly’s nickname for her brother Raoul. And “Kitty” was named after a family dog, who was actually called “Ketty.” Like Ravel’s Mother Goose, the Dolly Suite was originally for piano duet. Here’s the orchestral version by Henri Rabaud.

If Fauré had composed a piece for Emma Bardac rather than her daughter, perhaps things might have turned out differently. Bardac became Claude Debussy’s second wife and Debussy wrote his Children’s Corner Suite for their daughter Claude-Emma (affectionately called Chouchou). The composer and his daughter were both French, but because her governess was English Debussy gave the movements English titles. And he included this dedication: “To my dear little Chouchou, with tender apologies from her father for what follows.” Here’s a performance by Debussy himself, captured on a piano roll in 1913.