Composer and Musician: Johannes Brahms, by Julie Sormark (Julie Sormark, 2023, 56pp, $9.99)
One of the famous three B's of music, along with Beethoven and Bach, Johannes Brahms' life spanned the 1800s. He was a perfectionist and loved children (always carried candy in his pockets to hand out) but like Franz Peter Schubert, Brahms never married. Nevertheless his most famous piece of music may be Brahms' Lullaby. He also composed A German Requiem which took several years, to honor his mother.
Once again, author Julie Sormark* tells a musician's story in poetry which is so difficult to accomplish well. In addition, the last few pages contain several different kinds** of quizzes, some of which are hard but doable. And kids will love learning about the kettle drum and how it nearly ruined one of Brahms' performances! Adults will be interested in the fact that he and the Schumanns (Robert and Clara) were so close that, after Robert's death, Brahms and Clara became so close that. . . . but they didn't.
*See the previous review here of Franz Peter Schubert
**Scrambled words, fill-in-the-blanks from a list of words given, multiple choice, plus a page of new vocabulary words, including fantasia
No comments:
Post a Comment