Classical Music for Boys

How do you teach classical music to boys?

I was fortunate enough to spend New Year’s Eve at a concert – complete with cascading balloons in the grand finale.  Listening that night, I thought about all the things awaiting discovery by my children, details of the story of the world and the place of music in it.  So many of the things which interest boys converge in music history, and I’m looking forward to letting my boys (and girl) in on the secret!  In looking at opportunities and curricula in our homeschooling regimen, we want to be intentional about pointing out the critical role music and the arts have played in the development of Western culture.

Specifically that New Year’s Eve – due in part to the music I heard – I was pondering the interests of Son #1.  At this point, classical pieces appeal to him for their musical elements: catchy rhythms, zippy tempos, plenty of percussion for surprise and excitement.  Thankfully, though, there are dynamic stories lying behind those pieces, stories which could easily hold a boy’s attention should the need arise.  Some of those stories are told in the Discovering Music curriculum.  Keep in mind that Classical music has a very strong masculine aspect that naturally appeals to boys.

So many pieces of classical music are connected to some of his favorite things, such as military conquest, political upheaval, or international intrigue.  There is, for example, the well-known 1812 Overture by Peter Iliych Tchaikovsky, written in 1882 to commemorate the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow in 1812.  The cannons called for near the end are arguably the most famous percussion element in all of music history.  A boy’s delight!

Also connected to Napoleon is Ludwig van Beethoven’s third symphony, dedicated initially to Napoleon – until he crowned himself emperor, at which point (according to the story) a disappointed and disillusioned Beethoven rededicated the piece to the “memory of a great man.”  An Italian known for writing colorful music named Ottorino Respighi reached back into his national history and wrote a piece connected to Ancient Roman military history.  The Pines of Rome (1924) is a four-movement symphonic poem – and a magnificent orchestral showpiece – that paints a musical picture of four sites near Rome.  The last movement depicts a view of a Roman legion marching home (presumably victorious!) over the Via Appia.  The piece grows louder and more intense as the legion comes closer and closer, until finally the soliders seem to be passing right before the listener.  “Magnificent” might actually be an understatement.

In the music of nearly every period, students of history can find music with vital connections to events of the day (as in the case of Beethoven and Napoleon) or to the events of the past (as with Tchaikovsky and Respighi).  The music has plenty of substance to stand on its own, but sometimes the story behind the music, the music history, just widens the lens for anyone in your house, boy or girl, who likes to study the rise, fall or overthrow of power.