johann Georg Meyer von Bremen, Johann Sebastian Bach - Rose Fyleman - The Spring

Today's painting by Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen is of a mother praying with her child.



Here is a link to the "Best of Bach" you can skip the ad after a couple of seconds.
 Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita for Solo Violin No. 2 is my choice for this week's piece by Bach. 
We've started Sebastian Bach The Boy from Thuringia, by Opal Wheeler.  It only has five chapters and is interesting and easy to read.  It has black and white illustrations on almost every page.  

I really like today's poem by Rose Fyleman.  It would be fun and easy to memorize

                  The Spring

A little mountain spring I found
That fell into a pool;
I made my hands into a cup
And caught the sprakling water up--
It tasted fresh and cool.

A Solemn little frog I spied
Upon the rocky brim;
He looked so boldly in my face,
I'm certain that he thought the place
Belonged by rights to him.

This poem made me think of the frog in the cistern in Journey From Peppermint Street by Meidert DeJong.  This is one of our favorites by him, but any of his books are wonderful read-alouds.

Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen, Bach - Goldberg Variations. Rose Fyleman - Birthday Child

There are so many wonderful paintings by Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen that it is hard to choose.  Here is another one I liked. 


Today's piece of music by Johann Sebastian Bach is Goldberg Variations Bach Goldberg Variations
Read here Wikipedia's entry for them.  A quote follows:  The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form. The Variations are named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.

Poems by Rose Fyleman are hard to find on the internet but my copy of Favorite Poems Old and New lists a half dozen of them.  I highly recommend this book of poetry.  We've had two birthdays in the past week and another is coming up in July so this poem seems timely.

     The Birthday Child

Everything's been different
  All the day long,
Lovely things have happened,
  Nothing has gone wrong.

Nobody has scolded me,
  Everyone has smiled.
Isn't it delicious 
  To be a birthday child?

Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen, Bach - Concertos, Rose Fyleman - Fairies

The young girl  in this painting by Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen has such a sweet expression as she looks at the butterfly on her sleeve.
 

 Here is a link to Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Concertos, played by Anne-Sophie Mutter.  This lovely music would make good background music while you work on other things.

Bach was a master at counterpoint - a complex interaction of melodies.  The following brief definition is from a longer article on counterpoint that you might want to read here   "In its most general aspect, counterpoint involves the writing of musical lines that sound very different and move independently from each other but sound harmonious when played simultaneously."  It's a bit like a very complex round.  

A lovely imaginative poem today about fairies by Rose Fyleman

                     Fairies

THERE are fairies at the bottom of our garden!

It's not so very, very far away;

You pass the gardner's shed and you just keep straight ahead --

I do so hope they've really come to stay.

There's a little wood, with moss in it and beetles,

And a little stream that quietly runs through;

You wouldn't think they'd dare to come merrymaking there--

      Well, they do.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!

They often have a dance on summer nights;

The butterflies and bees make a lovely little breeze,

And the rabbits stand about and hold the lights.

Did you know that they could sit upon the moonbeams

And pick a little star to make a fan,

And dance away up there in the middle of the air?

      Well, they can.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!

You cannot think how beautiful they are;

They all stand up and sing when the Fairy Queen and King

Come gently floating down upon their car.

The King is very proud and very handsome;

The Queen--now you can quess who that could be

(She's a little girl all day, but at night she steals away)?

      Well -- it's Me!

Johann George Meyer von Bremen - Tending the Little Ones, Johann Sebastian Bach - Brandenburg Concertos, Rose Fylemanb - Mice

We're ready to start a new season with a new artist -  he's somewhat new to me, but it looks like he has some wonderful pictures for us to explore together.
Introducing Johann George Meyer von Bremen.

Tending the Little Ones

The following link to a blog post had a nice article about Meyer Von Bremen here
Or you could read a Wikipedia article about him here

It's been almost two years since I featured Johann Sebastian Bach so I'd like to feature him again.  I'd like to start with The Brandenburg Concertos.  An article introducing them is here.
And a link to listen to them on youtube is here
here is a link to the J.S.Bach Home page - there are articles about him, pictures, maps and links to his music.

When I type in Bach for our small local library it comes up with 152 entries so it should be easy to find something to read aloud and discs with his music to share with your family.  I'd like to recommend a few in particular - 

"The Story of Bach in Words and Music" by Vox is a great way to introduce this great composer as it tells the story of his life interspersed with pieces of his music.

Classical Kids - Mr. Bach Comes to Call

Sebastian Bach - The Boy from Thuringia, by Opal Wheeler.  I haven't read this yet but we've enjoyed her other junior biographies about composers and I plan to order this one in to enjoy together.

If you find a biography worth recommending - please share it with the rest of us in the comments section at the bottom of this blog. 

 I'd like to feature poetry by Rose Fyleman and Aileen Fisher this season.  You can read a biographical sketch about Rose Fyleman here. Even though I really DON'T LIKE MICE, my nine year old daughter does and I like this poem about them by 
Rose Fyleman:

     Mice

I think mice
Are rather nice.

    Their tails are long,
    Their faces small,
    They haven't any
    Chins at all.
    Their ears are pink,
    Their teeth are white,
    They run about
    The house at night,
    They nibble things
    They shouldn't touch
    And no one seems 
    To like them much.

But I think mice
Are nice.

I couldn't find a biography of Rose Fyleman's life and it's a bit hard to find books of her poetry, but individual poems are found in many anthologies and can be found online.  Her poems aren't so much deep and thoughtful as they are simple and fun for young children.