Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen, Bach - Concertos for Oboe and Oboe D'Amore, Aileen Fisher - A Summer Chase and Fireflies

Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen painted this lovely painting.  I like to imagine that she is carrying her nature journal....I like how the background scenery fades in the distance .

Johann Sebastian Bach Concertos for Oboe and Oboe D'Amore (You can skip the ad) This recording is over an hour long so it might make good background music while you draw or do crafts.
You can view Wikipedia's entry on Oboes here
Here are two pictures of oboes:


It's hard to know where to begin with poems by Aileen Lucia Fisher, there are so many wonderful poems by her.  Here are two from her book In Summer, which, by the way, has lovely artwork of children at play. 

      A Summer Chase
I wish I could keep my
  GRASSHOPPER GREEN.
But whenever I catch him,
he squeezes between my fingers
and flutters as if to say,
"You'll never hold me
on a summer day."
Oops!  He's gone again!

         Fireflies
The fireflies click on their
  tiny lights
  to brighten up the 
  summer nights.
But, how do they click
  them on...
  and then,
  how do they click them
  off again?

Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen - The Honey Eater

Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen - The Honey Eater

Johann Sebastian Bach - The Well Tempered Clavier
These are a collection of solo keyboard compositions written in all the different keys for student practice.
This recording is almost two hours long so you may want to use it as background music while you do other things.  Here is a wikipedia article about these pieces.

A new poet today - Aileen Lucia Fisher is a fairly recent poet, she just died in 2002.  Much of her poetry is inspired by nature and much of it is simple and short.  There are many collections of poetry available by Aileen.  I ordered in quite a few from our library; I imagine yours would have some too or you can order them on Amazon.  You can read a short biographical sketch of her life here.
She said, “Poetry is a rhythmical piece of writing that leaves the reader feeling that life is a little richer than before, a little more full of wonder, beauty, or just plain delight.” 
You might also be familiar with her book, All on a Mountain Day which I highly recommend.  We also have enjoyed her books, Summer of Little Rain and We Dickinson, the Life of Emily Dickinson as Seen Through the Eyes of Her Brother Austin.

A first poem as an introduction, comes from her book, I Heard A Bluebird Sing:

                Twice Born
:  
 For moths and butterflies, it's nice:
they get born once, they get born twice.

They get born first from tiny eggs
as caterpillars having legs.

They get born next from silk cocoons,
with wings, on summer afternoons.

If I should get a second try,
I'd like to grow some wings, and fly.

Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen - , Johann Sebastian Bach - Minuet in G Major, Rose Fyleman - The Child Next Door and The Fairies Have Never a Penny to Spend

A sweet mother/child picture today by Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen


Johann Sebastian Bach - Minuet in G Major
If you are reading Sebastian Bach the Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler, this piece of music is the minuet printed in chapter II.  It's a lovely catchy tune that you may find yourself humming throughout the day if you listen to it a couple times.

Our last two poems by Rose Fyleman today are both about fairies.

        The Child Next Door

The child next door has a wreath on her hat;
Her afternoon frock sticks out like that,
  All soft and frilly;
She doesn't believe in fairies at all
(She told me over the garden wall)--
  She thinks they're silly.

The child next door has a watch of her own;
She has shiny hair and her name is Joan;
   (Mine is only Mary).
But doesn't it seem very sad to you
To think that she never her whole life through
  Has seen a fairy?


  The Fairies Have Never a Penny to Spend

The fairies have never a penny to spend,
  They haven't a thing put by;
But theirs is the dower of bird and of flower,
  And theirs are the earth and the sky.

And though you should live in a palace of gold
  Or sleep in a dried-up ditch,
You could never be poor as the fairies are,
  And never as rich.

Since ever and ever the world began
  They have danced like a ribbon of flame,
They have sung their song through the centuries long,
  And yet it is never the same.

And though you be foolish or though you be wise,
  With hair of silver or gold,
You could never be young as the fairies are,
  And never as old.

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.