The Story of the Orchestra: Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music

　　Orchestra Bob Takes You on a Fun and Exciting Journey Through the World of Classical Music...

　　Along the way you'll:

　　Listen to the greatest works in classical music and hear each instrument of the orchestra and learn fun facts about the music, composers and musicians, including:

　　Bach wasn't famous until 100 years after he died

　　Some people think that years of playing the oboe can make you crazy

　　Beethoven was totally deaf by the time he wrote the famous 9th Symphony

　　The contrabassoon would be 16 feet tall if unwound

　　Copland composed at night and on weekends and had a day job as an insurance agent

　　Play track 1 to hear Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. This is the moment in grand German opera that everyone finds easy to make fun of: In the mythological world of Wagner's opera Die Walkure, nine sisters (yes, the ones wearing horned helmets) on horseback fallen heroes. The looks may be silly, but the music is powerful, thrilling and vivid- the galloping of the horses is almost visual in the music.

作者簡介

Robert Levine

　　Author Robert Levine is an internationally known music and travel writer whose work has appeared in dozens of publications. He was the co-editor of Records' Classical Pulse! Magazine, helped launch and was the Senior Editor-in-chief of Andante.com, a worldwide web site devoted to every aspect of classical music and musicians. He attends his operas and symphonies in New York.

繪者簡介

Meredith Hamilton

　　Illustrator Meredith Hamilton has drawn and painted for numerous companies including Visa International, W. W. Norton and Doubleday. She was an art director at Newsweek, and has an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her whimsical illustrations have been used in television ads, animations and books. She lives with her two children and husband in Brooklyn, New York.