Johann Sebastian Bach was married two times, and had a grand total of 20 children! All of Bach's ancestors were musicians, and his sons were expected to follow in his musical footsteps. Some of them became famous composers, too.

Classics For Kids

Johann Sebastian Bach 2: The Sons of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a musical dynasty. The Bach family had over 300 years' worth of professional composers and musicians, but Johann Sebastian was the most famous of all of them. In addition to being one of the greatest composers the world has ever known, Bach was also an excellent organist and violinist.

Johann Sebastian Bach 1: About Johann Sebastian Bach

A Finale is the end of a piece of music. Here's a look at some famous finales.

Gioachino Rossini 5: Famous Finales

Depicting a thunderstorm in music was one of Rossini's specialties. Here are some more examples of musical thunderstorms.

Gioachino Rossini 4: Weather in Music

Usually, an overture is a piece of music played at the beginning of a play, opera or ballet in order to set the mood. But there are also other kinds of overtures.

Gioachino Rossini 3: Overtures

The William Tell Overture was written to open an opera by Gioachino Rossini. The opera is based on a legend about the Swiss hero William Tell. According to the legend, William Tell was an expert with a bow and arrow who shot an apple off his son's head. You can hear the political turmoil in William Tell's Switzerland in Rossini's music.

Gioachino Rossini 2: The Story of William Tell

Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born in 1792 and died in 1868, so you might think that he celebrated 76 birthdays. But Rossini was born in a leap year, on February 29th, so he only had 18 official birthdays! Rossini was the most successful opera composer of his day.

Gioachino Rossini 1: About Gioachino Rossini

Lt. Kije is the story of an imaginary soldier, created when the Russian Tsar misread a smudged name on a list of his men.

Sergei Prokofiev 4: The Story of Lt. Kije

In music, a suite is a specific collection of pieces. Here are some examples of various kinds of musical suites.

Sergei Prokofiev 3: How Suite It Is

Prokofiev was not the only classical composer to paint a musical portrait of a sleigh ride on a snowy day. Listen as we take you through several other examples of this frosty form of transportation.

Sergei Prokofiev 2: Musical Sleigh Rides

Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev lived and traveled around the world, but found that he was most at home in Russia. This look at his life takes you on his travels and highlights some of his music, including Peter and the Wolf, which he wrote for the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow.

Sergei Prokofiev 1: About Sergei Prokofiev

In celebration of the Christmas season, some classical compositions that have Christmas carols in them.

Ralph Vaughan Williams 4: Christmas Carols in Classical Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams arrived on the scene just as a definite English classical music sound was being established. His three main teachers at the Royal Academy of Music were Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Charles Stanford. Edward Elgar and Gustav Holst also had an influence on Vaughan Williams.

Ralph Vaughan Williams 3: Turn of the 20th Century English Composers

Originally, a musical fantasy was a piece that instrumentalists made up as they went along. Eventually, fantasies evolved into pieces that composers built out of various melodies they liked -- like the Scottish folk tunes that Max Bruch put into his Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra.

Ralph Vaughan Williams 2: Musical Fantasies

<strong>Ralph Vaughan Williams</strong> was one of the most important 20th century English composers. He spent years traveling the country collecting English folk songs, writing them down, and publishing them. Many of those melodies wound up in his music.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important 20th century English composers. He spent years traveling the country collecting English folk songs, writing them down, and publishing them. Many of those melodies wound up in his music.

Ralph Vaughan Williams 1: About Ralph Vaughan Williams

Introduce children to classical music in a fun and entertaining way.

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Classics For Kids

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