Conversational Solfege is a curriculum for developing music literacy skills. It is organized around increasingly complex rhythmic and melodic content. Each new rhythmic or melodic element is discovered first in patterns and then reinforced with folk songs, rhymes, and classical examples. This CD provides 29 classical selections referenced in Conversational Solfege Level 3.

These examples provide reinforcement for emerging literacy skills, and they also enable students to listen to wonderful classical examples with greater attention.

Listening to classical music can be challenging for elementary students. With nothing to hang onto, the many notes can be too much to comprehend and attention soon wanes. But with minimal literacy skills, students will have enough musical information to discover that classical music can be accessible and appealing.

In the booklet, timings are given for each selection. The portions of the music that are readable by the students are reproduced.

Whether using this CD with Conversational Solfege instructional materials or simply as a resource of classical music with simple-to-read rhythmic and melodic material, both teachers and students will delight in discovering this wonderful music through literacy.
 

CONTENTS

Conversational Solfege Unit 14: 1. March of the Toreadors • Georges Bizet; 2. Slavonic Dance • Antonín Dvorák; 3. Russian Dance • Igor Stravinsky; 4. Dance of the Reed Pipes • Peter Tchaikovsky

Conversational Solfege Unit 15: 5. Morning • Edvard Grieg; 6. Minuet • George Frideric Handel; 7. Waltz • Johann Strauss II; 8. Minuet in G • J. S. Bach

Conversational Solfege Unit 18: 9. Westminster Chimes; 10. Ode to Joy • Ludwig van Beethoven

Conversational Solfege Unit 20: 11. The Moldau • Bedrich Smetana; 12. The Wild Horseman • Robert Schumann; 13. Anitra’s Dance • Edvard Grieg

Conversational Solfege Unit 22: 14. Violin Concerto in D • Ludwig van Beethoven; 15. Symphony No. 6 • Ludwig van Beethoven; 16. Roses from the South • Johann Strauss II; 17. Symphony No. 1 • Johannes Brahms; 18. Polovtsian Dance • Alexander Borodin; 19. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; 20. Etude for Piano • Frédéric Chopin

Conversational Solfege Unit 23: 21. Natoma’s Dagger Dance • Victor Herbert

Conversational Solfege Unit 24: 22. Ground in D Major • Henry Purcell

Conversational Solfege Unit 25: 23. Violin Concerto in D • Ludwig van Beethoven; 24. Sumer Is Icumen In; 25. Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” • Antonin Dvorak

Conversational Solfege Unit 26: 26. Pachelbel Canon • Johann Pachelbel; 27. Kaiser Waltz • Johann Strauss II; 28. Marmotte • Ludwig van Beethoven; 29. Autumn — Four Seasons • Antonio Vivaldi

John M. Feierabend, PhD, has spent decades compiling songs and rhymes from the memories of the American people, in hopes that those treasures would be preserved for future generations. Those resources have served as the basis of his two music education curricula: First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. John Feierabend is Professor Emeritus and former Director of Music Education at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford.