Violin For Children

THE ULTIMATE BEGINNER SERIES FOR VIOLIN is a complete introduction to playing the violin, covering basic topics from instrument care to playing techniques. Among the other subjects covered here are: the history of the instrument, the proper way to hold the instrument, simple finger patterns, bowing and plucking methods, and various techniques that allow the player to develop their own distinctive tone. Ideal for both beginners as well as for novices looking to return to the instrument, THE ULTIMATE BEGINNER SERIES offers a comprehensive introduction to the violin.

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is Denmark's most famous composer. He studied with Niels Wilhelm Gade at Copenhagen Conservatory and went on study trips to Germany, Austria, Italy and France. Nielsen was court music director in Copenhagen and taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory. His works display strong counterpoint and polytonality as well as traditional melody shapes.

This seven-disc box set from Alpha presents Robert Schumann’s complete chamber music with piano, played by a highly respected interpreter of Schumann's works, Eric Le Sage. The pianist is joined by outstanding musicians Paul Meyer, Francois Salque, Franck Braley, Antoine Tamesit, and others, who enable the listener to fully appreciate these masterful works written by genius of German Romanticism.

The Benda family has occupied an important and continuing place in music in Germany for some 250 years. The founder of the musical dynasty, Jan Jiří Benda, was born in 1686 in a village in Bohemia and combined the trades of weaver and musician. He married Dorota Brixi, a member of the Skalsko branch of a distinguished family of Czech musicians, and five of their six children became musicians, working in Germany. There the eldest son of the family, František, composer of some eighty violin sonatas and fifteen concertos, entered the service of the Prussian Crown Prince, continuing as Konzertmeister after the latter's accession to the throne as Frederick the Great.

The music of Mieczys?aw Weinberg continues to be issued, and continues to impress. Like his British counterpart, York Bowen, Weinberg was a composer trapped in time and place, and it is good that their very different musics are now coming to the fore with such regularity. One of the wonderful things about this disc, aside from the committed, intense playing of the instrumentalists, is the sound: crisp and clear, with only a very little reverb, which brings the sound of the instruments into sharp focus and makes the listener pay attention to the music.

This debut album represents the rich history of the Sphinx Organization and the vibrant future of classical music by centering the artistry of extraordinary composers and artistic visionaries of color.