Episode 1: Characters

Music and stories can both have characters. Learn how composers musically represent characters in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute.

Episode 2: Setting

Where does a story take place? Composers can give us clues about the setting of a story with their music. Hear how Johann Strauss Jr.’s Overture to The Bat tells listeners that the story takes place in Vienna.

Episode 3: Conflict & Resolution

Composers use melody and harmony to represent the conflicts and resolutions found in our favorite stories. Hear how Antonín Dvořák tells an autobiographical story of conquering his homesickness and finding happiness in his “Largo” from Symphony No. 9.

Episode 4: A Musical Story

Characters, setting, conflict and resolution work together to tell stories. Composers represent them musically to tell stories we can hear. Listen to how they tell the story of Dan the dog in Edward Elgar’s “G.R.S.” from Enigma Variations.

Episode 5: The Remarkable Farkle McBride

Music and words can team up to tell a story. Hear the words to John Lithgow’s The Remarkable Farkle McBride while the CSO plays music by Bill Elliott representing a young child’s journey to find an instrument that satisfies his love of music.

THE REMARKABLE FARKLE MCBRIDE Illustrations copyright © 2000 by C. F. Payne
Used by permission of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Episode 1: Musical Dots

What does a dot of paint look like? What does a dot of music sound like? See big and small dots of paint in Henri Matisse’s “Still Life with Purro (II)” and hear big and small dots of sound come together to create Georges Bizet’s “Toréadors” from Carmen.

Episode 2: Musical Lines

How many different kinds of lines can you draw? What sounds would those lines make? Composers can use lines of music just like artists can draw lines in their art. Hear how the lines of music in Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Scene by the Brook” from his sixth symphony are like the lines that make up Wassily Kandinsky’s painting “Yellow-Red-Blue.”

Episode 3: Melody & Accompaniment

Artists create depth in their artwork by layering dots and lines to create a background and foreground. Composers create musical depth by layering melody and accompaniment. See how Vincent van Gogh created depth in his “Undergrowth with Two Figures” and hear how Bedřich Smetana created depth in “The Moldau” from Ma Vlást.