Themes & Variations The Seasons - Cassils/Heuser - Book/CD

Composers: Craig Cassils and Cheryl Heuser
Format: Book and CD

The Seasons is a song cycle - 5 art songs for children. The lyrics are poetry, evoking images and feelings. The music is witty, clever and very beautiful. The Jubilate Children's Chorus has done an exceptional job on this CD. The CD is a wonderful example of what an excellent quality children's choir should sound like. The CD is performance only. (The piano accompaniment is very free and it would be extremely difficult for a choir to sing with a recorded accompaniment)

This collection is written to be used by classroom teachers as an integrated unit involving many subjects. It is also geared toward a gala evening to which parents could be invited. Not only would the evening include a presentation of songs and poems, but Aesop's fables could be acted out, artwork could be displayed, Science or Social Studies research or trivia could be presented, and some simple Science fair boards and little student-created books could be displayed. This format would be excellent for an open house event and the 'performance pressure' would not be concentrated on a single musical event or the arts only. Also, many children could be involved and a multiple intelligences approach would be evident. The materials are presented thematically, not according to grade level. This resource is intended as an idea springboard and must be shared by teachers from a variety of grade levels.