Beethoven’s wiiiiiiig
Is really biiiiiig.
Or not, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But I do know that the Beethoven’s Wig: Sing Along Symphonies
albums are awesome and I wanted to share.
We discovered Beethoven’s Wig at the library probably six months ago when I was looking for something a little different than our usual car music fare. Since then we have checked them out and listened to them a handful of times, always to the girls’ delight. I finally purchased all four* albums and we’ve been playing them almost nonstop for two weeks.
The BW people took a variety of “classical” songs (I use quotes because I would hardly classify Joplin and Sousa as classical composers, even though they’re included) and wrote silly lyrics to go with them. They’re ridiculous and brilliant and the girls LOVE them. They sing them all the time, even though the words can get a little weird because little kids have no idea what “repertoire” and “symphony” mean. Por ejemplo:
Mila: “Listen very carefully / to this noted simpaly / See if you can recognize / Ivan’s great surprise”
Margot: “BAM!”
Mila: “There’s that burst again / You will hear it now and then / every time that Barry cries / Ivan simpaly the great surprise”
Margot: “BAM!
(It’s Haydn’s Surprise Symphony, in case you can’t tell, and their version cracks me up every time.)
Margot’s favorite songs now include Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Schumann’s The Merry Peasant (which I always knew as The Happy Farmer but I guess that’s a translation issue since they’re pretty close to the same thing).
Mila adores Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance #5…but apparently Beethoven’s Fur Elise is “scary” and gives her nightmares. Weirdo.
As for me, I much prefer having Chopin and Vivaldi and Bach in my head all the time to so many other songs geared toward the kiddos. (I’m looking at you, Raffi, you evil genius you.) Plus it’s super impressive when your two-year-old wanders around humming Mozart. At any rate, we’re big fans. That is all.
The image below are affiliate links to the four albums we have and will take you to Amazon to either buy or just find more info. I think there are one or two others available in the series but these are the ones we own so far.
Check out the Classical Kids series. Our faves are Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery, and Mozart's Journey Through the Magic Flute.
Thanks for the tip; I will have to look those up.
Listen to music for having fun and enjoyment.