May 25, 2008

The Unknown Soldier

by Roger J. Robicheau

You need not ever know my name
This unknown soldier seeks no fame

I'm here to bring out thought from you
May your heart see more than your view

America, we marched with pride
We gave our life, for you we died

How well we knew the time might come
When life could sound that final drum

Please think of us as life moves on
We tried so hard till that last dawn

Do let our spirit fill the land
Pass treasured freedom, hand to hand

God blessed this country with such love
Hold in your heart, abundance of

And when you stand before my grave
Think not of one, but each who gave

May 22, 2008

May 21, 2008

May 10, 2008

May 2, 2008

Peter Makes His Debut

On today's date in 1936, Prokofiev's delightful music fable for children, "Peter and the Wolf," was given its first performance in Moscow.

The woman who had approached composer Sergei Prokofiev with the idea for "Peter and the Wolf" was Natalia Saz, then the Director of the Moscow Children's Theater. Prokofiev had only recently returned to the Soviet Union after decades of living abroad. The idea was to interest children in the sound of the orchestra through a musical fable for narrator and orchestra, in which the winds would depict different animals, with the strings representing a little boy named Peter, who rescues almost all his animal friends from the jaws of a nasty wolf.

We are learning about this story in our Young Child 2 class.