Discover the spellbinding magic of Swan Lake in this musical
retelling of the ballet - push the button on each beautiful scene to
hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Tchaikovsky's score.
This tale of a prince, a beautiful swan princess and an evil
sorcerer begins in a woodland clearing far, far away. It is Prince
Siegfried's 21st birthday. He is playing games with his friends when his
mother, the Queen, arrives to tell him he needs to stop having fun and
start looking after the kingdom. Prince Siegfried dreams of running
away.
He follows an enchanting flock of swans to a clearing by a lake, where
four of the little cygnets begin to dance. The most beautiful swan
transforms into the Princess Odette, who tells him that she has been
cursed to turn into a swan by day and return to her natural form at
night by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. As the prince and Odette dance,
they begin to fall in love.
The story follows Prince Siegfried as he attends his birthday party, is
tricked into proposing to Von Rothbart's daughter Odile and returns to
the lake to battle the evil sorcerer. Will the prince be reunited with
his swan princess?
As you and your little one journey through the magical scenes, you will
press the buttons to hear 10 excerpts from the ballet's music.
Readers should press firmly on the pages to activate the sounds,
encouraging interactive learning and introducing children to this
beautiful piece of music.
At the back of the book, find a short biography of the composer, Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with details about his composition of Swan Lake.
Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them,
read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms and musical techniques
that make them so powerful. A glossary defines musical terms.
The Story Orchestra series brings classical music to life for
children through gorgeously illustrated retellings of classic ballet,
opera, and program music stories paired with 10-second sound clips of
orchestras playing from their musical scores. With The Story Orchestra
keyboard sound books, children can play the famous melodies themselves
with the sound of a real grand piano.
Also available from the Story Orchestra series: The Magic Flute,
I Can Play (vol 1), Carnival of the Animals, The Sleeping Beauty,
The Nutcracker, and Four Seasons in One Day.
Manufacturer's note: please pull the white tab out of the back of
the book before use. Sound buttons require a firm push in exact location
to work, which may be hard for young children. All sound clips are 10
seconds long.
The perfect primer to introduce children to classical music.
