Correlating listening to art music with intellectual advancement
is a risky gambit in a post-modern culture that nurtures the
short attention span. The Delos blurb for their 'Baby Needs'
series, originally released over a decade ago, pulls no punches:
"Research indicates that listening to classical music promotes
learning and improves problem-solving skills, with Mozart's
music currently heading the list. With this in mind, Delos introduces
a series focused on developing intellectual capabilities right
from the start", taking into account "the special needs of the
very young."
Current received 'wisdom' avers that art music is mainly for
old people, but Delos know that to be nonsense on stilts, rightly
insisting that Beethoven wrote music "for the ages - all ages".
'Baby Needs Beethoven' is one thoughtful, non-trivial collection
among many in this series, offering infants and toddlers - not
to mention mums and dads - a gentle but varied "musical bridge
between play time and quiet time".
In fact, the pieces on offer here may not all be those that
the average Beethoven-lover would automatically come up with
for such a programme. Indeed, there is more than a hint that
less thought has gone into the selections for this particular
disc. This is not entirely the "program of gentle music" the
back cover promises. For example, the Septet movements are rather
lively pieces, if the aim is to prepare babies' minds for relaxation
or sleep - the notes themselves describe them as "light-hearted
and fun". Ditto many of the Bagatelles. The movement from the
Symphony no.1 is slower but rather loud in places. Playtime
- yes, bedtime - no!
Clearly, Beethoven's oeuvre is much less amenable to being dipped
into at will for an unwinding piece than Mozart's is (see 'Baby
Needs More Mozart', DE 1614 - see review).
Yet that is not to suggest that youngsters' moods will not benefit
from hearing these, or virtually any piece of Beethoven's magnificent
music - only perhaps that there is greater potential benefit
initially to parents looking for a halfway decent introduction
to Beethoven or art music. In that regard, performances are
all of good quality, with no shortage of well-known names cropping
up throughout the series. In audio terms there is a slight left-channel
bias, and the sound in general is rather subdued. In some places
quality is a little patchier than on other discs: the movements
from the Pastoral Symphony, for example, come across
as rather lossy-sounding. On the other hand, it is fair to say
that babies are unlikely to notice!
The booklet - somewhat surprisingly, perhaps - supplies proper
notes on the music, written for adults without preamble in straightforward
language but without trivialising the music. In fact the author
makes no bones about saying things that would have the post-modern
critic or academic choking on his or her latte: that
Beethoven's String Quartets, for example, may well be "the ultimate
pinnacle of Western music". Curiously, the series promises "new
ways to help your child fall in love with classical music":
but does being exposed to music from the earliest age really
constitute a "new way"?
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Track listing
Bagatelle in A minor, WoO59 'Für Elise' [3:05]
'Scene by the Brook' (from: 'Pastoral' Symphony in F, op.68)
[12:27]
Tempo di Minuetto (from: Septet in E flat, op.20) [3:08]
Bagatelle in G minor, op.119 no.1 [1:51]
Bagatelle in C, op.119 no.2 [1:14]
Bagatelle in D, op.119 no.3 [1:31]
Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo (from: Quintet in E flat, for piano
and winds, op.16) [5:31]
Andante cantabile con moto (from: Symphony no. 1 in C, op.21)
[7:35]
Scherzo (from: Septet in E flat, op.20) [3:04]
Bagatelle in A, op.119 no.4 [2:22]
Bagatelle in A minor, op.119 no.9 [0:38]
Bagatelle in B flat, op.119 no.11 [1:43]
'Happy and Thankful Feelings after the Storm' (from: 'Pastoral'
Symphony in F, op.68) [10:04]
Andante cantabile (from: Quintet in E flat, for piano and winds,
op.16) [8:04]
Andante con moto (from: String Quartet in D, op.18 no.3) [8:40]
Carol Rosenberger (piano) (Bagatelles, Quintet) 