Dear Suzuki colleagues,
dear students and parents!
Next week, March 21, is the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
I have prepared two items for you.
No. 1: Johann Sebastian Bach for children
How about a birthday party with your students?
Attached you find a vivid encounter with the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, the article
A Journey Back in Time to the World of Johann Sebastian Bach
will provide parents and students with anecdotes, challenging tasks and information about Bach and his personal circumstances. Students and parents should read this text together. Depending on the students’ ages, the article is likely to raise many questions requiring explanation. While some students will only be able to complete the assignments with parental help, others may find them very easy. Group lessons are also an ideal forum for answering these questions, completing the assignments, or discussing particular aspects of Bach’s life in more depth.
No. 2:
Johann Sebastian Bach for Suzuki teachers and parents
Johann Sebastian Bach is the most frequently encountered composer in the Suzuki Violin School, appearing in most of the books, and consequently at each developmental level.
Suzuki was convinced that children who listened to music by Johann Sebastian Bach would absorb some of his character traits and feelings: “When children grow up with the music of Bach, their souls will be directly influenced by Bach’s spirit with its strong personality, deep religious earnestness, desire for order, and noble character. The life forces of children sense the traits of a composer and absorb them to bring them to life in themselves. I am certain that every heart capable of feeling music will assimilate its special radiance and its clear message.”
Further topics are:
Original Compositions and Arrangements in the Baroque Period
Arrangements in Instrumental Pedagogy