This exciting new piece of music by Jonathan Dove involves children aged 7-11 from local primary schools performing alongside professional musicians. Together we re-enact the story of the Pied Piper using a shortened version of Robert Browning’s poem interspersed with descriptive, child friendly music. The clarinettist (me!), who is by turns the narrator and the Pied Piper, leads the music making and the children join in, playing simple melodies and rhythms on recorders, as well as singing and acting. There is also an opportunity for a group of more advanced recorder players to take part….
To make the performance into an hour long event, we have often prefaced the Pied Piper with short solo performances from some of the children, together with some child orientated music from me (e.g. “Flight of the Bumble Bee” and “The Cat” from Peter and The Wolf). We have had very positive comments from the children and teachers about this project because for many of the children it will be the first time that they have been on stage alongside a professional performer. They sometimes find the project quite challenging at first but by the time we get to the performance they are thrilled to find that they are easily on top of what is required and they are inspired by getting to know the music of one of this country’s leading composers.