Metallidi Zh. Musical Portrairs of Literature Characters

Zhanna Metallidi is renown composer and teacher: she has developed comprehensive method of teaching music theory and composition for the initial period of music education. Composition and teaching are entwined in Zhannetta Metallidi’s life. Among her works one can find a variety of genres; she writes for chamber ensembles and symphonic orchestra, for choir and for young soloists, she composes cantatas and stage works, and all the abundance of her creativity is related to children.

This album has its own story. Children that are reluctant to open a book and read it one can meet far too often nowadays. They are not introduced to the miraculous community of literature characters of the famous books. Zhanna Metallidi tried to fill this gap by means that sh had mastered. Could the child be such enthralled by the musical image that he/she would find the corresponding book and read it through acquainting themselves with the source? And here they are, all our favorite characters. The choice is somewhat unexpected (which is quite usual when dealing with the Zhannetta Metallidi charisma) One meets Quasimodo, ugly but kind, Winnie the Pooh strolls along, and beautiful Snow White, and terrifying Headless Horseman. The musical language by means of which all they are depicted is also contrasting and absolutely different from piece to piece. Dramatic Quasimodo is for older skilled pupils, it is characterized by atonal music texture, creeping sonorities. And Winnie the Pooh is here, simple and lazy, murmuring something under his breath. The album is addressed to differently skilled pupils, beginning from medium years in music school to the senior ones (the complex and demanding piece Tom Sawyer, for example, requires considerable piano skills).

Contents:

1. Winnie-the-Pooh a-Walking. (After “The World of Winnie-the-Pooh” by A. A. Milne) (see note)

2. Cinderella Wasn’t Taken to the Ball. (After the tale by Ch. Perrault)

3. Snow-White and seven Dwarfs. (After Bros. Grimm tale)

4. Quasimodo. (After the novel “Notre-Dame de Paris” by V. Hugo)

5. Gavroche. (After the novel “Les Miserables” by V. Hugo)

6. Le Capitaine Nemo. (After the novel “Vingt mille lieues sous les mers” by Jules Verne) (see note)

7. Headless Horseman. (After the novel by Th. Mayne Reid)

8. Tom Sawyer. (After “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain)