A young mouse who dreams of becoming a xylophone virtuoso in the Russian Symphony Orchestra is the star of a new series of primary songbooks.
Ivan the Musical Mouse is a 25-minute musical cantata commissioned by the Lambeth music service and premiered last year in London by a six-foot mouse and a chorus of primary pupils.
Now its composer, Brendan Beales, who also composes for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, is to publish the work, which he hopes will be the first in a series of songbooks for primary pupils. The books, intended for specialist and non-specialist music teachers, include a teaching CD with vocal and instrumental versions of the songs. Ivan the Musical Mouse includes Xylophone Song Slow and Xylophone Song Fast, Castles in the Air and Freezing Snow.
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