Children's Festival Music to Sing and Play

Book Review: The Child’s Praise of the Seasons – Festival Music to Sing by Christof-Andreas Lindenberg

We continue to honor Christof-Andreas Lindenberg’s 90th birthday by looking at his book of 61 festival songs for children, The Child’s Praise of the Seasons – Festival Music to Sing, published in 1995 by Rose Harmony Association.

In his introduction, Christof-Andreas notes that this book can be seen as a companion to his book written for communities, In Praise of the Seasons – Festival Music to Sing and Play, also published in 1995 by Rose Harmony Association, which also contains some songs appropriate for children to sing. However, the focus in The Child’s Praise of the Seasons is on children singing through the year – in story and verse, in rounds, in harmony, in intervals, in rhythms, and, at times, with the accompaniment of lyres and other instruments: flute, violin, bells, drum, and triangle. These songs arose out of the composer’s many years of working with children in schools that celebrate the Christian seasonal festivals through the year, interspersed with christenings, and other festive moments. There are activities that some of the songs are meant to accompany, such as the “Palm Sunday Hosianna – Song for Boundary Walk,”a “Pizza Song for Summer Camp,” and “Santa Lucia” for a procession with children and candles. There are also two graces, four birthday songs, a “House Blessing,” and “The Robin’s Song – A Blessing for All Seasons.”

The seasonal compass outlined in the companion book for communities stands as an excellent introduction to this one, with this collection focusing on the child’s experience. The contents page contains an outline of the seasons of the year, listing the songs appropriate for each age group in order of the seasons. This is a great help to a music or class teacher looking for music for the children in their classrooms and provides another way to navigate through the year.

Finally, a lovely bonus at the end of this collection offers an explanation of the tone of each day of the week, along with its corresponding planetary (mirrored) scale, to which Christof-Andreas adds a rhythm for each day and then gives us ‘The Week’s Rhythm Songs’ – one for each day of the week. As he states, these songs “combine the tone-of-the-day scale with the other musical rhythms to make the nature of the respective day come alive, accentuating the special character of each day in the week.” Christof-Andreas encourages the use of these songs in the sixth or seventh grade classroom as well as to serve as a basis for one’s further individual exploration.

Debra Barford, Chicago, IL