Customer Reviews

Songs for Singing Children

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I teach music to children of ages three to eleven, and for the past three years I have used this cd every single day that I teach. Were it a cassette tape or vinyl LP, I would have worn it out during its first year!

The Revels children model light, "head voice"-singing, while John Langstaff keeps my boys' respect and attention with his strong low voice. My little ones giggle and guffaw at the lyrics to "Old Dan Tucker" while they learn about stanza-chorus song form. The first-graders know immediately how to play the game on their first listening to "Jump Josie". My third- and fourth-graders request "Mango Walk" at EVERY opportunity, which makes it easy to teach them to read syncopation. Myself, I never tire of the gentle sweetness of "Down by the River" and the catchy rhythms of "Green Corn". And the students are joined by their parents and their classroom teachers in their love for "Simple Gifts".

It's great repertoire, well performed. There are 26 tracks--find your own favorites.

Fun, traditional songs that my 2 and 4 year old love and more to the point my husband and I enjoy very much. 'Mango Walk' and 'Ol' Dan Tucker' are favorites for long car trips. It is nice to find songs that are not too 'childrenized', so they are interesting and enjoyable for the whole family.

These historic recordings wonderfully evoke two eras: the ancient age of folk tradition, and the 1950s and '60s, when the raw beauty of traditional music was gussied up with orchestral string arrangements for mainstream audiences. Hearing the two impulses dance with each other is great fun today. But the magic glue that makes it all works is the brilliant honesty of John Langstaff's baritone. It is hard to imagine now, but the natural phrasing he used on these classic children's songs was controversial in its day. He balances all this with such grace, purity, and technical skill that is easy to miss what a difficult dance he was doing. You can hear the ground being prepared for the '60s folk revival here. Millions of children first fell in love with folk music through these priceless recordings. Because he worked in the classical music field, we too often dismiss the crucial role Langstaff played in fomenting the great commercial folk revival. Here we can hear those precious seeds being sown by one of classical music's finest baritones, and a folk singer who understood the best instincts of tradition as well as anyone of his generation. But you'll forget all that in the melodic mirth and spot-on singing of Langstaff and his plucky children's chorus. I dare you to listen without smiling.

Super albulm! A nice baritone voice w/ a pleasant & upbeat children's choir. Easy to understand all the words. Enjoyed by adults as much as by children. Good for road trips. We've sent 5 albulms to young people & kept one for ourselves, just because we like it so much.

Like Pete Seeger and one or two others John Langstaff doesn't dumb down or patronise the kids and what we get is classic music of great sincerity, humanity and authenticity. The Revels music that has developed from him is also just wonderful. Real music from real people.

The melodies are beautiful, the words haven't been watered down by some marketing expert, and the kids are real. It also teaches history and values. My only beef is that they left out their best song from the original print: "A Round of Street" ...