Ladybird Tuesday: Lives of the Great Composers Book 2

I find it amazing how many friends of mine now know about my love of vintage Ladybird books thanks to this blog and I love it when one of them surprises me with something they've found at a jumble sale of in a charity shop. Last week I was delighted to receive a mystery parcel with three wonderful Ladybird books in it. I have absolutely no idea who on earth these are from – and there wasn't even a postmark to give me a hint! So, if it was you thank you do much – please reveal yourself though.

So now on to one of the books from that mystery parcel – Lives of the Great Composers Book 2. Back at the start of the year I featured the book Musical Instruments which was another title from this series 662, History of the Arts. It was a series that I wasn't all that familiar with, yet one that I'm enjoying now getting to know.

This title covers the three composers Handel (1685 – 1759), Haydn (1732 – 1809) and Schubert (1797 – 1828) and for each of the three we are given a story of their lives, their first musical experiences and what brought them fame and success.

 

I really like the way that a human side of these three men is built up and you get an insight into the personality behind their music. I think, especially as a child, it can seem like these composers weren't really real, simply because they lived so long ago and as a result some find their music "boring". Adding that character removes any chance of them being considered boring in my opinion.

 

As with so many of the old Ladybird books the accompanying artwork (by Martin Aitchison) is beautiful and really helps bring the text to life. I love the way that the faces in particular convey so much personality and this picture is a favourite. With the caption "a nervous Schubert runs out of the room rather than meet Beethoven" the look on Schubert's face just makes me laugh.

How could you look at this picture and not have more of a feel for his personality?

If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you're feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday category here on Being Mrs C. Thanks!