Note: This is a three-part series. Please also see Art Show and Dance Show.
If you and your family are fans of HBO Family, then you are probably familiar with their “Classical Baby” animated series. This series takes you and your child on a journey through pieces of classical music, works of art, and dances inspired by famous choreographers, all under the conduction of a cute little animated diapered wonder. Each episode begins with our diapered host conducting an orchestra of all baby animals through “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. One episode of “Classical Baby” that is available on DVD is “The Music Show.”
The first segment of “The Music Show” is entitled “Bear Hugs” and features a parent polar bear and a baby polar bear. The music featured in this segment is called “Flower Duet” which is from the opera “Lakme” by Leo Delibes. In this segment, we hear the soft vocals from the music as we watch these two polar bears play. The music provides a comforting background to a heart-warming scene of watching a parent and child interact and show affection to each other.
Another segment in this episode is called “Baby’s Hands.” We see a baby’s hands in the hands of a parent, then the baby’s hands doing certain activities. The baby plays with different types of puzzles, tries to draw with a green crayon, and plays a xylophone. While we hear Robert Schumann’s “Of Foreign Lands and People,” a movement from “Scenes from Childhood,” we also hear the baby babbling and talking while playing. At the end of the segment, baby’s hands are back in the parent’s hands.
One of my favorite segments from this episode is called “The Cow Song.” It features “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Gianni Schicchi.” Here, we see a cow standing on a hill, singing to a bright constellation of a bull. As the cow sings her song, we can see from her expressions that she is deeply in love with the constellation and is saddened that he is so far away. At the end, the cow receives a star from the constellation. After that segment ends and the baby takes his conductor’s bow, we see a chicken selling star-shaped lollipops to three cows in the audience.
“The Music Show” is a wonderful way to help your child learn to appreciate classical music while being entertained. My daughter likes watching this video before she goes to bed because the majority of the songs are soft, slow, and soothing.
For more information about the “Classical Baby” series, please visit HBO Family.
“Classical Baby: The Music Show” is available for purchase separately or in a three-disc box set with “The Art Show” and “The Dance Show” from the HBO Store, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and other retailers.
Complete Segment List for “Classical Baby: The Music Show”
- Open, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Bear Hugs, with music by Leo Delibes
- Baby’s Hands, with music by Robert Schumann
- Baby Steps, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Busy Caterpillar, with music by Johann Sebastian Bach
- The Cow Song, with music by Giacomo Puccini
- Good Morning, with music by Edvard Grieg
- Night Music, with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Aquarium, with music by Camille Saint-Saens
- Musical Faces, with music by Heitor Villa-Lobos
- Appalachian Spring, with music by Aaron Copland
- The Cricket on the Roof, with music by Bela Bartok
- My Blanket, with music by Claude Debussy