We've been reading this rare old book-- Stories of Great Musicians, by Kathrine Lois Scobey and Olive Brown Horne. The high school library in my hometown was purging all their old books when I attended there many years ago, and I am so happy to have been the recipient of this-- a collection of stories of classic musicians, in the "living book" Charlotte Mason style.
James and I have enjoyed this book a lot. We learned about many composers-- Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, and Wagner; the stories are short biographies that span the entire life of the musician.
These are written in a way that is fascinating and has evident respect and affection for the musicians themselves. There are stories here that might not be found in a music history textbook-- such as how Beethoven wrote his "Moonlight Sonata" as a result of a surprise visit to a blind music lover who was a complete stranger.
I have read this a couple times through, with two different groups of my children, and each time I read it I feel so privileged to have a copy of this old book that is long out of print. The copyright in my copy is 1905.
Although this is out of print, there are some other old, used copies available on Amazon.com very inexpensively-- WELL WORTH the price to the fortunate people who purchase these remaining copies. It is also available for Kindle readers.
