Musical Stories for Children
The Town Musicians
Music and text by Benedikt Brydern
Illustrations by Madeline Crist
Deborah Ragsdale, flute; Mark Miller, violin; Ute Miller, viola; Zachary Mansell, cello;
Will Ryan, English narration; Elke Sommer, German narration; Jordi Caballero, Spanish narration
The Town Musicians are now available on streaming services!
You can hear this wonderful musical story in English, in Spanish, and in German.
In 2015 Mount Vernon Music commissioned a piece for children from composer Benedikt Brydern for use in outreach performances in East Texas schools. Based on the Grimm’s fairy tale The Bremen Town Musicians, the work was made even more accessible to children by the addition of illustrations by artist Madeline Crist. Brydern’s The Town Musicians, A Musical Adventure for narrator, flute, violin, viola and cello was premiered in June 2015. Since then MVM has taken it into many schools, performing it for thousands of young listeners. The impression this piece makes on children who otherwise have no opportunity to see orchestra productions (e.g. Peter & the Wolf) is profound. In order to share this delightful music with as many children as possible, MVM created a bilingual book and CD in English and Spanish, and a version in German and English. These recordings pair Mount Vernon Music’s own Orchard Ensemble with narration by professional Hollywood actors Will Ryan, Elke Sommer and Jordi Caballero.