Beethoven once said, “If my music had words it’d be a lot more popular.” His wish has come true, but he had to wait 200 years for the other half of his team. Modern day ?co-writer? Richard Perlmutter, lyricist and lead singer with four-time GRAMMY? nominee Beethoven’s Wig, has, in the Beethoven’s Wig series of recordings, added witty and insightful lyrics to instrumental selections by Beethoven (and Bach, Mozart, et al.) that have zipped the works of the longhairs to the tops of the charts and created a charming, fresh, and memorable introduction to some of the world’s greatest music.
Beethoven’s Wig: Sing Along Piano Classics adds the Beethoven’s Wig spin to piano classics. From Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Debussy, and Mussorgsky to well known modern composers such as Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Henry Cowell. Beethoven’s Wig is a humorous masterpiece that blends them all together in a beautiful symphony of amusement. It gives the old greats something fresh and appeals to children as it does adults. The Washington Post considers Richard Perlmutter, “.. a highbrow ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic“, and I must agree!
?Chopsticks is actually titled ?The Celebrated Chop Waltz? and was written by a sixteen-year-old English girl named Euphemia Allen who seemed to favor the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli. My lyrics begin: ?My little chicken is peck, peck, peck, pecking. Whatever she’s pecking she’s wreck, wreck, wreck wrecking.? In one part of the song I get to cluck like a chicken, backed up by some of the finest professional opera singers around singing ?peck, peck, peck, pecking? with exemplary operatic vocal production.?
Beethoven’s Wig has won over 46 national awards and is hailed as one of the most honored musical groups in family entertainment, so I was really excited to see what Judah had thought about it. We have introduced to him all sorts of music, a lot of classical music as an infant (as it is known to increase intelligent levels) so to play the same songs with a humorous take was at first confusing for him and then enjoyable. Soon we were pecking to chopsticks, singing along with “Mozart Makes Kids Smart” (Alla Turca, Mozart) and blasting off to the moon with “Voyage to the Moon” (Clair de Lune, Debussy), which has been my favorite of all the songs as it has snippets from the actual Moon Landing.
Beethoven’s Wig: Sing Along Piano Classics also has the Classic’s themselves, without the lyrics so that you can enjoy them as they are or if you catch on to the lyrics, to sing them with your family. It’s a wonderful CD, especially for those of you who love classical music and if you’ve yet to share the greats with your children, this would be the perfect introduction! Richard Perlmutter is a musical genius and his humor and deep passion for these great masterpieces has brought them back to life for these younger generations to see how exquisite they once were, and are again.
Connect:
You can connect with Beethoven’s Wig on Facebook, @beethovenswig on Twitter and/or follow/subscribe to their Youtube Channel!
Buy It!
You can buy the Beethoven’s Wig – Sing Along Piano Classics on 9/27/2011.
I received samples for the purpose of reviewing. Opinions expressed are my own or my families and are not influenced by any form of compensation. Take it or leave it. Click here to view my full acknowledgment policy.
