Wagner: The Story of the Boy Who Wrote Little Plays

Tapper, Thomas, 1864-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
15K words
Chapters
2

Tags

English Originals MusicArtists Science EnlightenmentInspirationCuriosityGrowing UpIllustrated GuideParent-Child Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Wagner : The Story of the Boy Who Wrote Little Plays by Thomas TapperAuthor: Tapper, Thomas, 1864-1958,Language: English, Class: ML: Music: Literature of music, Release Date: Jan 31, 2011

Editor's review

This little book by music educator Thomas Tapper takes the boy Wagner writing little plays as its entry point, using warm storytelling to trace a line from a great composer's childhood interests to his later creative ambitions. It is not a serious academic biography, nor does it list a chronology of his life; instead it seizes on the detail of "a child who loved writing plays" and shows how an interest can become the starting point of a lifelong vocation. The language is plain and the book brief, making it suitable as an introductory reader for classical music and for parent-child reading or classroom read-alouds. For readers familiar with Wagner's operas, it offers a glimpse of his childhood; for those new to Western music, it lowers the threshold, building a portrait of the person before discussing the works. It should be noted that this is a public-domain English e-book whose focus is on the boyhood years and does not involve in-depth analysis of the music dramas, so readers should not expect professional criticism.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read through once to get the outline of the boy Wagner's story; no need to look up every word.
  2. When reading with a child, discuss as you go: how does the child's interest in writing plays connect to the operas he later wrote?
  3. After each chapter, look up the Wagner works mentioned and listen to an overture to build an auditory impression.
  4. English learners can pick a passage to read aloud or retell; it is short and low-pressure.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no music background at all? Yes. The book tells the coming-of-age story of the boy Wagner writing little plays and does not focus on music theory or work analysis, so readers without a music background can follow the characters and plot. Readers can first treat it as a character story, then supplement their knowledge of Wagner's operas as needed.
Does the book introduce Wagner's operas in detail? No. The book focuses on Wagner's boyhood and his experience writing little plays; it is an introductory short biographical story and does not analyze the structure, motifs, or ideas of the music dramas. For a deeper understanding of the works, readers need to find specialized music criticism or biographies.
Is this book in Chinese or English? Is it difficult to read? According to the information, this is a public-domain English e-book with plain language and a short length, making it an entry-level English reader. Readers with some English foundation can read it directly; those with weaker foundations can use a dictionary or choose a parallel version and focus on understanding the story.

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About the author

Tapper, Thomas, 1864-1958 Author

Thomas Tapper (1864–1958) was an author known for his popular writings on music; public information about his life is limited, and about thirteen of his works are currently known. He is best known for a series of musician stories written for children, including childhood biographies of composers such as Beethoven, Handel, Verdi, Wagner, Schubert, Bach, and Haydn. The titles often center on "the little boy," telling how these figures found their way into music through practice, singing, or playing. He also wrote Music Talks with Children, which guides young readers to understand music through friendly conversation. Tapper's style is plain and accessible, emphasizing narrative and educational value; he turns composers' early lives into stories children can readily follow, giving his work a place in music appreciation writing for the young.