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Children Draw Music

by I. Vanechkina and I. Trofimova. (in Russian)
"FEN" Publishers, Kazan, Russian Federation, 2000.
200 pp., illus; paper, £9.95.
ISBN 5-7544-0141-8.
Reviewed by Istv½n Hargittai, Budapest University of Technology, H-1521 Budapest, Hungary. E-mail: hargittai.aak@chem.bme.hu


I have known for many years the brilliant Hungarian educational experimenters, Mr. Ferenc Lantos and Ms. M½ria Apagyi of PÚcs, Hungary. They instruct children in music and drawing in an interactive and integrated way. In one of our book on symmetry we have even reproduced some of their pupils' drawings inspired by BÚla Bart÷k's "Unisono No. 1." This is why I turned to the handsome, soft-covered little book (118 p.) under review here with great interest, and I was not disappointed. The book is in Russian (Deti risuyut muziku) and is introduced by B. M. Galeeve who has been a long-time contributor to LEONARDO.

The first main part of the book is about history and a light theoretical introduction. It addresses primarily the question whether it is possible to visualize music and if it is, what may be the benefit of such visualization. The authors review the literature and they appear to have a broad and detailed grasp of the field. They also point to the need of further studies for the more serious scholar, and provide plenty of references. They cite Russian and foreign examples to support their contention about the potentials of the combined music/drawing approach in both art appreciation and education.

The second main part of the book summarizes the pedagogical experience of this combined music/drawing approach. Here the discussion is, appropriately, less compact than in the first part. There is advice to the practicing pedagogue and the authors present the didactic advantages of their approach in a gentle yet persuasive manner. They illustrate abundantly what they have to say, by case studies and a plethora of carefully chosen visual images. They come both from world-renown masters and from teenage pupils. The narrative is appended with a useful sample syllabus.

The book will be useful for all those who are engaged in music and drawing education, art appreciation, pedagogy, and will be enjoyed also by other art lovers.

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For a comparative review of this book, may we direct you to Bulat Galeyev's review, posted in August 2000.







Updated 17 November 2000.




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