and think hard enough,

while listening,

you can see the little bunny running through the woods,

chasing a troll.

No, not physically, but I do remember being introduced to his music during my undergraduate studies in music at Arlington State College in Arlington, Texas. My piano and theory teacher, Louise Spiegelmire, had me, a piano fledgling (not a piano student) learn several of his pieces as she felt that I could handle them. I fell in love with his music and learned to play all of the pieces which she gave me, elementary as they were. Even later while teaching band in Bay City, Texas, we featured several band transcriptions of his best known pieces for contests and concerts and they were all well recieved by our audiences.

Kabalevsky was a composer whom you have to learn to like. In some of his happier songs there is a strong similiarity to our Jazz type music, very light and happy, something to which you could easily tap your foot and almost get up and dance to. Some of his more solemn music always seems to be in a minor key as well fits the darkness of feeling which you get when listening to them. Personally, I prefer his “Happy” style of music as it is very light and almost bouncy and you always feel good at the end.

Although Kabalevsky was born and lilved under the Communist rule in Russia, I do not believe that he considered himself to be a Communist and I am not sure that he ever joined the Communist party.