View source for Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra by Hallfridur Olafsdottir and Porarinn Mar Baldursson

{{infobox2
|title=Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra
|author=Hallfridur Olafsdottir and Porarinn Mar Baldursson
|reviewer=Trish Simpson-Davis
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1937330170
|pages=40
|publisher=Music Word Media Group; Har/Com edition  
|date=November 2012
|aznuk=1937330176
|aznus=1937330176
|cover=1937330176
|website=http://www.maximusmusicus.com
|video=
|summary= An introduction to the music and instruments of the concert orchestra through the eyes of Maximus Mouse, the mascot of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. The accompanying CD narrates the story and repeats the music, so it’s excellent value for money.
}}
Maximus Musicus is a cute little mouse from a music-loving family and the mascot of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.  The story can be read or followed on the accompanying CD, where Stella Arman is the narrator.

One day Maxi wanders into a rehearsal of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, where he is entranced to hear Ravel’s Bolero.  He encounters most of the orchestral instruments and there’s a lot of whimsical humour as Maxi moves from instrument to instrument.  Eventually he falls asleep on the stage with Beethoven's 5th Symphony playing in the background, tired out by the excitement of his adventures.  He wakes to the opening drumbeat of Aaron Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man, and he finds that the orchestra is in concert.  He scuttles down into a packed auditorium.  At the end of the concert, Maximus joins in the standing ovation which precedes the stirring home-grown encore.

The illustrations are lovely, full of humour and tiny details that makes searching the pictures a pleasure to be repeated over again.  I liked the touch of orchestral reality as the condensation is nonchalantly shaken from the French horn by its player, drenching poor Maximus.  The members of the orchestra are wonderfully individual, including the author, Hallfridur Ólafsdóttir.  I imagined Pórarinn Már Baldursson clandestinely sketching them from life during breaks in the music.  I eventually found the illustrator himself in the middle of the orchestra (which gave the book a Where’s Wally appeal for me).  

The CD is long, because first the story is told by Stella Arman interspersed with well-chosen, contrasting passages of music in rehearsal and performance.  Then, as a stand-alone bonus, the three pieces are played without interruption: Ravel’s Boléro, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and an energetic Icelandic speciality, On Spregisandur by Kaldalóns, which I loved.  

The story is a clever device to introduce children to orchestral instruments, music and the conventions of a rehearsal and concert performance.    A musical 9 or10 year old just joining a training orchestra would find it very interesting.  Young children, who would love Maximus, would not have the concentration span to cope with the story unless it was broken down into short episodes.  Actually, I think Maximus would translate very well into a light-hearted cartoon series with lots of humour for younger children – and there are plenty of small children enrolled in music lessons from babyhood on these days.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending this book.

How about a trip to an art gallery next?  We enjoy the work of [[:Category:James Mayhew|James Mayhew]] and you might like to start with [[Katie and the British Artists by James Mayhew|Katie and the British Artists]]. 

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[[Category:Hallfridur Olafsdottir]]
[[Category:Porarinn Mar Baldursson]]