The words of Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, and others are introducted to children thorugh the magical beings from legends and clasic tales--including gnomes, fairies, witches, goblins, elves, and wizards--that inspired the composers.

Illustrations, explanatory notes, composer biographies and a glossary of musical terms also on CD as a printable PDF file. Originally published in Spanish as Seres fantásticos - introducción a la música de concierto.

CD contents: The fairy-queen / Henry Purcell (The Scholars Baroque Ensemble) (1:24) -- A midsummer night's dream / Felix Mendelssohn (Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jamie Laredo, conductor) (1:23) -- Puck's dance (preludes) / Claude Debussy (Martin Jones, piano) (1:56) -- Dance of the sugar plum fairy (The nutcracker) / Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky (Philharmonia Slavonica, Hans-Peter Gmur, conductor) (1:25) -- The witch Baba Yaga (Album for the young) / Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky (Idil Biret, piano) (:38) -- The hut on fowl's legs (Pictures at an exhibition, IX) / Modest Mussorgsky (Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Mikjailov, conductor) (1:24) -- The gnome (Pictures at an exhibition, IX) / Modest Mussorgsky (Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Mikjailov, conductor) (1:25) -- In the hall of the mountain king (Peer Gynt) / Edvard Grieg (Philharmonia Slavonica, Alberto Lizzio, conductor) (2:30) -- Der Erlkönig (The elf king) / Franz Schubert (Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, baritone, Gerald Moore, piano) (4:13) -- Danse macabre / Camille Saint-Saëns (CSR Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Stephen Gunzenhauser, conductor) (1:51) -- Dance of terror (Love, the magician) / Manuel de Falla (Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra, Anton Nanut, conductor, Eva Novsak-Houska, mezzo-soprano) (2:09) -- Dance of the blessed spirits (Orpheus and Eurydice) / Christoph Willibald Gluck (Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Iona Brown, conductor) (1:14) -- Ride of the Valkyries / Richard Wagner (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Albert Lizzio, conductor) (1:18) -- The Queen of the Night aria (The magic flute) / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Michael Halasz, conductor, Hellen Kwon, soprano) (1:38) -- Witches' chorus (Macbeth) / Giuseppe Verdi (Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala) (2:00) -- Witches' dance / Nicolò Paganini (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, conductor, Salvatore Accardo, violin) (1:31) -- The sorcerer's apprentice / Paul Dukas (CSR Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Kenneth Jean, conductor) (2:22) -- Devil's trill sonata / Giuseppe Tartini (Anne-Sophie Mitter, violin) (2:10) -- The devil's staircase (Etude no. 13) / Gyorgy Ligeti (Erika Haase, piano) (2:15) -- Infernal dance of all Kashchei's subjects (The firebird) / Igor Stravinsky (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Craft, director) (4:15).