In 1993, IRDP was asked by Marshall Cavendish Partworks Ltd to produce stories on tape as part of the MAGICAL MUSIC BOX series introducing young children to classical music. This involved 52 issues, each comprising a high quality illustrated magazine telling a story as well as including factual information on classical composers, and a tape or CD featuring music alone plus the story from the magazine dramatised and produced with a complex web of sound effects and music by the chosen composer for each issue. The series took several years to complete. It was a really fun project to work on and we thoroughly enjoyed working with everybody at Marshall Cavendish and Brown Partworks and all the actors, writers and musical consultants. The drama from Issue 4 - The Wizard's Spell - won both a Gold Medal and the Grand Award Trophy for Entertainment Programming at the International Radio Festival of New York in 1994.

The series is aimed at children between the ages of about six and ten or eleven, and introduces them to all the great classics: Holst's Planets, Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites, symphonies by Beethoven, Berlioz, Mahler, Haydn and Mozart, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Ravel's Bolero, Bizet's Carmen Suites, Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, solo piano pieces by Chopin, Aaron Copland's Rodeo, and many, many others. The stories are great fun and beautifully illustrated and the whole package looks very attractive.

Unfortunately Marshall Cavendish is no longer distributing the Magical Music Box. However, as we are quite often asked by visitors to our site about the possibility of obtaining second-hand copies, we are offering the facility for people to add their email addresses to this web page so that people wishing to buy or sell copies of the Magical Music Box around the world can get in touch with each other - on the understanding that IRDP Ltd would have no part in the sale of these items and that full responsibility would be taken by the vendors and the purchasers. If you would like to add your email address to the list, please email Marja with the details you would like to add to this page (e.g. which issues of the Magical Music Box you are searching for and your email address). We would advise that personal details such as home addresses or telephone numbers should not be included in this list.

 

REQUESTS:

"I am trying to track down copies of the Magical Musical Box - issues 21 to 52 with CD. If anyone has copies of these issues, I would be interested." J. Frazer [email protected]

 

"Looking for Magical Music Box issues: 3, 11, 12, 16-18, 21-27, 29-32, 34, 36, 38-43, 46, 47, 49-51. Willing to buy originals or trade copies." Richard [email protected]

 

"Looking for issues 2-52." [email protected]

 

[email protected] Derek Cooper - looking for Magical Music Box issues.

 

[email protected] Rob Day - looking for Magical Music Box issues.

 

[email protected] Looking for music box on CD, issues 20-52...

 

[email protected] - Rebecca - I am looking for any of the CDs, particularly the later ones (I don't need the magazines as I already have them all), and I have some extra magazines available for sale or swap.

 

I'm looking for Issue 39 (the Magic Lyre) with CD. Or possibly the CD alone. Any replies much appreciated. Contact [email protected]

 

Looking for issue 39 on CD (The Magic Lyre) Willing to buy. [email protected]

 

[email protected] I am desperately trying to get a hold of any issues of Magical Music Box recordings. I only have the first one, Journey to the Stars, and would love any more that I could buy.

 

wanted: copies of the magical music box 18 - 52 in the CD format. Our email address is [email protected]

 

I'd like issues of The Magical Music Box Thanks for answer to [email protected]

 

I am looking for the magical music box cd's: 2, 3, 5, 7-52. I am willing to pay all postage and cd costs. Thank you [email protected]

 

I really REALLY want to purchase the series of books 'the magical music box' if you can help please email me. Thank You [email protected]

 

I am interested in any of the Music Box copies. I only have no. 1 at the moment. My e-mail address is [email protected]

 

I would dearly love to get hold of cds one, three and eleven to complete my small set! [email protected]

 

We are looking for all the Music Box CD's as they are missing from our school. We are willing to pay for a complete set of recordings. We also have spare copies of magazines 1, 22 and 44 (with no CD) and a spare binder if anyone is interested. email: [email protected]

 

I would like a complete set of Magical Music box magazines. Willing to buy. Lesley. [email protected]

 

I am looking for the CD's 1-9, please contact me if you can help...Thank you [email protected]

 

I am looking for all copies & CD's other than:- 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, 28, 31, 33, 36, 43, 46, 48,51 & 52 which I obtained from a local discount store. I also need the CD for issue 22. If anyone has these issues I would be very interested. S.J.Bell [email protected]

 

[email protected] I am interested in purchasing issues 2-52 in CD format.

 

I am looking for the music cassette version of the following issues: 2, 3, 6, 15, 17, 20, 21, 30, 38, 39, 41, 48, 49. I have the magazines, and the rest of the cassettes. Thank you! My email address is: [email protected]

 

I would like any issues of the Magical Music Box that are available. Thanks a lot. [email protected]

 

I am trying to track down the magazines for issues 1-6, and and copies of the magazine and cd set for issue 7 onwards. [email protected]

 

I have a complete set, but have mislaid the first issue CD: I still have the book, Anyone have a spare? Chris, [email protected]

 

Hi, I desperately need all copies 2-52 on CD of the music box set. New or used copies. [email protected]

 

I'm looking for ANY of the Magical Music Box issues - ideally as many as possible as soon as possible. Thanks, Amy. [email protected]

 

I am looking to get the whole magical music box issues with cd. I have up to 37 on tape, with mags and binders, as I collected them when I was a kid and now want the cd's for my daughter. Please contact Emma at [email protected]

 

I have duplicates of the following CD's (not magazines though), 1. Journey to the Stars with music from The Planets by Gustav Holst 2. Sky Racers with music from the Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven 3. Hall of the Troll King with music from Peer Gynt Suites by Greig Ideally I would like to swap them for CD numbers 10, 11, 12. [email protected]

 

I'm looking for as many issues as possible apart from 'the planets' which I already have. My email address is [email protected]

 

We are interested in purchasing any CDs of the magical music box series for our children: [email protected]

 

I would love to complete my set, these are the issues I am looking for: Number 36 CD and magazine, Number 40 CD and magazine, Number 41 CD and magazine, Number 43 CD and magazine, Number 44 CD and magazine, Number 45 CD and magazine, please - I have been searching for these since my subscription began in around 1996: [email protected]

 

I am looking for issues 2-52. My e-mail address is [email protected]

 

I am looking for a copy of Disc No.7 The River God with music from Maurice Ravel. Would appreciate being able to either borrow or buy a copy. [email protected]

 

I am interested in obtaining a full set of the Magical Music Box for use in our school. [email protected]

 

 

FOR SALE

 

I have the entire collection of the Magical Music Box. CD's and Mags. in mint condition. If any 1 is interested I am willing to sell the whole collection not just 1 or 2. [email protected]

 

 

 

FULL LIST OF MAGICAL MUSIC BOX ISSUES:

1. Journey to the Stars - The Planets by Gustav Holst

2. Hall of the Troll King - Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg

3. Sky Racers - Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

4. The Wizard's Spell - Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky

5. House of Terrors - Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz

6. Daylight Robbery - Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin

7. The River God - Ravel's Bolero

8. Night of the Aliens - Bach's Orchestral Suite No 4

9. The Bull Fights Back - Bizet's Carmen Suites 1 and 2

10. Animal Rescue - Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens

11. Sindbad and the Kraaken - Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade

12. Musical Misfits - Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto

13. Nightmare Gallery - Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition

14. The Highwayman's Mask - Viennese Waltzes by Strauss

15. The Dell of Time - Vivaldi's Four Seasons

16. The Big Freeze - Violin Concerto by Brahms

17. The Bowman and the Baron - Overtures by Rossini

18. The Valkyries - Music from Operas by Wagner

19. The Spinning Wheel - Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Suite

20. Wagon Train West - Dvorak's New World Symphony

21. Fireworks! - Music for the Royal Fireworks by Handel

22. On Thin Ice - Borodin's Polovtsian Dances

23. Fire-Bringers - Beethoven's Symphony No 5

24. The Captain's Curse - Nocturnes by Debussy

25. Eve of Battle - Solo Piano Pieces by Chopin

26. Black Angus - Overtures by Mendelssohn

27. The Imperial Robes - A Little Night Music by Mozart

28. Space Envoys - Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2

29. Boomerang! - Symphonies Nos 5 and 6 by Mahler

30. Bird of Fire - Stravinsky's Firebird Suite

31. Lost and Found - Schumann's "Spring" Symphony

32. Pyramid of Khonsoul - "Surprise" Symphony by Haydn

33. Showdown in Maverick - Rodeo by Aaron Copland

34. The Long Shadow - Piano Concerto No 1 by Franz Liszt

35. Festival of the Sun - The Love of Three Oranges by Prokofiev

36. The Sea Princess - Debussy's La Mer

37. The Monks' Treasure - Solo Pieces for the Organ by J.S. Bach

38. King Arthur's Sword - Symphony No 40 by Mozart

39. The Magic Lyre - Piano Sonatas by Beethoven

40. The Great River - The Moldau by Smetana

41. In the Spotlight - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite

42. Beyond the Wall - Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss

43. The Lady's Tale - Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

44. Outlanders - Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

45. The Savage Flames - The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky

46. Sealed Orders - Symphony No 1 by Brahms

47. Caught in the Act - Dance Suite by Bela Bartok

48. On the Battlefield - Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture

49. Trouble with Time - Mussorgsky's A Night on the Bare Mountain

50. Treason and Plot - Baroque Music by Albinoni, Pachelbel and Corelli

51. The Happy Dragon - Schubert's Symphony No 5

52. The Little Soldier - Symphony No 9 by Shostakovich

 

To see a snippet of 'The Wizard's Spell' story (issue 4) CLICK HERE.

For a bit of 'The Bull Fights Back' story (issue 9) CLICK HERE.

For more information about the directing, production and awards for 'The Wizard's Spell' CLICK HERE.

You can also read the entire audio script of Sindbad and the Kraaken (issue 11)

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