My son (string player, aged 10) absolutely adores the audio books by Darren Henley (Famous Composers, More Famous Composers, The History of Classical Music) but he has now listened to them so many times even he is admitting to getting bored. Does anyone have any suggestions of other ones we might try? I think it is the mixture of biography and snippets of music (many of which he recognises) that he enjoys. I'd be glad of any ideas!

Is there something here ? http://www.naxosspokenwordlibrary.com/Preview/genreslist.asp

Look under Music education bit. The Classics Explained bit might be OK. Pages 2 and 3

Not quite the same, but my DS loved the Classic FM CDs for children. We are a bit ignorant ourselves, so have bought a few classic collections which he also enjoys. At least he gets a general introduction and we also then hear him playing popular pieces by ear. They are useful in the car and also give him ambitions for his future playing.

Thank you so much, these CD's look ideal - and I found a website flogging them off for ?5 each so he's going to get quite a few from Father Christmas this year!

There is always the old favourite, Peter and the Wolf

At only a year older than your son I was much taken with:

Stravinsky's Petrushka (picturing the Shrovetide fair, the Blackamoor, etc. ... )
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (picturing the countryside, a peasant's party, the storm, etc. ...)

Why not share with him one or two of the 'composer's life' films? Some are too sensational and lurid but I'd specially recommend 'A Song of Summer,' (PG) which focuses on Delius but also features Eric Fenby, Christian Sinding (I think) and Percy Grainger. It's a child-friendly 75 minutes, so not over-long.

As a teacher of theory and composition I show it to children aged 10 upwards and also to adults. In the children's case I ask the parents' approval and mention references to Delius's dissolute past but there's never a problem.

There could, however, be a problem in getting a copy. Consider trying: it offers an opening into the music of three or four contrasted composers.

Ooh, I studied this for O-level music 40+ years ago! I really enjoyed it, and can still remember memorising all the musical quotes for the different characters (though sadly, not the quotes themselves! ).

I loved Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique at around the same time, chiefly because I was terribly interested in the French Revolution, having done "A Tale of Two Cities" for O-level English Lit. Probably a bit too dark for a 10 year old though.

For a switched-on kid of that age, the current BBC4 series 'symphony' might work.

More important, however, is Radio 3 blasting out at all opportunities You never know when he might really like a piece, and you'll look back and find it was for euphonium...and there's his instrument of love! Well, it won't necessarily be euphonium, but I went for worst cast scenario....

And, if he's a smart well-behaved kid, he's not too old to go to a concert. For real. (You can always leave at the interval if he's flagging.) There's nothing, absolutely nothing, that can replicate the impact of a live orchestra.

And of course there's The Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens. I really loved that as a child. My dad used play Bach and Beethoven all the time, and I still really love them more than other composers.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

I am so grateful to you all for your suggestions, and delighted that this topic has proven of interest!

My son listens to a fair amount of classical music already, not least because my children learn by the Suzuki method, and as he becomes more open-minded I'm sure that he'll engage with more of what Radio 3 has to offer. We have also been to several concerts (we're lucky that, living in Central London, the opportunity is there, although I can only afford the cheapest seats - I'm sure he'd love to be sitting in the front row of the stalls, on top of the orchestra!). We saw the Simon Bolivar Bolivian Youth Orchestra at an open rehearsal at the Royal Festival Hall, and he's seen a couple of people he knows playing at Wigmore Hall, for example.

We currently spend a lot of time in the car, however, hence my question about CD's. Having said that, I'm sure the bio-pics would be of interest and will certainly give them a go.

What's so exciting is, he is genuinely enthused when he hits upon something that engages him, eg he went on a chamber music course in the summer and came back raving about Haydn - a composer he'd never come across in 6 books of Suzuki. It's so unpredictable though - he loves several pieces by Vivaldi that he has played, but has no interest in listening to the Four Seasons.

Again, thank you very much because your suggestions have been invaluable. I hope that some of you with young musicians will invest in the Darren Henley CD's because they are very engaging. I'd still love to hear if any of you have had an experience of a recording that has really hooked your child (preferably not to the extent of them switching instrument, though!)