Orchestra Guide for Young Listeners - a piece of music for a symphony orchestra written by the English composer Benjamin Britten in 1945 with the subtitle “Variations and Fugue on Purcell's Theme”. Written specifically for Matheson’s documentary “Orchestra Instruments”; the soundtrack for this film was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent . In concert, the composition was first performed under his own direction performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946.
Together with Saint-Saëns ’ Carnival of Animals and Prokofiev ’s symphonic tale я Petya and the Wolf ’, the Guidebook is one of the most popular educational music for children, and is also considered one of Britten’s most famous works.