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Your New Monthly Update
As Spring turns to Summer, May promises to be another special month. Where I’m based we have three Bank Holidays and a Coronation, suggesting good opportunities for relaxation, enjoyment, and time with family and friends. I hope wherever you are in the world you will find time to polish and refresh your piano repertoire in the coming weeks…
In May, female composers will be very much to the fore on the Pianodao website; upcoming reviews include two excellent new collections of Piano Music by Women Composers curated by Immanuela Gruenberg for Hal Leonard, as well as new and recent publications from Penelope Roskell, Krystyna Gowik, Eugénie Rocherolle and Mona Rejino.
I am excited to say that the month should also see the publication of my next Willis Music project, for which I have selected and edited music by Japanese composer Naoko Ikeda. Watch out for a full announcement very soon!
And in the meantime, there’s plenty of music to catch up on from April, in case you missed any of these reviews:
The Restoration of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
The piano music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is surely one of the great treasures of the solo repertoire, too long overlooked but now rightly being rediscovered and brought back into the spotlight.
Chopin • Etudes Op.10
With the recent arrival of Roy Howat’s stunning new edition of the Etudes Op.10, Edition Peters’ ‘Complete Chopin: New Critical Edition’ is continuing to develop into a leading choice for any Chopin player…
The Jazzin’ About Anthology
‘The Jazzin’ About Piano Anthology’ brings together 41 of Pam Wedgwood’s favourite pieces from across the series, presented progressively in one volume from early elementary to intermediate level (UK Initial to Grade 5)…
The Cinematic Piano Playlist
Once again, Faber have identified a target audience and hit the bullseye. This isn’t perhaps a collection that will appeal to all readers, but for its target demographic it definitely packs a stunt punch…
John Williams • The Fabelmans
This is quite simply a sublime score, a masterpiece which absolutely deserved its Oscars nod. Don’t hesitate having a listen, and a play, for yourself!
The First 50 Chords
Wouldn’t it be good if there was a simple primer introducing all the basic chords and chord symbols in a logical sequence, linked to their use in well-known songs? Well now there is…
A Dozen A Day • All Year Round
As useful and truly indispensable a resource today as it was when Edna-Mae Burnam first developed the books back in the 1950’s, “A Dozen A Day: All Year Round” is a truly essential classic…
Discovering Burgmüller
Burgmüller’s three collections of piano etudes, Op.100, Op.105 and Op.109 have been cornerstones of the piano pedagogy literature for over a century and a half, and remain as popular today as ever…
The Intermediate Piano Sonata Collection
A new supplementary addition to Faber Music’s “Piano Trainer” series, The Intermediate Piano Sonata Collection will be warmly welcomed by all who enjoy the classical style…
Solos for the Sanctuary
Glenda Austin’s Solos for the Sanctuary series obviously stands apart from the music I typically review on Pianodao. These are special niche publications whose particular audience seems obvious, and for whom they have been superbly put together…
Composer Focus
On the subject of women composers, I was delighted to spot that June Armstrong’s wonderful publications are now available from the Musicroom website here, meaning that Pianodao Tea Room members can now use their 20% discount code for super savings on this great catalogue.
Several of June’s titles have been reviewed on Pianodao. Here’s the links to all my reviews:
June Armstrong: Music Box
With this new publication, Armstrong brings us 27 compositions for elementary players (around UK Grades 1-3), with each piece celebrating a different musical instrument from around the world.
June Armstrong: Take Ten
Top composer June Armstrong’s “Take Ten” delivers 14 brand new ‘Jazz Miniatures’ for piano solo, suitable for elementary players.
June Armstrong: Dreams and Dragons
Offering twelve reveries for piano, “Dreams and Dragons” delivers an inspiring mix of original music for players at around UK Grade 6 level…
June Armstrong: Sea World
Sea World contains 17 new “Impressions for Piano”, aimed at players between UK Grades 1 to 3 (Elementary to Early Intermediate standard).
June Armstrong: Six Little Preludes & Fugues
Suitable for early intermediate players, each of June Armstrong’s Preludes and Fugues gently offers a fresh spin to an age-old format.
June Armstrong: Safari
Aimed at “beginner to pre-grade 1 standard”, the most striking aspect of this collection is the brilliant and vivid portrayal of the subject matter…
June Armstrong: Stars
In an increasingly crowded field of good piano music, “Stars” stands out as a hugely worthwhile and imaginative addition to the intermediate pianist’s repertoire. Suitable for Grades 4-5.
A Final Tweet?
If you follow Pianodao on Twitter, please be aware that among the various changes on that platform, they have just pulled the plug on automatic sharing of blog content. This, from my host provider:
This will obviously hit writers, publishers, media and content creators very widely. I will keep my channel there in case the situation resolves, and in the meantime you can of course follow Pianodao on other major social platforms.
The simplest way to stay up to date with new blog posts and reviews is by subscribing to receive email notifications:
Graded Gillock
I am really thrilled by the positive reception that my Graded Gillock books have received. Here’s an excerpt from David Barton’s review on his site:
“I get quite a number of books sent to me for review. For many, as much as I value and enjoy their concept and content, I do wonder if they’ll stand the test of time. Then, just occasionally, some books come along which you know you’ll still be using and enjoying for many years into the future. This series of three books, Graded Gillock, edited by Andrew Eales and published by The Willis Music Company, is just one, or in this case, three, of those collections… One of your ‘must-buys’ of 2023!”
You can find out more about the books here:
STUDIO NEWS
Congratulations to my student Andrew on achieving a Distinction (136) in his ABRSM Grade 8 exam. A superb result, well done!
There will be very limited spaces for new students at the studio in the autumn, so if interested, now’s the time to apply.
Find out more here
The Pianodao Club will meet on Monday 15th May at the Chrysalis Theatre for this month’s get together.
Find out more here
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