Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Angeline Bell’s Lyrical and Quirky Notebooks were a highlight of 2023, and so much so that in my review of them here I concluded,
“With these two collections, Angeline Bell has certainly burst onto the scene with music that has the same explosive energy as the flora and fauna erupting from the pianos on her book covers. On the strength of these, her debut publications, she can be greeted as a major talent.”
Editions Musica Ferrum recently published Bell’s third Notebook, My Garden Notebook. This latest collection is suitable for players from elementary to early intermediate, around UK Initial to Grade 4. and offers:
“24 easy and melodious piano solos inspired by nature.”
Time to find out whether this new collection lives up to the inspiration of its predecessors…
Easy and Melodious Solos
Bell has already proved her ability to spin a wonderful melody, but with this collection she also proves her mettle as a composer of easy pedagogic pieces for the near beginner.
The 24 pieces cover quite a range of progression, and appear in approximate order of difficulty:
- Starting Out
- Getting Better
- Moody
- Moving On
- Icicles
- Gentle Breeze
- Passing Time
- Twinkling Lights
- Ripples
- Thinking of You
- The Windmill
- First Light
- Pottering About
- Siesta
- Footsteps in the Snow
- The Caterpillar
- The Hedgehog
- The Frozen Moon
- Alien Mushrooms
- Regrets
- The Silent Owl
- Fireflies
- Water Lillies
- The Golden Koi
You can get a flavour of these pieces from the publisher’s promo video, which similarly begins with the easier pieces before working towards the most difficult in the album:
I know from my own composing experiences that it is near impossible to write original music in a five-finger position, still more difficult to write something distinctive, and with special character.
Bell’s easier pieces here are certainly attractive, but it would be misplaced to expect anything particularly revolutionary. Pedagogic strengths include Bell’s emphasis on developing a legato line in the earliest pieces, and the expressive variety within each composition. And importantly, I think they have sufficient appeal that learners of all ages will want to spend time practising them!
Bell’s musical personality comes more into its own as the pieces progress in difficulty. The majority of pieces might be described as lyrical, and many would be at home had Bell included them in her Lyrical Notebook; some are more Quirky however, including the bluesy The Caterpillar, characterful The Hedgehog and menacing Alien Mushrooms.
Particular favourites also include Siesta, The Silent Owl, and the beautifully melodic Water Lilies and The Golden Koi, which conclude the book.
The 40-page publication itself appears in Editions Musica Ferrum’s usual house style, with thick card covers and high quality cream pages within.
The composer has written Performance Notes for all 24 pieces, adding to the purchase value. The notation is well spaced throughout, in a good size, and superbly engraved. Ample fingering is included, too.
Closing Thoughts
It seems to me important to introduce players at elementary to intermediate level to a wide range of musical styles and composers’ voices. At a time where there are a growing number of excellent anthologies, elementary method-based collections and graded books, investing in a folio of music by a single, as-yet relatively unknown composer is certainly a luxury, but can happily be recommended here!
A strength of My Garden Notebook is that the pieces within the collection range considerably in level, and that they do so progressively and sequentially. This is a collection which a developing player (whether child or adult) could enjoy over a number of years alongside a range of other varied repertoire and pedagogic materials.
Indeed, such is the quality and value of Bell’s music that it might inspire accelerated progress in the development of those who are enthusiastic for her next piece in the book. Given the scope of this collection, and for those reasons, I can actually recommend it even more strongly than the previous two albums.
My Garden Notebook undoubtedly confirms, as I suspected from the Lyrical and Quirky notebooks which preceded it, that Angeline Bell really is a superb composer of appealing educational piano music, and one from whom I suspect we will hear much more.
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