Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Previous titles in Schott Music’s Student Edition series have impressed, so with the arrival of the latest title, Elementary Pieces by the Spanish painter, sculptor and composer Narcisa Freixas (1859-1926), hopes for another worthwhile addition to the repertoire ride high.
In common with the recent Schott Student Edition of Amy Beach’s Children’s Music (reviewed here), and following on from her three graded anthologies of music by Women Composers (reviewed here), this new edition has been put together by British pedagogue Melanie Spanswick, who would seem to have made it her crusade to revive forgotten works by women.
So who was Narcisa Freixas, and what are her pieces like? Let’s find out…
Narcisa Freixas
Freixas was born in Sabadell in the municipality of Catalonia, Spain. She was fortunate to receive the privileged education customary for daughters of wealthy families, including private lessons in painting, sculpture and music.
Freixas inherited an interest in popular song from her mother, and she began to compose her own songs from a young age, enjoying swift success. From the age of seventeen she studied with Juan Bautista Pujol, who also taught Granados and Albéniz. However, during early adulthood Freixas concentrated mainly on painting and sculpture.
Spanswick also highlights Freitas’s feminist credentials:
“Ahead of her time, Freixas was associated with the first Catalan feminists who were centred around the magazine Feminal which defended female social justices, such as women’s rights to education and their access to paid work.”
Freixas married a doctor, and they had three children; however, only their son survived. From 1905, she returned to composing, again with considerable commercial and critical success. Her most well-known work is Piano infantil (Children’s Piano), first published in 1918, and resurrected for this new Schott Student Edition.
Aside from composing, Freixas wrote several plays, and taught singing and choral music in schools; she became well known throughout Spain for her pedagogic work.
She also founded Cultura Musical Popular, an organisation through which she channeled her social and educational projects, which included bringing music to hospitals and prisons. Sadly this, which she considered her most important achievement, disappeared after her death in 1926 from an infection.
Elementary Piano Pieces
Piano infantil originally appeared in two volumes, both included here, and totalling 14 short character pieces altogether. The pieces have titles that would no doubt have spoken to the imaginations of children in their time:
Volume 1
• They say that a rose
• The Plumb Soldier
• The Mouse
• A Little Shade
• The Piggy Bank
• The Dancer
• The Sleep
• The Bird
Volume 2
• The Fair-Haired Doll
• The Cute Doll
• The Doll Which is Still Small
• The Sleeping Doll
• The Dancing Doll
• The Doll
Spanswick helpfully suggests that the pieces in Volume 1 would be suitable at around UK Grades 1-2 (elementary), while those in Volume 2 might be considered Grades 2-4 (early intermediate). Were a young player today to use this book, it might therefore be one they dip into over an extended time in their learning.
This is not, however, standard pedagogic fare from today’s perspective. For example, the tonal sequence of pieces in Volume 1 offers the following key scheme, which hardly match Grade 1 or 2 expectations:
• They say that a rose – A minor
• The Plumb Soldier – E flat major
• The Mouse – E major
• A Little Shade – C major
• The Piggy Bank – F major
• The Dancer – A flat major
• The Sleep – A flat major
• The Bird – A minor
Several of the pieces across both volumes require an octave hand stretch, while The Cute Doll even includes the interval of a tenth in the left hand, closing cadence. A well-developed legato pedalling technique is required across both volumes, too.
A pedagogic strength of this music is that it frequently makes equal balanced use of both hands. As exercises in expression, some pieces include detailed dynamics while several include none at all, giving the player freedom to develop their own.
Musically, the folk song influence is a dominant characteristic here, and I enjoyed the Spanish flavour that infuses the pieces. Several of the pieces are harmonically static, perhaps imitating the drone of bagpipes that is a common feature of much traditional music from the region.
I particularly enjoyed The Dancer, whose A flat major theme is repeated a semitone lower in G major, suggestive of the Phrygian colour common in flamenco, and The Bird, which oscillates between harmonic minor and melodic minor phrases. The Sleeping Doll has a particularly delicious melody, accompanied by the charming lilt of a barcarolle.
In short, while these compositions hardly ascend to the dizzy heights of Freixas’s brilliant compatriot Enrique Granados, these are nevertheless delightful discoveries, some of which I anticipate may find their way into future festival and exam syllabi.
The Schott Student Edition
Having praised previous entries in the Schott Student Edition series, I can happily report that the winning qualities of the imprint are all present and correct again here.
The score has a single but effective presentation, with card cover and 28 cream pages within. Notation is beautifully and spaciously engraved in a crisp music font, each of the fourteen pieces occupying a single page. Spanswick has added editorial fingering, metronome marks and pedal markings, all most welcome.
The book begins with her detailed Preface, which offers a helpful overview of the composer’s life and work, and appears in English and German.
The same is true of the Teaching Notes, which appear to the rear of the book and take up four pages in each language. These offer in-depth advice and, though somewhat dry in their content, will be welcomed by pedagogues keen to tease more from the music than always meets the eye.
In her Preface, Spanswick enthuses,
“These charming works were illustrated by Pedro Tomé Esquius. Freixas’s compositions were always strongly influenced by popular music, and Esquius’s clear drawings, with apparently simple lines and soft colours, complemented them beautifully.”
It would have been wonderful to see some of these original illustrations, but alas they are not reproduced here.
Closing Thoughts
When considering any publication an obvious question for the reviewer is, “who is this for?” and in this instance the answer is not actually as obvious as might be expected. Though a superb publication of appealing childrens music, it will most likely be welcomed for its niche interest rather than mainstream appeal.
While the volume is undoubtedly an attractive performing edition, the tone of the Teaching Notes and general presentation suggest that pedagogues are the primary market. The rediscovery of these pieces equally seems guaranteed to receive academic interest.
Whatever one concludes, this is a warmly welcome edition. As already noted, some of the pieces here are especially attractive, and would make distinctive repertoire choices for players at a suitable stage in their development.
Special kudos must go to Melanie Spanswick for her notable and continuing contribution to the rediscovery of forgotten music by women composers, along with gratitude to Schott Music for supporting this worthwhile venture.
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