Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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I have been a fan of Adrian Lord’s music since he sent me his Piano Meditations collection a couple of years ago, which I reviewed here. His follow up, Piano Postcards, impressed me still more, and has already proven popular with adult students.
Although self-published, Lord’s music books are among the most luxuriant I have ever seen, and are an aesthetic delight in every sense, right down to the packaging he personally sends them in (which students and friends of mine have also commented on, so it’s not just me!).
The latest book to arrive in the usual metallic blue padded envelope, Elements is an anthology of ten pieces, bringing together the two easiest from each of Lord’s previous books and adding in two new compositions. The aim has been to produce an easier collection, accessible and suited to intermediate players.
Hand-picked to inspire
Introducing the new book, the composer writes,
“Often when I’m performing, members of the audience approach me to talk about playing my music but are worried the pieces might be too challenging for them. In the past, I’ve looked through my albums and directed them to specific pieces with fewer notes or less complex hand movements. Of course each book also contains pieces that are a little more advanced, and it got me thinking about putting together a whole new collection of compositions that would be more suitable for intermediate pianists.”
Elements is that book, and another triumph. Offering “a selection of hand-picked pieces to inspire intermediate pianists”, the collection features the following:
- Shimmer
- The Wedding (from Journey: Twelve Romances)
- Space (from Piano Meditations)
- Northern Lights (from Sky Blue Piano)
- Wish You Were Here (from Piano Postcards)
- Azzurro
- The Misty Isle (from Sky Blue Piano)
- Darkest Sky (from Piano Postcards)
- Little Star (from Journey: Twelve Romances)
- Evermore (from Piano Meditations)
This selection offers an attractive cross-section of Lord’s music, and without too much repetition for anyone who has bought one of his previous books.
Here’s a reminder of one of Adrian Lord’s pieces, included in the collection:
The pieces themselves are unchanged, except Darkest Sky, which is a longer version of Dark Sky, as it appeared in Piano Postcards. Here it is in full:
Of the two brand new pieces, Azzurro stands out as a likely favourite.
The difficulty level of these pieces is around UK Grade 4, will comfortably suit intermediate players, and the addition of fingering suggestions is especially welcome. These are fairly generous throughout, and effectively considered.
Lord has also added brackets to indicate hard-to-reach notes that can optionally be omitted should they be too difficult to play. He has however left pedalling to the player’s discretion (except in Darkest Sky), suggesting that the sustain pedal should be used freely, generally changing with each new chord.
The Publication
Adrian Lord’s self-publications are always a particular treat, and Elements is no exception.
The tasteful cover artwork (by Millie Moth) cleverly weaves in colours from each of Lord’s previous album covers to represent the chosen pieces here, giving visual coherence to the composer’s growing catalogue, while the inside cover features colour reproductions of those albums and an artist photo.
Within, the pages are a soft cream colour, and though (unlike Piano Postcards) there are no further illustration, and this is essentially a simple score, there is an acute sense that across the publication’s 28 pages, Lord has poured care into every detail of the presentation and notation engraving.
Major publishing houses are on a streak producing stunning scores at present, demonstrating that print music has a robust future, but with Adrian Lord’s scores there is always an unexpected sense that he has single-handedly raised the bar. Elements is, quite simply, stunning.
Closing Thoughts
For intermediate players (and their teachers) looking for easy-going contemporary music that will effortlessly encourage beautiful playing, Adrian Lord remains a composer in a special league, and Elements offers unparalleled access to his most accessible pieces.
I simply cannot praise this publication highly enough. To find out why, you can purchase a score from the composer’s website here.
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