Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Recognised the world over as one of our most prolific and successful composers of contemporary repertoire for developing instrumentalists, Pam Wedgwood was recently awarded the Art of Piano Education Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her significant impact on piano education over the course of her career.
Rather than resting on her laurels, Wedgwood now returns with a brand new collection of enchanting piano pieces for intermediate players. With Piano Dreaming she has branched into fresh musical territory, bringing us an album of 12 original pieces in a “neoclassical style”.
Let’s see whether this new collection is the dream…
Wedgwood’s neoclassical pieces
The twelve pieces in Piano Dreaming will suit later intermediate players (around Grade 5). While reaching out to a new audience, they will appeal to players who enjoyed Wedgwood’s art-inspired series comprising Piano Gallery, Piano Meditations, and Piano Seascapes.
Having wisely spaced out these publications over a period of a few years, Wedgwood’s significant and loyally devoted audience will now undoubtedly be eager for, and greet this latest new collection with enthusiasm.
In doing so, perhaps they will agree with me that these fresh, original pieces are among the composer’s best work:
- Floating
- Sirius
- The Secret
- Chasing Your Dreams
- Resolution
- A Distant Memory
- Suspended Animation
- Sliding Doors
- Forest of Dreams
- Contemplation
- Night Owl
- Shadows on the Wall
Notably, Pam Wedgwood has adapted her musical approach to absorb the influence of the recent fashion for reflective, slowly evolving pieces, pioneered by composers such as Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter and others.
In many of the pieces she channels the evocative “neoclassical style” of these composers, adding sparse post-minimal textures and steadily unfolding piano figurations to her already large gamut of compositional techniques.
Happily though, the music is never derivative, her adept craftsmanship and musical personality always shining through, the fusion of styles resulting in music which feels at once idiomatic, but dusted with a sprinkling of originality and surprise.
From the chromatic rise and descent of Floating, to the flowing beauty of A Distant Memory and (deceptively complex) simplicity of Sliding Doors, the collection throws up one favourite after another, but perhaps my ultimate choice would be the wonderfully affecting Forest of Dreams.
The Publication
The gorgeous cover printed on matt card announces this new publication in style, and leaves no doubt as to the reflective mood of the music within.
As a whole the book proves to be a fairly simple but very tasteful affair, comprising 40 pages printed on white paper.
With a contents page at the start, and credits at the rear, the book is given over to the scores, each of which is preceded by a few words from the composers herself, introducing the music and its context as well as offering tips for practice and interpretation, a thoughtful bonus.
The music engraving is well spaced and appears in Faber’s usual house style. Minimal, but very useful, fingering is included to support independent practice, and the scores themselves benefit from Wedgwood’s usual attention to expressive detail.
Closing Thoughts
Regular readers will know that I am partial to this style of music. How wonderful to find such a fresh, compelling, intelligently composed set of pieces that channel the popular contemporary vibe.
Pam Wedgwood’s music is always distinctive, and once again these pieces have a quality and level of musical detail that players and teachers alike will enjoy digging into. Audiences, meanwhile, will likely be mesmerised by the beauty and expression of these compositions.
After a glittering career, and at an age when many would be putting their feet up, Wedgwood continues to surprise us with her new projects, infectious enthusiasm, and boundless musical invention. Piano Dreaming can be considered yet another career peak, and hints at far more to come!
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