Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Jakub Metelka is one of the notable new names contributing to the burgeoning piano education literature in recent years. His distinctive music stands out by avoiding clichés, presenting imaginative and thoughtful challenge, earning him recognition as a significant voice in the developing pianist’s repertoire.
I have reviewed all three of Metelka’s previous collections:
Jakub Metelka: Modern Piano Studies
These imaginative and appealing miniatures cover every major and minor key, addressing important aspects of technique and notation-reading at upper intermediate level.
Jakub Metelka: Little Virtuoso
Metelka has created a superb resource for the ‘Little Virtuosos’ of the title: I cannot think of another collection that so imaginatively caters for eager youngsters who have quickly reached early advanced level.
Jakub Metelka • The Secret Garden
Jakob Metelka’s ‘Secret Garden’ presents 15 “modern nocturnes” for prodigious youngsters, and is thus a more lyrical counterpoint to his ‘Little Virtuoso’ collection. And these pieces are again superb…
Metelka’s pieces often have a clear learning objective, combined with appealing musical content. But many of them prove to be rather harder to play than first impressions suggest: he clearly aims to challenge learners, while expanding their musical understanding, technique, and expressive engagement.
Now he brings us a fourth collection. Puppet Theatre is aimed at less advanced players, delivering his easiest pieces to date. But are they really all that easy, or is Metelka up to his usual tricks? Let’s find out!
20 Short Miniatures
Those who have previously swooned over Bärenreiter’s beautifully presented editions of Jakub Metelka’s music will be equally impressed with this new addition to the set. Puppet Theatre, as expected from this publisher, exudes a luxury aesthetic throughout.
Presented in a slightly larger format than that preferred by most other publishers, with a soft matt card cover and high quality cream paper within, the printing throughout is top notch, the music engraving spacious and easily readable.
Like the previous three titles, the book is blessed with delightful black-and-white illustrations by Andrea Tachezy, which compliment the composer’s quirky imagination, and are sure to inspire the engagement of younger learners.
The pieces themselves have a rather whimsical character, and offer a good-humoured take on the imagery of traditional folk tales. They are titled:
- Little Bell
- The Jester
- Fairyland
- The Wise King
- Funeral March
- Silhouette
- The Wizard
- The Cursed Kingdom
- The Princess
- Brigand Raid
- The Enchanted Forest
- The Knight
- Dwarves
- Granny’s Cottage
- The Spell
- The Prince and his Horse
- Wedding Day
- Dance of the Ladies-in-Waiting
- Dainty Ring
- The Curtain
Beyond the titles, the book doesn’t offer an overarching narrative connecting these pieces, but inviting learners to compose their own story to accompany the book would surely be a wonderful and creative approach. And I am sure doing so would inspire home practice, enhance enjoyment of the pieces, and foster autonomous interpretation.
Educational Wins
How difficult are these pieces? I would suggest they are early intermediate, best suited to players at around UK Grade 3 who have set their sights on rapidly acquiring more advanced piano skills. In common with Metelka’s previous books, Puppet Theatre is packed with educational content designed to foster understanding and introduce technique.
None of the pieces in Puppet Theatre lasts longer than one page, but a variety of musical and technical challenges are included, including keys with two sharps/flats, frequent semiquavers, legato dyads, octave jumps, cross rhythms between hands, effective triad transitions in the left hand, and legato pedalling.
As with Metelka’s previous piano music, these pieces generally defy predictability, making them a more interesting reading challenge. However, they mostly fit well under the hand once carefully learnt, and in this easier collection larger stretches have been avoided, so that the pieces will suit smaller hand spans.
Alongside the quirky, angular melodies that are becoming a trademark of Metelka’s composition, there is a lyricism to his writing that especially shines in slower pieces, notably in The Wise King, Silhouette, The Prince and his Horse, and Dainty Ring. These pieces are ideal for fostering a singing cantabile tone and sense of legato shaping.
Further supporting learners, audio recordings of all the pieces played by the composer are available online from the publisher’s website.
Closing Thoughts
Jakub Metelka has produced another rewarding educational title with Puppet Theatre, and while his music won’t appeal to all learners, those who enjoy imaginative content presented within a fairly traditional framework, and who embrace challenge in their learning, will absolutely love this latest collection.
Bärenreiter are best known for their unimpeachable academic urtext editions, but their small catalogue of pedagogic titles continues to impress, and Puppet Theatre certainly retains the high quality for which the publisher is so widely admired.
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