Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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This year is my 50th at the piano and, oh my, how the piano scene has changed in half a century! So it is fitting that the latest publication I have had the honour of working on celebrates the positive transformation of our repertoire in recent years.
Written in partnership with the brilliant musician, composer, broadcaster, and writer Jack Pepper, and with a foreword by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Music We Might Have Played brings together nineteen solo pieces in a wide range of styles, written by composers from around the world whose piano music we were both unaware of when growing up.
Jeneba’s Story
Even the exciting young concert pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason experienced her musical education without access to much of this music, as she writes in her generous and very personal Foreword to our anthology:
“As a child learning my grade exam pieces and discovering the magical world of classical repertoire, I was aware of a history of composers and performers who were not like me. This, I was told, was “Western Classical Music.” Wonderful as it was, I entered as a newcomer and an outsider. Many children from a range of backgrounds and family histories encounter classical music in this way, as though they must tentatively approach and engage with a new way of thinking, feeling, and expressing themselves. Classical music, we are assured, belongs essentially to someone else and always has…”
photo: Johanna Berghorn © Sony Music Entertainment
“… this book will help to broaden our understanding, bringing forgotten composers or compositions to light so they feature alongside those I was already able to access as a child. Modern piano repertoire represents an exciting future. There’s so much to discover that keeps me interested, energetic, and positive. I love the works I played from childhood. I am also full of hope and enthusiasm for the increasing versatility and inclusion within classical music.
This book gives us ‘the music we might have played.’ I look back at my younger self and wonder how my imagination might have taken flight with these pieces on my piano.”
Please read on to find out more about this landmark collection, published by Hal Leonard and available now, including the full list of included pieces…
We might have played…
In common with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Jack and I have certainly been musically inspired by the wonders of the core classical piano literature. But we have similarly also hungered for a broader, richer vein of music, one that is fundamentally more diverse and culturally enriching.
When I was developing my love of piano playing in the 1970s and 80s, the popular teaching methods and studies of that time led inexorably towards “The Masters,” a core repertoire of music by predominantly German-speaking composers, supplemented by a select few from France and other European countries.
Prevailing wisdom at that time dismissed great works of the Salon era as hackneyed and trivial. Music by women and composers away from Europe was largely ignored, perhaps forgotten. Haydn, Mendelssohn, Grieg, and others were often dismissed as lightweight. C.P.E. Bach (now rightly regarded as one of the greatest composers of the mid-eighteenth century) was merely a footnote in the biographies of his revered father.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in store when I took on this project was the discovery that Jack and Jeneba, though much younger, had also grown up with a similarly limited exposure to the wider, more inclusive repertoire that is available for our instrument.
As Jack writes in the book,
“As a curious seven-year-old the principal draw of classical music was, initially, its sheer range. Now, as an old and haggard twenty-something, that remains as true as ever! Far from dusty, fixed, or predictable, classical music is an ever-evolving treasure trove that reveals as much about the present as it does the past.
I’m proud that in recent years, we have acknowledged how “classical” can mean many things and represent a variety of styles and stories. Too many names were written out of history on account of their gender, race, or musical leanings. Melodic pieces finding favour in the home were subsequently trivialised as “lightweight” salon music; but I’d argue the art of writing a melody that carries contains as much craft as a multi-movement symphony.”
How fortunate we are that such views have latterly been replaced by a more positive appreciation of the broader piano repertoire. We have been enriched and illuminated by the superb works unearthed by scholars, reevaluated by concert artists and educators, and embraced by genuine enthusiasts everywhere.
Music to treasure…
The pieces Jack and I have selected and written about in our collection present the tip of this amazing iceberg, and are suitable for a broad uptake by early advanced pianists. Some of these works have already become well-known in recent years, while others have yet to enjoy their moment in the spotlight. Perhaps this will be their time to shine!
Here is the full sequence of pieces, which appear roughly in their order of difficulty from around UK Grade 5 to 8:
- Henry Thacker Burleigh: Through Moanin’ Pines
- Rentarō Taki: Minuet and Trio
- Elisabetta de Gambarini: Grazioso
- Robert Nathaniel Dett: Honey
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Solfeggietto
- John Field: Nocturne in B-flat Major
- Alfredo Casella: Galop
- Cécile Chaminade: Valse Mignonne
- Cécile Hartog: Summer Song
- Ignacio Cervantes: Adiós a Cuba
- Teresa Carreño: Le sommeil de l’enfant (Berceuse)
- Tekla Bądarzewska: The Maiden’s Prayer
- Amy Beach: Scottish Legend
- Florence Price: On the Top of a Tree
- Manuel Ponce: Intermezzo in E Minor
- Gabriel Fauré: Romance sans paroles
- Mélanie Bonis: Gai Printemps
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Minuet in G
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Allegro Moderato
Pianists approaching the higher grades will enjoy this music alongside their study of the established literature, and many of the pieces would suit grade assessments, recitals, and auditions.
Beyond the world of education, there are of course many enthusiastic players who share our enjoyment in discovering music that we have previously overlooked. We anticipate that lots of players are going to absolutely love this anthology!
A publication to treasure…
Hal Leonard have presented this anthology as a deluxe 88-page book, with a classy, smooth matt cover, enduring binding, outstanding engraving, and all superbly printed on luxury cream paper.
Following the title and contents pages, along with Jeneba’s Foreword, Jack and I have written short introductions to the collection. After this, you will find notes about each of the nineteen pieces, where we each separately share our personal thoughts and insights.
Jack writes with infectious enthusiasm, sharing the fascinating background to each piece, and including a rich abundance of entertaining stories to engage learners and players. Following this, my own notes contribute practice, teaching, and performing tips for each work, which will hopefully provide practical and musical support.
The music scores follow, and their engraving is spacious throughout. A few fingering suggestions have been included, and in all the pieces we have aimed for faithful, authoritative, and accessible scores appropriate for today’s pianists and performers.
Closing Thoughts
These are pieces which Jack, Jeneba, and I have recently enjoyed adding to our own repertoire, and you might even catch us playing some of them in recordings and videos before too long!
With this sumptuously presented anthology you too can discover forgotten treasures, and reacquaint yourself with those you may already know.
We reckon that all these pieces now deserve recognition as permanent cornerstones of the advancing pianist’s repertoire, and very much hope that this music will continue to bring inspiration and joy to you, and to many more players around the world.
This is the Music We Might Have Played…
…but now’s the time! Don’t miss it:
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