Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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A couple of years ago, Hal Leonard launched a new series of repertoire collections under the banner of ‘Expanding the Repertoire’, the first two books being a couple of volumes edited by Leah Claiborne called Piano Music of Black Composers. Reviewing them at the time, I concluded that although the two volumes could be welcomed simply as an inclusive diversification of the pedagogy literature, nevertheless,
“…the quality of the content makes a compelling case for introducing this music to all our elementary to intermediate students, regardless of their heritage.”
I am glad to see that the series has now itself been expanded, with two complementary volumes of music by Latin American composers. Once again, the Level 1 book will suit elementary to late elementary players (UK Initial to Grade 2), while Level 2 caters for early to late intermediate (Grades 2-5).
Compiled and edited by Desireé González-Miller, Piano Music of Latin American Composers is an eye-catching resource, so let’s take a look…
Series Overview
The two books are beautifully presented, as were their predecessors, with gloss card covers, staple binding, and white paper within. They begin with an identical Foreword in which González-Miller explains,
“While there are collections of Latin-American popular or folk songs arranged for piano at various levels, a void has existed in collections written by classical Latin-American composers specifically tailored to beginner students, until now. This collection features such music, accompanied by descriptions of cultural elements, historical background, and pedagogical insights to aid the teacher and student in their discovery of this music.”
The insights referred to appear as an extended section at the start of each book, which also includes short composer biographies. This wealth of background material, superbly written by González-Miller, is hugely welcome: for most, not only will the music be new, but so will many of the featured composers.
In the first book, the Pedagogical and Cultural Notes occupy a full five pages, while the composer biographies are allocated two, and in the second they extend to six and three pages respectively. The books also include Spanish renditions which take up a similar range of pages before the music scores themselves appear.
Teachers and adult players will find the notes on each piece especially helpful and detailed, providing significant background insights and useful technical and practice tips, while the composer biographies offer fairly basic professional résumés which I found rather less engaging.
The scores which follow are superbly engraved, with spacious, well-sized notation appropriate to the levels, and with intentionally blank pages to minimise turns within pieces. The pieces are presented in progressive order of difficulty, and helpful editorial fingerings have been added throughout.
Elementary to Late Elementary
The first of the two books has 44 pages, of which 22 comprise of the following music suitable for UK Initial to Grade 2 players:
- Desireé González-Miller: Cempasúchil (Aztec Marigold)
- Desireé González-Miller: La Piñata (The Piñata)
- Eduardo Cáceres: La Pulga (The Flea)
- Alfredo Nicolás Otero: Arroyo Cristalino De Mendoza (Crystalline Stream Of Mendoza)
- Alfredo Nicolás Otero: Trote, Trote, Caballito (Trot, Trot, Little Horse)
- Manuel Ponce: Danza De Los Tecuanes (Dance Of The Tigers)
- Blas Galindo: El Gato Mimas (Mimas The Cat)
- Manuel Ponce: Cielito Lindo (Beautiful Darling)
- Oscar Lorenzo Fernández: Lamento (Lament)
- Mario Ruiz Armengol: Gina
- Oscar Lorenzo Fernández: Despertar (Awakening)
- Mario Ruiz Armengol: Sextas Alegres (Happy Sixths)
- Desireé González-Miller: Pan Dulce (Sweet Bread)
- Manuel Ponce: Los Xtoles (Mayan Song)
In many if not most cases, these are distinctive and memorably enjoyable pieces, which bring pedagogic quality and musical distinction to the beginner repertoire.
The first piece in the collection, González-Miller’s own composition Cempasúchil (Aztec Marigold), consists of one hand playing at a time, single notes in five-note positions. At 72 bars, it is much longer than a typical Initial Grade piece, but could easily be managed by a player at this level.
La Piñata has a particularly catchy tune, which makes similar technical demands on the player. Both these pieces include crossing hands and move positions around the piano, adding fun and engagement.
The pieces which follow gently progress to the easier end of Grade 2, and cover a surprisingly diverse range of styles and moods. Most are inspired by the folk music and idioms of Latin America, written by composers of the mid-twentieth century who were treading a parallel pathway to that taken by their European contemporaries such as Bartók and Kabalevsky.
In general, these are character pieces in which an understanding of the creative intention is central to a successful performance, underlining the importance of reading those background notes provided earlier in the book.
Early to Late Intermediate
The second collection is notably chunkier, with 80 pages, and offering a wider selection of pieces suitable for UK Grade 2 to Grade 6 players:
- Luis Gianneo: Ronda (Round)
- Alfredo Nicolás Otero: Pampeana Argentina
- Mario Ruiz Armengol: Buenos días! (Good Morning!)
- Blas Galindo Dimas: Cinco mas cinco (Five Plus Five)
- Blas Galindo Dimas: Los soldaditos de barro (Clay Soldiers)
- Blas Galindo Dimas: Cancioncita (Little Song)
- Oscar Lorenzo Fernández: A Lenhadora Russa (The Russian Lumberjack)
- Mario Ruiz Armengol: En el jardín (In the Garden)
- Heitor Villa-Lobos: A moda da carranquinha (The Carranquinha Mode)
- Heitor Villa-Lobos: Os três cavalheiros (The three little caballeros)
- Oscar Lorenzo Fernández: A Camponesa Italiana (The Italian Peasant Woman)
- Desireé González-Miller: Patinando en San Pedro (Ice Skating in San Pedro)
- Carlos Chávez: Prelude No. 5 from 10 Preludes
- Luis Gianneo: El sombrerito (Little Hat)
- Luis Gianneo: Tamboril (Little Drum)
- Luis Gianneo: Zapateado (Tap Dance)
- Luis Gianneo: Bailecito cantado (Little Dance Song)
- Manuel Ponce: Prelude in C minor
- Manuel Ponce: Intermezzo No. 1
Picking up where the first volume left off, the first piece here is at around Grade 2 level, but the collection quickly progresses to pieces at around Grades 3-4, which make up the bulk of the collection, before rather lurching forward with the final piece, which is more suited to players at around Grade 6 level.
This is the beautiful Intermezzo by Mexican composer Manuel Mariá Ponce which may already be known to readers due to its inclusion in Jack Pepper and my anthology of Music We Might Have Played.
Elsewhere in this collection I particularly enjoyed the pieces by Mario Ruiz Armengol, while those by Heitor Villa-Lobos (surely one of the most underrated piano composers of all time!) inevitably stand out from the crowd, being imbued with this composer’s particular genius.
There is a palpable sense that we are merely scratching the surface of a rich musical heritage, with pieces primarily focusing on the pedagogic repertoire. The music of Villa-Lobos in particular, and some of these other composers, certainly deserves a more thorough examination, and I am quite surprised by the absence of Venezuelan composer Teresa Carreño, whose educational music is presently becoming more popular.
Closing Thoughts
In common with the Piano Music of Black Composers books which preceded these publications (and perhaps still more compellingly), these two books make a strong case for the pedagogical output of composers who have too often been overlooked.
In the first instance, they are superb source books for piano repertoire from the Latin American stream, and I hope to see the best pieces picked up by exam boards and for performance in student concerts.
Meanwhile, for those especially drawn to the music of Latin American composers, the collections offer excellent supplementary repertoire for integration alongside core materials (such as the Joy of Graded Piano series), adding to the variety, range, and stylistic colour of music encountered by developing players.
Desireé González-Miller must be congratulated on curating and editing such an exhilarating and revelatory series, while her own compositions also belong among the highlights: I would certainly welcome a collection devoted to her original music.
To summarise, I can recommend these books unequivocally. This is a series which can be enthusiastically applauded, and which brings an important body of piano education repertoire to a wider global audience.
For anyone who is curious to discover the music of the Central and Southern Americas, and who buy into the concept of this series, these books really are an important resource, and an essential purchase.
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