Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
When I sit down to review a new music collection, having explored it for a few days and played through the content, I generally reflect on why I want to recommend it, and to whom. And are there any possible niggles worth mentioning?
It’s rare that something lands on my desk which seems to me… just perfect. But Famous Piano Classics, from Edition Peters, is one such publication, perfectly fulfilling the brief that it sets itself, as explained by the publishers:
“Edition Peters presents 40 of the world’s best-loved works ever written for piano, ideal for intermediate to advanced level pianists.”
This is an anthology that I will not only recommend to others with confidence, but one that I will be adopting into my core curriculum for early advanced players, and which I expect to use regularly in my teaching work from now on.
It’s really that good. To find out why, read on for my full review…
40 best-loved piano pieces
Since the publication of my series The Joy of Graded Piano (Grades 1-5, find out more here) I am often asked what anthologies I recommend for players once they reach early advanced level. Is there a publication which introduces all the great names of the piano repertoire, and immediately zones in on their most beloved works?
At present, various ABRSM graded collections, The Lang Lang Piano Book (reviewed here) and Music We Might Have Played (find out more here) are significant fixtures within my teaching practice. For fresh compositions, there’s A Contemporary Piano Collection (find out more) and plenty of composer collections which I recommend for early advanced players.
Edition Peters’ Famous Piano Classics changes the landscape, including as it does a mix of the greatest and most popular classical pieces which, to my mind, surpasses most of the alternatives. Just read through this list, and you’ll see what I mean:
- Prelude in C major BWV 846 [Bach]
- Arietta from Lyric Pieces Book 1, Op. 12 No. 1 [Grieg]
- Of Foreign Lands and Peoples, from Kinderszenen Op. 15 [Schumann]
- Prelude in E minor Op. 28 No. 4 [Chopin]
- Gymnopédie No. 1 [Satie]
- The Goblin and the Mosquito [Price]
- Sarabande from Suite No. 4 in D minor HWV 437 [Handel]
- Moment Musical No.3 in F minor Op. 94 [Schubert]
- Venetian Gondola Song Op. 19 No. 6 [Mendelssohn]
- Aria from Goldberg Variations BWV 988 [Bach]
- Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor Für Elise [Beethoven]
- Lied Op. 8 No. 3 [Hensel]
- Un poco andante from Sonata in D Op. 25 No. 6 [Clementi]
- Sommervise Op. 45 No. 3 [Backer Grøndahl]
- Waltz in A-flat major Op. 39 No. 15 [Brahms]
- Nocturne in B-flat major No. 5 H 37 [Field]
- Aubade Op. 140 [Chaminade]
- Allegro from Sonata facile in C, K 545 [Mozart]
- Impromptu in G-flat major/Ges-Dur from Vier Impromptus Op. 90 No.3 [Schubert]
- Solfeggio H 220 [C.P.E. Bach]
- Mazurka from Soirées Musicales Op. 6 No. 5 [Clara Schumann]
- Träumerei from Kinderszenen Op. 15 [Schumann]
- Alla turca from Sonata in A major, K 331 [Mozart]
- Adagio sostenuto from Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” [Beethoven]
- Romance sans paroles Op. 17 No. 3 [Fauré]
- Murmures du ruisseau from Les beaux jours No. 7 [Jaëll]
- Humoresque Op. 101 No. 7 [Dvořák]
- Nocturne in E-flat major Op. 9 No. 2 [Chopin]
- Allegro con brio from Sonata in D major Hob. XVI:37 [Haydn]
- Song Without Words “Spring Song” Op. 62 No. 6 [Mendelssohn]
- Notturno from Soirées Musicales Op. 6 No. 2 [Clara Schumann]
- June from The Seasons Op. 37a [Tchaikovsky]
- Adagio cantabile from Sonata Pathétique Op.13 [Beethoven]
- Fantasia in D minor K 397 [Mozart]
- Prelude in D-flat major “Raindrop” Op. 28 No. 15 [Chopin]
- Arabesque No. 1 [Debussy]
- Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 [Rachmaninov]
- Liebesträum No. 3 [Liszt]
- Clair de lune from Suite bergamasque L 75 No. 3 [Debussy]
- Andante grazioso from Piano Sonata in A major K 331 [Mozart]
Many of these pieces of course need no introduction (although it includes a smattering of intriguing recent discoveries). For advancing players, it looks a bit like a bucket list, while teachers will quickly recognise the anthology as a doorway that will open to several years’ worth of inspired learning.
The publication
But Edition Peters Famous Piano Classics doesn’t just serve up an astonishing musical menu: it does so with finesse and editorial aplomb.
The deep red cover, with its matt finish offset by shiny gold lettering and decoration on the front cover and spine, immediately makes quite an impression. The binding combines excellent flexibility with durability, and matches the quality of Edition Peters’ high-end classical editions: practical but built to last.
Within, the 144 pages are printed on quality cream paper. There is a contents page which lists the pieces in the order in which they appear (I would have liked an alphabetical index, but we perhaps can’t have everything!) and then it’s straight to the scores.
These are nicely engraved, and though the editions themselves are presumably drawn from the classic Edition Peters Green Series their presentation here is uniform in both music font and quality. The only very minor issue to note is that, while most pieces have helpful fingering suggestions, a few do not.
The layout presents the pieces in an order that largely approximates difficulty, moving from the more accessible (around UK Grade 4) to the more challenging (Diploma level), although there are a few notable exceptions.
Schubert’s evergreen Impromptu in G flat Op.90/3 is certainly harder than many give credit, while the glorious variations from Mozart’s A major Sonata KV 331 and slow movement from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata could perhaps have appeared a little earlier in the book.
From an educational perspective, I would have liked to see the selection extend further into the twentieth century. Perhaps some Prokofiev, Bartók, Ibert or Poulenc? One or two Spanish or South American pieces, and a Joplin rag, would also have broadened the stylistic range considerably.
But there’s no denying that Edition Peters has curated a selection of pieces that will have enormous appeal to players. And these are, almost without exception, pieces that I feel early advanced players really must be exposed to in order to develop their appreciation and understanding of the classical piano repertoire.
Closing thoughts
Edition Peters’ Famous Piano Classics does not exactly replace the collections I have tended to recommend for early advanced players, and some will obviously want to make a note of the significant overlap the publication has with other music in their library.
Nevertheless, many of these pieces are the actual reason that players take up the piano in the first place, and to find them all presented so superbly, in solid editions, and in one very affordable collection, is tremendous news.
Edition Peters would seem to have solved a problem that many other publishers have grappled with, but too often failed to address successfully. This really is an outstanding collection that brilliantly fulfils its goals.
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