Late Intermediate Repertoire

Dora Pejačević • Early Pieces

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

The Schott Student Edition series continues to expand, offering outstanding new collections of pedagogy classics and rediscovered gems. I have reviewed several previous titles here, and was delighted to recently receive a superb addition to the set: Dora Pejačević: Early Piano Pieces.

By happy synchronicity, I was teaching at The Thinking Pianist course just a few days after the Schott Music volume landed in my postbox, and during the week my faculty colleague and friend Ivana Gavrić gave an illuminating lecture recital introducing Dora Pejačević.

Having commercially recorded and performed the music of her famous compatriot, Ivana has a natural affinity with Pejačević’s music, promoting it with sensitivity, balanced enthusiasm, and retelling the story of this formidable Croatian cultural icon. Having packed Dora Pejačević’s Early Piano Pieces for the trip, we were able to discuss this new volume, and I am indebted to Ivana for her insights.

Meanwhile, introducing the Schott Music book, its editor Monika Twelsiek (who has previously brought us many outstanding publications in the Schott catalogue) tells us,

“Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) is a star in Croatia: streets, schools and cafés are named after her, there is a perfume and a sparkling wine bearing her name, and a statue named ‘Dora’ is awarded at the Croatian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Outside Croatia, however, the composer only became known late. After having been forgotten for many years, her works did not reach the public until the 1980s…
Who is this woman?“

Arise and Shine

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Back in 2023 I reviewed two collections of Piano Music of Black Composers compiled by the American performer, scholar, and educator Leah Claiborne for Hal Leonard’s Expanding the Repertoire series.

The two books offered a varied and engaging, if in hindsight slightly inconsistent, potpourri of little-known music by Black composers, and at the time I concluded,

“It’s a great pity that this fabulous pedagogic repertoire hasn’t been a standard feature of our piano education culture, and Leah Claiborne has done us a superb service in providing these slender volumes. We must hope more will follow.”

More has indeed followed, and I was delighted to receive Claiborne’s latest anthology, Arise and Shine, which offers 28 piano solos by Black composers suitable for intermediate to early advanced players (I would estimate UK Grades 2-8).

Jason Sifford • Here Be Dragons

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Jason Sifford has established himself as one of America’s most respected composers of educational piano music, and a jewel in the crown of music publishers The Willis Music Company.

Promoting his music more widely, I wrote a rave review recommending his two KEYBOP books when they appeared, and subsequently selected three of his pieces to appear in my Willis Student Recital Collection.

Introducing Sifford’s lavishly illustrated new collection, Here Be Dragons, Willis Music write,

“Cultures from around the world tell of thrilling tales and legends about magical flying creatures. This intermediate piano collection was inspired by these fantastical beasts and aims to provide performance material and adventurous music-making for all pianists with vivid imagination.”

This new collection is billed as suitable for Intermediate to Early Advanced players, and sounds exciting, so let’s brave ourselves and take a look…

Phillip Keveren • Jazz Preludes

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

The Phillip Keveren Series remains one of Hal Leonard’s notably popular successes, bursting at the seams with his collections of jazz and popular piano arrangements as well as original and fresh educational music.

The latest addition to the series is Jazz Preludes for Piano, which offers:

“15 concise preludes designed to introduce a traditional pianist to the spices that season the language of jazz.”

The book is suitable for late intermediate players, around UK Grades 5-6, and delivers an enjoyable introduction to playing in a variety of jazz styles, all cunningly embedded in attractive new pieces that leave the player wanting more!

So if you (or a student you teach) have an interest in developing a more instinctive grasp of jazz grooves and repertoire, this publication is very much aimed in your direction. Let’s find out more about it…

Piano Player • Anime

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Faber Music’s Piano Player series has been a welcome success of recent years, each handsome collection in the growing set showcasing the distinctive artwork of Edward Bawden (1903-1989) while offering an appealing variety of music within.

For information about previous titles, read my reviews here.

The cycle appeared to run its course with the release of all titles originally announced, but now enters a new era with two new collections. These no longer sport Bawden’s artwork, but otherwise retain the series aesthetic.

Likely to be particularly popular, Piano Player: Anime curates nineteen themes from Japanese anime soundtracks, arranged for solo piano…

Naoko Ikeda • Kanade

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

When compiling Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection three years ago, I had the pleasure of selecting the Japanese composer’s best solo piano pieces from more than thirty publications, popular in her homeland and in the USA, but relatively little known here in the UK.

For those wanting more of Naoko Ikeda’s music to follow that Grade 2-5 anthology, as well as fans of her music everywhere, her latest collection from The Willis Music Company is Kanade, and offers “14 Beautiful Piano Solos”. I would suggest that the pieces here would suit Late Intermediate players, around UK Grades 5-6.

Two of these pieces, Foggy Blues and Manhattan Swing, were previously published internationally as single sheets, and I included both in The Graded Collection. The rest are new, with 11 fresh solo compositions, and an arrangement of Bellini’s Vaga luna, che inargenti.

Peter and the Wolf

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Here’s a delight! Peter and the Wolf is one of a number of books that make up a colourful series from Schott Music, called ‘Get to Know Classical Masterpieces‘.

Featuring the whole of Prokofiev’s masterpiece of musical storytelling in a “simple arrangement for piano”, the book is the work of the ever-industrious Hans-Günter Heumann. The full story is presented in an English translation by Julia Rushworth, and with superb colour illustrations throughout by Brigitte Smith.

The book can comfortably be recommended, but the review that follows will assess the difficulty level of the piano writing and consider, as usual, who this publication is particularly suitable for. Read on for more details, and a list of other titles in the series…

The Winter Piano Anthology

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

The Faber Music Piano Anthology series of deluxe bumper books have proven one of the popular publishing successes of recent years, and certainly these robust collections combine excellent value for money with a compelling mix of piano music for late intermediate to advanced players.

With more than a dozen titles now in the series, the anthologies cover a wide range of musical styles and tastes. Some home in on specific genres, such as pop ballads, jazz standards, and piano duets, while others mix core and lesser-known classics, piano arrangements, and relaxed contemporary solos.

For a look at previous titles, you can explore the series here, but let’s now turn to the latest addition, a seasonal chilled Winter Piano Anthology…