Sheet Music Reviews – Page 10

Darren Day’s Belfast Heart

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Darren Day is a pianist, teacher, and composer who is based in Belfast. I have previously recommended his easy piano Christmas arrangements, which were self-published. Since then, he has been picked up by 80 Days Publishing, who now bring us Belfast Heart, an excellent collection of 12 Traditional Northern Irish songs and original solos for piano.

Introducing this new collection, we are told,

“Escape to a world of jigs, sweeping mountains, winding roads and magical kingdoms as Belfast Heart transports you to some of the stunning scenery of Country Down and to the city where people are famous for being friendly and great ‘craic!”

Fasten your seatbelts and let’s check it out…

Brian Davidson • Scottish Suite

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Scottish composer Brian Davidson has recently been on quite a roll, with his enchanting piano works appearing in a series of tastefully presented folios from publisher Kevin Mayhew.

Davidson’s intermediate collection Music Box came first, reviewed here, followed by his Nursery Suite, five original piano pieces aimed at late intermediate adult players, which evocatively reimagine traditional nursery rhymes, reviewed here.

Davidson’s latest publication is his Scottish Suite, and makes a very welcome addition to his expanding catalogue of intelligently written and musically rewarding music.

Subtitled Five Original Pieces for Piano, and again suitable for late intermediate players, this new collection will appeal to fans of Donald Thomson’s Celtic Piano Music series reviewed here, and all who enjoy musical portraits of Scotland’s scenery and heritage…

Poulenc • Mélancolie

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Among the many French composers to make a significant impact on the piano repertoire, Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) stands out as among the most unjustly overlooked. His piano music surely deserves a more prominent place, alongside his well-known chamber, orchestral, choral, and vocal works.

As a child, Poulenc enjoyed listening to music from beneath the family grand piano, and as his musical skills developed, he took pleasure in playing the instrument himself, delighting friends with his improvised performances, and excelling as an accompanist and chamber musician. Poulenc may not have regarded his piano works with particular seriousness, but his predominantly short pieces showcased his distinctive musical voice, quirky humour and personality.

Mélancolie stands in contrast to much of this music however, being one of Poulenc’s most extended and deeply personal piano works. The piece was completed in August 1940 following, and written in response to, the Nazi invasion of France, the composer’s brief mobilisation, the armistice, partition, and his subsequent refuge in the ‘free zone’.

Summarising the piece in his introduction to a superb new edition from Durand Editions Musicales, Edmond Lemaître rather perfectly writes,

“More complex than mere sadness, Poulenc’s Mélancolie takes on an air of nostalgia, a resignation that never reaches despair. A bit painful, but at the same time filled with sweetness…”

Mélancolie is without question a genuine masterpiece, so the appearance of this new edition, making it more accessible, is to be warmly welcomed. Read on to find out more about this diploma level concert piece, listen to a recording, and discover the brilliant new Durand edition…

Josef Suk • Easy Piano Pieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Josef Suk (1874-1935) was a prominent Czech composer and violinist, born in Křečovice, near Prague. A student of the famous composer Antonín Dvořák, he expertly bridged the gap between the late Romantic era and the emerging modernist style of the next generation; he is celebrated for seamlessly infusing Czech music with a sense of modernity while preserving its nationalistic roots.

Suk composed much for the piano, and twelve of his more accessible works have now been brought together for a new collection in Bärenreiter’s popular Easy Piano Pieces and Dances series, offering an ideal introduction to this repertoire…

Piano Grades Are Go! 4 & 5

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Of the piano education composers who have arrived on the scene in recent years, Victoria Proudler has made a very particular and special impact, and whether talking to colleagues locally, online, or at conferences, her books are frequently mentioned as must-have collections.

The Piano Grades Are Go! series already includes collections for Initial to Grade One (reviewed here) and for Grades 2-3 (reviewed here). And I think the reason that they have made such an impression is fairly easy to explain.

While more advanced players might invest in a single-composer collection to develop their repertoire (both for performance and leisure), learners at earlier levels tend to be focused on developing their skills and understanding. They value material that is musically broad, with a clear grade/level, explicit educational structure, and helpful pedagogic content.

Unlike some composer collections, the Piano Grades Are Go! series very clearly ticks these boxes, and Proudler’s music is engaging, memorable, and stylistically on point.

Now available, Piano Grade are Go! Grades 4-5 is the third and final book in this popular series, taking the series to upper intermediate level, and inevitably expectations are sky high. So is this collection another winner? Let’s find out…

Willis Music Company at 125

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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It is easy for musicians and teachers to overlook the immense importance of the publishers who supply us with a fresh and continuing flow of excellent sheet music, from improved editions of established favourites to new performance works and educational resources.

The 125th anniversary of the founding of Willis Music Company, one of the world’s great educational music publishers, offers an opportunity to reflect on the incredible contribution to the world of piano education that their groundbreaking publications have made for more than a century, and their continuing impact on the content of our daily teaching, learning, and playing.

Around the world, and continuing every day, literally millions of learners have sat at the piano with a Willis Music score on the music desk in front of them.

We owe the Willis Music Company a huge debt of gratitude, so let me first say Thank You and Congratulations to everyone at the company.

And now let’s consider the inspiring story of this great business (which I have adapted and shortened from the company’s website here) and celebrate the far-reaching impact their publications have made to generations of players…

Discovering Heller’s Studies

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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For many years, Burgmüller’s 25 Easy and Progressive Studies Op.100 have been a mainstay of my teaching, embraced by students as enjoyable piano pieces, while being immensely useful for addressing so many of the technical challenges of the Classical and Romantic piano literature. I consider this collection as near-essential as anything else found in the pedagogy repertoire.

And to support my students and others, I have recorded Burgmüller’s Op.100, compared various editions, and considered his more advanced Op.105 and Op.109 studies here: Discovering Burgmüller.

But where to for similar material for the player who wants more, either as a supplement or follow-on? I have at times used attractive études by Bertini (reviewed here) and Czerny, but recently my colleague and friend Lisa Burns suggested I take a deep dive into the studies of Stephen Heller (1813-1888).

I have of course encountered many of Heller’s études over the years, thanks to their inclusion in various anthologies and syllabus publications, but I had not previously considered them as a body of work in more depth. Doing so has proven to be genuinely rewarding, offering perhaps the perfect answer to the question above…

Jennifer Bowman • Jazz Nocturnes

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Jennifer Bowman will be known to some readers as the composer of one of the many highlight pieces in the 22 Nocturnes for Chopin collection reviewed here last year.

Those who appreciated her piece in that collection will be delighted to learn that she has composed another eight nocturnes, suitable for early advanced players at around UK Grade 8 level, and all imbued with tinges of jazz.

The aptly named Jazz Nocturnes for piano collection is published by 80 Days Publishing, and is the subject of this mini review…