Sheet Music Reviews – Page 8

Discovering Backer Grøndahl

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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As I write, I am enjoying the magical afterglow of an event I recently attended at the Norwegian Ambassador’s residence in Kensington. Organised with publisher Edition Peters, the evening celebrated the release of the first ever urtext editions of piano works by Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847-1907).

The Edition Peters scores for both works have been published in association with Kode, the association of art museums and composers’ homes in and around Bergen, who previously also partnered for the publication of Grieg – A Piano Treasury, reviewed here.

Christian Grøvlen, who is Director of Music and the Composer’s Homes for Kode, and the editor of the Edition Peters scores, performed the two recently published works: the Fantasy Pieces Op.39 and In the Blue Mountain Op.44, introducing each with the rapt fascination and deep insight of a true expert.

While the latter piece was a virtuosic concert work in the manner of Liszt, it was the Fantasy Pieces that impressed me the more. While designating these miniatures “salon pieces,” Grøvlen highlighted Backer Grøndahl’s genius with the form, and her innovative compositional style.

I am surprised that a renewed interest in Backer Grøndahl’s music hasn’t come sooner. Enjoying the generous hospitality and chatting with other guests after the performance, it was clear that none there doubted that this music is of special importance and quality.

Chaminade • Album des enfants

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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I have previously heaped praise on the Schott Student Edition, a set of tastefully produced and superbly edited publications presenting core and lesser-known pedagogic repertoire in an attractive, affordable and contemporary format for today’s learners.

Designed for use in instrumental teaching, with titles projected to range from easy beginner music to more advanced repertoire, this is a superb series, and you can browse my previous reviews here.

Schott Music have recently added several interesting new titles to the series, and I will be looking at each in turn over the coming weeks.

One of the undoubted highlights, and the subject of this review, the much-respected editor Monika Twelsiek has selected twelve delicious highlights from Cécile Chaminade’s Album des enfants to delight today’s learners…

Fanny Hensel • Easter Sonata

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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With a reawakened interest in the music of forgotten women composers, evidenced by the numerous collections and books published over recent years, it’s no wonder that the music of Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy, later Hensel, (1805-1847) is enjoying a long-overdue renaissance.

Fanny Hensel’s “Ostersonate” (Easter Sonata) was composed in 1828, but remarkably, the recent edition from Bärenreiter is actually the first ever urtext version of this beguiling music, based on an autograph which was long inaccessible due to being in private hands.

Combining excellence with innovation, the typically superb Bärenreiter critical edition itself is accompanied by an included second volume, which offers a complete facsimile reproduction in colour of Fanny’s autograph manuscript.

Nearly two centuries after its composition, it’s surely now time to rediscover and celebrate this tremendous work, which is suitable for performance by players at associate diploma level and beyond…

The Gradebusters Mixtape

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Hal Leonard’s Gradebusters series has been one of the highlights of recent years, and the publications have proven popular with learners and players of all ages.

Reviewing the series, I described the five graded books of pop song arrangements for solo piano as offering,

“A hugely inviting and immediate mix of famous songs… this is top stuff!”

Offering “25 Awesome Solos from Taylor Swift to Einaudi”, the Gradebusters Piano Mixtape is the latest addition to the series, delivering a compendium of highlights from the five graded books, with six exclusive new pieces thrown in as an added bonus.

For those who want to dip into these quality arrangements without necessarily wanting to take the deep dive offered by the whole set of books, the Piano Mixtape collection represents great value, so let’s take a quick look…

Matthew Hindson • Sad Piano

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Matthew Hindson is one of Australia’s most dynamic, successful, and widely-performed composers. His atmospheric soundworld is both immediate and direct, and his orchestral and ballet music have been performed by many of the world’s leading orchestras.

For his latest project, Hindson has turned to the piano. Sad Piano offers 13 captivating solo pieces, published last year by Faber Music, and recently followed by a recording featuring his compatriot, the pianist Andrea Lam.

I have been dipping into Faber’s handsome publication for several months, but with the arrival of Lam’s mesmerising recording, this is a perfect time to take a closer look…

Piano Player • Classical Pieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Faber Music’s The Piano Player series, which launched in Summer 2022, has been a highlight of the last couple of years, delivering a succession of themed anthologies that have enjoyed wide appeal with adult enthusiasts.

The eighth and latest title in the series is now with us, stylishly complementing the set with a collection of beloved (and in a few cases lesser-known) classical pieces from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries.

I have reviewed all the previous titles in the series, and in this post I will take a look at this new addition…

Contemporary Piano Masters

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Hal Leonard’s bumper piano book Contemporary Piano Masters first appeared in 2019, together with an ‘easy piano’ version. Offering “40 pieces from the world’s leading piano composers”, the collection soon became a best-seller.

I gave that first edition a positive review, and have subsequently used the standard version with several students, right up until a couple of years ago it disappeared from view.

Now, having updated the licensing agreements involved, a revamped second edition has appeared, again with an ‘easy piano’ counterpart. But with many similar collections now on the market, how do these new volumes fare? Let’s find out…

Ghostly Piano Tales

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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In addition to her superb Play it Again Piano series for adults returning to the piano (reviewed here ) and ground-breaking Women Composers: Graded Anthology series (reviewed here), Melanie Spanswick is a busy composer with a growing catalogue of titles to her name, including several from Schott Music.

For her latest, Spanswick delivers 24 Imaginative Piano Pieces for elementary to early intermediate players which dive headlong into the world of the macabre. Is there suddenly a chill in the air?