Durand Edition – Pianodao

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France has a rich heritage of keyboard music and a proud tradition of piano pedagogy, and yet for many players in the English-speaking world a first encounter with this superb legacy only occurs at early advanced level, with the introduction of favourite classics by Satie and Debussy.

Two rather wonderful new publications from Durand Edition present us with a fine opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the rewarding seam of music that elementary and intermediate players in France are no doubt already familiar with.

The books are introduced by their publisher as,

“A journey through the most iconic pieces found in the prestigious catalogues of Max Eschig, Durand and Salabert. The pieces are organised in order of playing difficulty. An indispensable edition for a voyage through the world of the piano through its didactic repertoire from the last century.”

The music within is predominantly but not exclusively composed by French composers, and includes a mixture of names that will be familiar to teachers in the English-speaking community alongside some who will be less recognised, but certainly no less deserving of discovery.

In this review I will be delving into each of these two fascinating volumes…

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

Products featured here are selected for review by ANDREW EALES
Find out more: ABOUT PIANODAO REVIEWS

Centenary years offer an opportunity to celebrate and perhaps reevaluate the works of significant composers from earlier times, and in 2021 (to be precise, on 16th December) we mark the 100-year anniversary of the death of the great French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921).

Though best known for orchestral works, including the universally-known Carnival of the Animals, the Danse macabre, the ‘Organ’ Symphony, and his concertos (including five for piano and orchestra), Saint-Saëns also composed a significant body of solo piano music which, these days, is too little played.

This is no doubt in part because his Liszt-inspired writing renders Saint-Saëns’ solo piano music inaccessible to all but the most advanced virtuosi. Pedagogy occupied little of the composer’s time: a fairly brief stint at the École de Musique Classique et Religieuse in Paris and thereafter occasional coaching (his students including Godowsky). The result: no music composed for formative educational purposes, pre-diploma.

Saint-Saëns’ legacy has suffered in other ways too, including a not entirely fair perception that his music, though sparkling, is essentially superficial. His infamous derision for younger contemporaries such as Debussy and Milhaud no-doubt further alienated him from the public of his later years.

In this revisitation and celebration of Saint-Saëns’ piano music, I will explore three publications from Éditions Durand, who are regarded as the definitive publishers of this repertoire: Œuvres pour piano books I and II, and The Best of Saint-Saëns, a collection of thirteen miscellaneous pieces.

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Petits Morceaux pour piano

Celebrating Saint-Saëns