Hal Leonard – Page 5

Brian Davidson • Scottish Suite

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

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

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…

Piano Grades Are Go! 4 & 5

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

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…

Discovering Heller’s Studies

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

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…

Ben Andrew’s Piano Scale Books

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

The name Ben Andrew will ring a bell with many, due not least to the inclusion of his beautiful piece Snowflakes in The Joy of Graded Piano grade one book (find out more), as well as his Grade 5 theory workbooks from Hal Leonard.

Ben Andrew’s latest is a set of three scale books for players at Grades 1 to 3 levels. Yes, you read that correctly: scales books.

But stick with me, because these surprisingly affordable but gorgeously presented full-colour books offer a complementary approach that may well help elementary learners over the initial hump of learning basic scales, and might just make scales and arpeggios practice more enjoyable for all…

Eugénie Rocherolle’s Fantasia del Tango

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Among the American piano composers to gain prominence since William Gillock (1917-1993), Eugénie Rocherolle (b.1936) is certainly a leading light, and I have increasingly taken an interest in her work as it has steadily become more familiar here in the UK. To find out about her other recent publications, you can check my previous reviews here.

A few months back, her 2016 collection Fantasia del Tango appeared in a new edition here, and it’s another firm winner. Read on to find out more…

Intermediate French Favourites

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In my earlier review of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic titles in Hal Leonard’s Classical Piano Sheet Music Series, I concluded,

“Those in the market for a solid collection of established pieces from each of these eras will find these books offer excellent value. For around £12 a throw, they include a wealth of well-established musical material, sympathetically edited and nicely put together.”

Since then, further titles have been added to the budget-friendly series, the most recent of which has particularly piqued my interest…

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection, for which I had the honour of selecting and editing 24 solo piano pieces by the contemporary Japanese educational composer last year, is already proving a hit with players and other teachers.

Working on that collection involved a deep dive into Ikeda’s work, and the solo pieces in my selection are truly the tip of a tremendous iceberg. But alongside her wonderful solo music, I also discovered that Ikeda has composed a significant body of very enjoyable music for one piano, four hands.

How wonderful that Ikeda has now, with publisher Willis Music Company, curated a selection of 15 of her favourite duet compositions.

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection can be seen as a natural companion to The Graded Collection. The book will be welcomed by teachers and intermediate players who enjoy duets, and want to explore more of Ikeda’s music.