Piano Ensemble – Pianodao

Evolving Blues & Easy Pieces

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Adrian Connell is well-known and beloved as the smiling face of Universal Edition here in the UK. Over the last three decades, he has tirelessly promoted the music of other composers while quietly and steadily pursuing his own musical interests: conducting, arranging, playing bass guitar, and developing his own portfolio of compositions.

These include 6 Symphonies, 2 Concerti, numerous other orchestral works including overtures, variations and symphonic poems, works for string orchestra and for concert band, and a growing body of choral music. Most of these works were composed in response to commissions.

It’s with great pleasure that I highlight and commend three of his publications for pianists in this short review, all brought to us by German publisher Edition Dohr:

Evolving Blues for Piano four hands (1990)
Six Easy Pieces for piano solo (1990-2015)
Suite on a Jazz Theme for piano four hands (1989/2015)

Dusk of Day, Dawn of Night

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

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Nikolas Sideris is a composer of formidable musical intelligence and imagination who is perhaps best known for his extraordinary duet collection Fairyland in Treble.

Reviewing that collection, I concluded:

“I must say that this book stands out as being VERY special indeed. It’s truly an essential purchase.”

Fans of that duet book will undoubtedly be delighted to know that its successor, The Dusk of Day, The Dawn of Night, is now available. So let’s take a look…

Mike Cornick’s Piano Duets & Ensembles

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

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Teachers often ask me to recommend duet and ensemble pieces suitable for older players who are at intermediate level.

One context where this has added importance is the preparation of pieces for assessment as GCSE “ensemble” performances. Here there is a particular need for music at around ABRSM Grade 3 level, with suitably easy duet part for the classroom music teacher to play at sight, or for two or more students to perform together.

But equally, for those who teach siblings or paired/group lessons, intermediate music for more than one player can be an important – indeed essential – resource.

Happily, popular educational composer Mike Cornick has been on the case, writing brilliant arrangements for various combinations of players, and publishing several collections through Universal Edition over the years.

There are two particular sets of books well worth looking at. Firstly, there are several neat duet books, and secondly – more unusually – a series of books for larger combinations sharing a single piano.

In this review I will take a look at two of Mike’s latest publications:

Movie Music Favourites: Eight arrangements for piano duet
4 Afro-Caribbean pieces for 6 hands at 1 piano