Innehållsförteckning för 147 från Pianist

As 2025 comes to a close, so do the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Maurice Ravel. We have paid tribute to Ravel in almost every issue this year; now we do so with a musical tribute of his own, À la manière de Borodine. Ravel encouraged his students to copy out scores of works by the masters, as a discipline, and a means of discovering whether they had anything original to say for themselves. Le Tombeau de Couperin is a perfect example of this mindset, but so is Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and, on a much smaller scale, this tribute in memory of Borodin, with its fleeting dabs of Russian harmony. À la manière de Borodine features on Throwback to Dance,…

Clicking on random internet stuff one day, I came across a real humdinger. Here was a young concert pianist, putting out a video of herself practising, mistakes and all. The piece in question was the Brahms First Concerto. She tries various phrasings, she alters her posture to see if it will help with certain passages, she plays against a metronome, and comes a cropper. She helpfully puts written tags on the screen to give further insight into what’s happening, and to her thought processes: ‘missing pinkie’ accompanies one fumbled phrase, ‘thumb still sleepy’ another. She keeps trying, keeps repeating. The vulnerability of it. The authenticity. The relatability! If you’ve ever made a mistake while practising, and let’s face it, that must be one hundred percent of us, then here is…

BEGINNER French composer and pianist Henri Bertini was a celebrated teacher in his time, writing many pedagogical works for the piano – this set of 12 Little Preludes and Pieces being one of them. Playing tips: In the ‘easy’ key of C major, this is the perfect warm-up exercise. It is marked Allegro, but it’s important to start out by practising extremely slowly and evenly. Use of the metronome would be helpful.…

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE READ MELANIE SPANSWICK’S LESSON ON THIS PIECE Franz Behr was a German composer of songs and short piano pieces. He’s largely forgotten today, however, even if this sweet piece is well worth learning. It appears as No 8 within a set of short pieces called 29 Small Pieces Op 575, and it’s perfect for the beginner/intermediate-level pianist. Read more about the composer in Melanie Spanswick’s lesson. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-step lesson.…

INTERMEDIATE Austro-Czech composer and pianist Schulhoff was one of the first classical composers to find inspiration in the rhythms of jazz. As a Jew in the 1930s, he could no longer give recitals in Germany, nor could his works be performed publicly. He was deported to the Wülzburg prison and died in 1941. Playing tips: With the many syncopations over the barlines, it’s easy to feel the jazz in this quirky Rag. The RH is the hardest part, so practise slowly and precisely. Pedal tips: Use sparingly – bars 9-14, for example, where a bit of pedal will support the bass chords and add some welcome resonance.…

INTERMEDIATE WATCH IAGO NÚÑEZ PLAY THIS PIECE ON THE PIANIST YOUTUBE CHANNEL Playing tips from Iago Núñez: It would be helpful to memorise the outer sections of the piece. If you have to be constantly looking up and down from the score to the keyboard, you will struggle to play the many leaps. At the start, the LH is always jumping towards the same note (top D), and the melody is very sequential, which makes it easier to remember. From bar 17, when the LH changes its landing point, make a mental note of anticipating which notes it is moving to, and remember that this happens in patterns of two bars. It’s also useful to practise by leaving the RH in the middle of the keyboard as an obstacle (without…

SARAH BETH BRIGGS Small Treasures: Works by Robert & Clara Schumann, Poulenc, Tailleferre et al Avie AV2771 For her 12th album, British pianist Sarah Beth Briggs (who at the age of 11 became the then youngest ever BBC Young Musician finalist) turns her attention to miniatures. The longest piece in her recital (Schumann’s Arabeske Op 18) is just shy of seven minutes. To avoid any sense of itty-bittiness however, she programmes three well-known suites, which act as conceptual umbrellas for their pint-size components: Schumann’s Waldszenen, Poulenc’s 3 Novelettes and Brahms’s 4 Klavierstücke. She’s superb in the Schumann, capturing all the mystery, dreaminess and uncanniness one could hope for, and she plays with a truly awesome sense of precision. The Novelettes also showcase her gorgeous, unforced simplicity. In 4 Pièces fugitives…

BEGINNER Composer’s playing tips: Happy Days is an exuberant romp in G major with plenty of notes to get your fingers moving. The notes are carefully choreographed to lie comfortably under the fingers. A good way to warm up is to play the scale, broken chord and arpeggio of G major with both hands. Each bar represents a single chord or harmony, and therefore a helpful practice tool would be to ‘block-out’ or ‘chunk’ every measure: this means to play all the notes within the bar altogether. Start doing this separate hands only, then combine them when you feel confident. Once you can play through the piece slowly, ‘blocking out’ each bar as you go, assimilating the note patterns and fingerings, play the notes as written. Do this slowly at…

INTERMEDIATE French composer Cécile Chaminade wrote some endearing pieces for solo piano, including this Op 123 set. Published in 1906, the Album des enfants Op 123 (Children’s album) comprises a variety of 12 short and colourful pieces – perfect repertoire for the late beginner to intermediate-level player. Playing tips: Notice the wide range in tempo marking (116-130). House pianist Chenyin Li takes a brisk tempo, but it’s fine to choose a more moderate speed. There’s no right or wrong, really, but whatever the case, this rondo should sound come across as lively and spirited. Try to ‘fall’ onto the dotted crotchets in the RH, allowing the quaver notes to be lighter. Feel the bounce, basically. Both hands will need to jump around the keyboard quickly, so keep them close to…

INTERMEDIATE READ MATTHEW MILLS’ LESSON ON THIS PIECE Says editor Erica Worth: I came across this gem of a piece a few years ago when listening to the German pianist Peter Froundjian’s Christmas Piano Music album. I was smitten, and I knew that one day I’d like to feature the score in Pianist. As this is our ‘Christmas’ issue, as it were, I’m delighted to finally feature it. Pastorale can be quite tricky to learn – even trickier to read, perhaps, what with all those accidentals. But it will grow on you, I promise, so do persevere. And Matthew Mills’ lesson will help. Read Matthew Mills’ lesson on Pastorale.…

INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED READ IVANA GAVRIĆ’S LEARNING TIPS ON THIS PIECE There is an interesting story behind this fleeting waltz: The composer and pianist Alfredo Casella had published a group of six pastiches in 1911, and, as he was friends with Ravel, asked the French composer to contribute. This Borodin pastiche is a waltz that makes characteristic use of chromatic harmonies over ostinato pedals, echoing the Sérénade from Borodin’s Petite suite and the scherzo of his Second String Quartet. Pianist Ivana Gavrić talks about the background to this piece in further detail in her interview on page 8. You can also read her ‘How to Play’ lesson – which includes tips on fingering and pedalling – on page 67. She performs À la manière de Borodine on the Pianist album.…

Why choose Grieg as the central composer for your album? I have been championing works by Grieg for many years now, especially focusing on his influence on fellow composers including Tchaikovsky, Bartók and Ravel. I had recorded most of Grieg’s large solo piano works on my Grieg Piano Works album, but the one missing is the Holberg Suite, which I only learned during lockdown. I seem to turn to Grieg in dark times – I find his music full of light, simple joy and comfort – and so Throwback to Dance took shape during those strange pandemic months, when we were all craving to dance and to celebrate. You say Grieg and Ravel met in Paris in 1894, and their meeting was centred on dance? The young Ravel met Grieg…

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE French pianist and composer Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy is today best known for his Elementary Studies Op 176, designed to improve finger co-ordination. He is also known for The School of Mechanism Op 120. This study is actually one of his pieces that sounds especially pleasing to the ear and more attractive than a ‘boring’ exercise! Playing tips: Firstly, notice the wide range in the metronome marking (crotchet = 88-133), which allows you to decide on your preferred tempo. This exercise is all about evenness. The listener should not be able to hear the switch between the hands; everything should sound smooth, flowing and even. Take note of all the dynamic markings, including the surges of crescendo and diminuendo which will help shape the phrases. Tail off calmly towards the…

INTERMEDIATE Most pianists tend to associate the Austrian composer, teacher and pianist Carl Czerny with exercises and studies. Indeed, his vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and his books of studies for the piano are still widely used in piano teaching. One should remember, however, that he was one of Beethoven’s best-known pupils and would later on be one of the main teachers of Liszt. Rondo alla Polacca is the second movement from the Sonatina Op 163 No 6 (‘polacca’ meaning ‘polonaise’, which is a lively but stately Polish dance). Playing tips: This sweet Rondo should be performed at a moderate speed, so don’t rush. Always remember to bring out the top RH melody and keep the LH quieter, even and in tempo. Notice the dolce marking…

INTERMEDIATE Russian Romantic composer Alexander Borodin was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as ‘The Five’ – a group dedicated to producing a ‘uniquely Russian’ style of classical music. He is best known for his symphonies, his two string quartets, the symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera Prince Igor. Borodin’s music proved to have a lasting influence on the younger French composers Debussy and Ravel; in homage, the latter composed a piece called À la manière de Borodine, which appears inside this issue. The seven-movement Petite Suite (in which Nocturne is the last movement) was published in 1885. After Borodin’s death, Glazunov orchestrated the work, and added his orchestration of another of Borodin’s pieces as No 8. Playing tips: This is a ravishing piece…

INTERMEDIATE Known mainly for his operas, of which he composed more than 60, the Italian composer Domenico Cimarosa was admired by Goethe, had his music conducted by Haydn, and had his melodies borrowed by Mozart. Playing tips: There’s a sparkle to this piece that reminds one of Mozart. Play this with rhythmic precision, keeping it light and bright, with very little use of pedal. Note all the articulation markings such as marcato, non legato, staccato, tenuto, the small slurs, plus the dynamic markings. If you follow all of these in detail, you’re halfway there. Many bars have semiquavers throughout, and you need to know how to grade the notes. For example, in bar 6, bring out the top notes in the RH – namely D#–B–D#–E–F# etc. With the LH repeated…

It’s difficult to imagine Christmas without the festive music that threads through the occasion, binding together its spirit with our expression of celebration and good cheer. The easiest book available is Christmas Songs for the Very Beginner, which prints 20 mainly modern songs using large, pre-staff notation throughout, i.e. without staves and with labelled note-heads. Suitable only for complete novices, these are up to 16 bars long and come with a teacher accompaniment. Alfred’s Premier Piano Course Christmas 1A is ideal for young beginners working around middle C position and just learning basic note values; the pieces are attractively and spaciously presented with some colour and illustrations adding warmth. Mike Springer’s Jazzin’ up Christmas Book 1 also stays within five-finger positions around Middle C. Its black-and-white presentation is geared towards…