Pianist

Warners Group Publications plc Director: Stephen Warner Publisher: Collette Lloyd Warners Group Publications plc West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK Editor: Erica Worth [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7266 0760 Editorial Assistant & Onl

I recently attended a ‘hot ticket’ recital at Wigmore Hall: Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan playing Mozart and Prokofiev on two pianos. It was the encore, though – the Barcarolle from Rachmaninov’s Suite No 1 – that had me spellbound. It sounded s

Congratulations to Michelle Lord from Birmingham, UK, who has won a Kawai piano. Lord wowed the judges with her 56-bar waltz, The Spectre’s Waltz. Full of unexpected twists and turns, the two-page composition will suit intermediate-level pianists wit

I was so pleased to receive all the Spanish themed pieces inside issue 124, and above all the Serenata Andaluza by Manuel de Falla. This piece is relatively unknown amongst my musical friends, but it’s the reason I started to play the piano! My stepf

The word ‘texture’ conjures up a range of definitions and meanings. Cambridge University’s online definition reads: ‘The quality of something that can be decided by touch; the degree to which something is rough or smooth, or soft or hard.’ To this, w

Many piano students fall into the trap of spending hours a day practising technical exercises and studies without simultaneously developing their ear, and their understanding of how the music they strive to master is constructed. To be a good pianist

MELANIE SPANSWICK is a pianist, writer, teacher and composer. As an author, she is published by leading publishing houses, and has written a three-book piano course for those returning to piano playing; Play It Again: PIANO (Schott Music). Melanie te

Key G major Tempo Moderato Style Early Romantic Will improve your √Articulation √Balance between the hands √Phrasing This graceful study focuses on developing effective finger articulation coupled with a clear sense of phrasing and melodic shape. Mar

Key A minor Tempo Allegro con espressione Style Romantic Will improve your √Voicing √ Pedalling √Understanding of Brahms’s style Brahms was notoriously self-critical. This statement is often cited as a reason for why comparatively few sketches and dr

This beautiful cradle song dates from 1901. The title page has the following note by Balakirev (translated from Russian): ‘A loving mother sings, rocking her son to sleep. The child falls asleep, but he is frightened by a bad dream and he wakes up, c

In music, creativity and inspiration go hand in hand with variety of sound. It is important for teachers to encourage an awareness of contrasting textures from the very first lessons. Though musical progress begins and ends with hearing, contrasts in

How did you become aware of the Albumblatt? In 2011 I was giving a Brahms cycle in Seattle. The musicologist and Brahms specialist George Bozarth is a friend of mine. He happened to call me a few days before one of my concerts, and he told me about a

Haydn Piano SonatasVolume 10: Sonatas Nos 3, 4, 28, 45 and 60; Arietta con 12 Variazioni Hob. XVII: 3 Chandos CHAN 20191 Anyone familiar with the C major Sonata (No 60) from the likes of Brendel – or under their own fingers – should hold on to their

Breitkopf & Härtel This 150-page book contains a fascinating array of piano works by Brahms’s friends. These include well-known composers such as Robert and Clara Schumann, but the majority of the book is devoted to lesser-known musical friends such