Pianist

Answer the question below correctly, and you could be one of three lucky winners to receive Alexandre Kantorow’s latest solo recording on BIS Records. Deadline for entries: 19 March 2021 How many piano sonatas did Brahms write? A. One B. Two C. Three

Winter is always a time for taking stock, but never more so than this year, in my experience. _ is morning I pulled a dog-eared volume of Chopin o_ the shelf, prompted by the story of Josephine Proctor on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. At the age of

The six English Suites (BWV 806-811) were written for harpsichord, and are thought to be the earliest of Bach’s suites for keyboard – the others being the French Suites, the Partitas and the Overture in a French Style. This stately Sarabande is the f

When we take up the piano, perhaps the last thing on our minds is how to sustain the mental and physical energy we’ll need to play longer, more challenging pieces. Stamina will mean something subtly different for each of us: For a conservatoire stude

Cécile Chaminade’s father didn’t allow her to study at the Paris Conservatoire, but she studied privately with top musicians nonetheless. She wrote many character pieces for the piano, including this gorgeous Aubade Op 140. It was first published in

Pianists appear in the movies again and again. Sometimes the plots in which they pop up are predictable to a yawning degree, and could probably be boiled down to ‘tortured young artist pours out his heart into a concerto (usually Rachmaninov No 2) an

One of the lesser-known Bendas in a long and distinguished Czech musical family, Georg Anton was brother to its most renowned scion, František and proceeded to have five musical children of his own. In his own day he was best known for his work in ch

Show all your pupils that you care! Passion for music, the desire to share and support, the spirit and motivation to always build up, heal, provide pathways and inspiration… these are the essentials that must be in place in a teacher’s DNA. Tutor emp

Key E major Tempo Andante tranquillo Style Romantic Will improve your✓Pedalling✓Chord voicing✓Dividing melody between hands Many composers had their favourite creations. With such works, they would take the melodic material and rework it, or they wou

German composer Louis Köhler was a fine pianist and conductor, but he devoted most of his life to teaching the piano. He wrote copious studies for his students to enjoy and learn from. Pianist has published a fair amount of them in past issues; they

Chopin’s Préludes Op 28 are a set of short pieces, one in each of the 24 keys, originally published in 1839. This elegant and popular No 7, written in the key of A major, is the shortest of them all. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-step lesson on pa

Key A major Tempo Andantino Style Romantic Will improve your✓Chord voicing✓Legato✓Cantabile This brief, intimate piece is the seventh of Chopin’s 24 Préludes Op 28. With its lilting LH chordal pattern and poignant RH melody, it exudes a pristine ball

A dashing scherzo, a bittersweet waltz, a smouldering study, a flirtatious mazurka and, among his most difficult works, a sonata that ranges across the emotional spectrum. These works by Chopin couldn’t be more different from each other; remarkably,

British composer William Duncombe (not to be confused with the writer William Duncombe, 1690-1769) was organist in the London borough of Kensington. He is known mainly for a small group of piano pieces (especially this Fanfare Minuet) which are proba

I would like to offer two main practice suggestions that will keep you feeling coordinated in this sparkling Rondo. Using a very small wrist hinge in the LH’s broken chord pattern will help you keep this light and characterful. From a wrist that is l

Although it belongs to a set of 34 pieces gathered under the title of Etudes dans le genre fugué, this beautifully solemn F minor work is strictly speaking neither a study nor a fugue. Functioning rather as a prelude, it establishes a mood of grave a

If you could play only one piece from now on, what would it be? It’s the only piece I have in my head right now, so… Brahms’s Second Concerto! But that would probably be the truth. If you could play only one composer? In a weird way, probably Beethov

A contemporary of Beethoven, Diabelli was born in Salzburg, Austria. A musical child, he sang in the boys’ choir at Salzburg Cathedral where he is believed to have taken music lessons with Michael Haydn. By the age of 19, Diabelli had already compose

Ever since we featured Merikanto’s Valse lente inside issue 78, we’ve heard nothing but admiration for this underrated Finnish composer. We are always glad to feature more of his music (other pieces have appeared inside issue 107 and 114). Playing ti

Brighton-born Frank Bridge studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford among others. He was a concertising violist, and conductor, but ultimately decided to devote his musical life to composing. Underappreciated even today,

Key E flat Tempo Allegro Style Late Classical Will improve your✓Scale technique✓Range of dynamics✓Use of accents The four Impromptus Op 90 were written in 1827. Unlike the subsequent second set (Op 142), the Op 90 pieces were published during Schuber

Wondering why there are two names attributed to this work? Italian music publisher Giulio Ricordi was also a fine composer, and for whatever reason, he chose to write under the pseudonym of Jules Burgmein. So, what’s right? Was Romance Poudrée writte

Readers of Pianist last heard from Dame Fanny Waterman exactly a year ago, in issue 112. She was about to turn 100 and I had the pleasure of three hours in her company, at her home in the suburbs of Leeds. She was full of high spirits and good storie

Your new Schumann album is called Fantasies. Why were you drawn to the composer? My relationship with Schumann dates from my earliest years. I was fascinated by how his music combines abstruse Romanticism with intelligence, philosophy and literature.

WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM In 1827, Schubert wrote two sets of four impromptus: Opus 90 (D899) and Opus posth 142 (D899). This Impromptu, the second in the first set, is one of his most florid and technically challenging, a

Fifteen years ago a young Scottish pianist appeared on the cover of Pianist 23. He had recorded Messiaen’s Visions de l’amen on two pianos with Martin Roscoe and was keeping his record company – and concert halls worldwide – very busy. Now, as Steven

A young man rises from the keyboard. Sallow, open-necked and hollow-eyed, he nods from exhaustion as he turns to acknowledge the storm of applause breaking over the last chord of the music, his arms hanging limp by his sides. No wonder. Alexandre Kan