WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM Grieg’s third volume of Lyric Pieces was written and published in 1886 and consists of six pieces, of which ‘To Spring’ – a fantastic showpiece for pianists to conquer – appears as the last. The O

Mendelssohn’s 48 Songs without Words are hauntingly beautiful, and also very accessible for the intermediate-level pianist; no doubt this has contributed to their ultimate popularity, even if ‘Spring Song’ veers towards the advanced level. The 48 ‘so

Composed and published in 1913, French composer Mel Bonis’s Album pour les tout-petits Op 103 contains 20 relatively easy pieces which feature some charmingly descriptive titles: There’s La puce (The flea), Douce amie (Sweet friend), La toupee (Spinn

Tchaikovsky was in the midst of writing Swan Lake in 1875 when the editor of the Russian music magazine Nouvellist commissioned him to write The Seasons – one solo piano piece for each month, appearing in the magazine in its respective month. The ‘So

With the theme of springtime running through this issue, ‘In The Woods’ might capture a dewy spring day. Presented here is the poem by Goethe on which the piece is based. Read Nils Franke’s lesson. Through the woodland glades,One springtide fair,I wa

When I was starting French at school, one of the teachers told us to think of the difference between ‘tu’ and ‘vous’ as the same between ‘thou’ and ‘you’ in English. I still remember the confusion this caused. ‘Thou’ in English is archaic, rare and f

One often associates German composer Cornelius Gurlitt with easy, rather ‘plain’ repertoire. However, this delightful set of six pieces, entitled Spring Flowers, is anything but mundane! The set was first published in 1896, ‘Daffodil’ featuring as th

Notes from the composer: Glorious Day is essentially in the key of F minor, even if it sounds rather sunny and slightly major! F minor contains a key signature of four flats, which have all been written into the score for easy learning. The flowing t

What has prompted you to record Ravel’s complete solo piano music? The Ravel 150th centenary is in 2025 – that’s when my second volume is released. This undertaking marks the fulfillment of a long process devoted to this composer across my career. Th

Alfred Tofft was a Danish composer and newspaper critic. At the age of 20 he decided on a career in music, and gave his debut as organist and composer at the Saint John Church, Copenhagen. He later became chairman of the Danish Composers Union and th

On these pages, Pianist covers the most basic stages of learning through a series of lessons by Hans-Günter Heumann. The two facing pages contain eight exercises from Le Couppey’s L’ABC du Piano. They are perfect for getting the fingers in shape. Pra

Chopin composed the set of 19 Polish songs, his Op 74, between 1829 and 1847. They were published after his death. Liszt later transcribed six of the songs between 1856-1860, the second of which – dedicated to Princess Marie zu Hohenlohe – is present

Grieg’s evocative Lyric Pieces (Lyriske stykker) are loved by amateurs and professionals alike, though one rarely hears them on the concert platform these days. Published in ten volumes, they start out with Op 12 (published 1867) and end with Op 71 (

Though he is perhaps best known as a choral composer, Charles Villiers Stanford also wrote fine keyboard pieces. Born in Dublin, educated at Cambridge and Trinity, and a student of Reinecke, Stanford was a leading light in the revival of British musi

This descriptive piece from Grieg’s third volume of Lyric Pieces needs very little explanation: picture a cheeky little bird hopping around, who then becomes rather feisty in the central section! This piece is a good exercise for working on crisp, li

Along with Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók is regarded as Hungary’s greatest composer. He is also considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of co

Romantic sensibility (or if you’re in German-speaking countries, a Romantic Weltanschauung!) has a lot to do with the natural world in general, and with Spring in particular – the most popular of the seasons for musical inspiration. That idea of the

I’m listening to some Variations on a Theme of Paganini, but not as you’ve ever heard them before. It’s well-trodden ground, or so you’d think; Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Lutosławski and Andrew Lloyd Webber have aIl been here before. This version, h

As this issue of Pianist goes to print, both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions are gearing up to test the mettle of the world’s most talented young pianists. The Leeds has swept through its preliminary judging round and begins

Starting with a modest collection, originally written in the 1860s as teaching pieces for his own use, Grieg’s Lyric Pieces eventually grew to ten sets. After an initial 18-year gap between Op 12 and Op 38, Grieg completed a volume every two or three