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This is the tracklist of CD1 of the Double CD, which I published originally in Dec. 2019 on amazon.com (ASIN B082PRDVX7). Amazon did shut down the Media On Demand service in August 2021, so this Double CD is no longer available. Cover-Art by Manuela Buechler, AI Design, Switzerland.
This doublealbum is the second in the series "Demanding piano music for children and students".
Along with Edvard Grieg, Tchaikovsky was one of the first to take up Schumann's idea of an album for young people. But in his opinion, many of Schumann's pieces were too difficult for children. In the spring of 1878, he wrote his patron Nadescha von Meck: "I would like to compose a series of small, easy solo piano pieces which, following Schumann's example, have tempting titles for children" (Source: Wikipedia Germany, https://t1p.de/1lk6). So, he followed Schumann's approach of writing small, fine character pieces or miniatures for children. In the summer of the same year - 30 years after the release of Schumann's album - he composed his own album consisting of 24 pieces, which was called "Album for Children", adding: "after Schumann". In comparison to Schumann's album it contains shorter pieces, which are however only partly easier. The "March of the Wooden Soldier" for example (which also occurs in the Nutcracker Suite) is short but demands extreme rhythmic precision by simultaneously playing pianissimo - certainly not easy for beginners!
Remarkable on Tchaikovsky’s album are the many folklore songs from different nations: He not only teaches the children different styles, but also takes them on a little musical journey across different countries - an interesting difference to Schumann's album, which is mainly based on his own melodies. As with Schumann, Tchaikovsky's album also contains some very serious and sad pieces (e.g. "The Burial of the Doll") and a wide range of expression and tempi. It is framed by "Morning Prayer" and "In Church", the only two religious pieces in this fine cycle. They are beautiful examples of Tchaikovsky's art of composition: profound, with harmonically interesting turns (modulations) and perfectly composed. By the way: often in style of small symphonic movements. Thus, Tchaikovsky wonderfully continued Schumann's art of creating small and beautiful masterpieces.
Edvard Grieg's 9 "Children's Pieces" are quite different - which is due, among other things, to the history of their creation: he composed them in Bergen in 1858 at the age of only 15. They are among the few surviving early works from his youth. Out of a series of 23 "small piano pieces" (EG 104) published in 1859, he selected nine and summarized them in a volume entitled "Nine Children’s Pieces, dedicated to Ludovisca Riis, op. 17" (today EG 103). Grieg was certainly aware of Schumann’s album for the young, because the numerous references cannot be a coincidence: In contrast to the 23 pieces, eight of the nine children's pieces from EG103 have programmatic German titles, as in Schumann's album. The seventh track is marked with three asterisks ***, which is also a clear reference to Schumann's album: there, he thus challenged the players to think up a title for themselves. Despite these (and other) references, Grieg's small collection is not an easy "Album for Children" in Tchaikovsky's sense, because the technical and musical difficulty of many pieces is regarding e.g. the many four-part movements nothing for beginners. In addition, the left hand must often catch tenths (e.g. in No. 9 "Prayer"), which is practically unplayable for small children's hands and can only be arpeggiated by them. Grieg apparently didn't care. Nevertheless: Since they were arranged after the model of Schumann's "album" and could be played by adolescent students, they must not be missing here.
- Genre
- Classical
Contains tracks
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