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Cimarosa - Allegro (3rd movt from Sonata in C minor, C.68)
ABRSM Grade 5 - A1
Famous for his comic operas, Domenico Cimarosa wrote more than 80 keyboard sonatas. This Allegro is the final movement of his Sonata in C minor, C. 68. We find fast spinning patterns in almost every bar, often featuring right hand repeated notes that add to the piece’s challenges. Along with much music from the period, there are no dynamic or articulation markings in the original manuscript. To bring the music to life on the piano, we need to find as much colour as possible - using dynamic contrasts and varying our touch. Key colour is an important consideration here, with... Read >>
H. Hofmann - Minnelied (No. 7 from Stimmungsbilder, Op. 88)
ABRSM Grade 5 - B1
Heinrich Hofmann was a German composer in the Romantic tradition, and in this lovely piece we clearly hear the influence of Robert Schumann. In legato cantabile style, we project and shape the top right hand line as though we were singing it, ensuring the lower right hand notes are very much in the background yet allowing the left hand to supply appropriate support from the bass line. This layered sound requires blending and colouring with the pedal. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) ... Read >>
David Önaç - A Distant Star in the Stillness
ABRSM Grade 5 - C3
David Önaç’s cosmic soundscape is an ideal piece to stimulate the imagination. It will help to read the composer’s programme note at the foot of the page, where he describes how he found inspiration from the vastness of space, how “gigantic stars…appear as tiny dots in our night sky”. Using jazz-influenced chords, this piece uses the high and low registers of the piano to conjure up vast distances, blending sounds together using the pedal. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) ... Read >>
Haydn - Minuet and Trio (2nd mvt from Sonata in D, Hob. XVI:4)
ABRSM Grade 5 – A2
In the Classical Period a minuet was a stylised dance in triple time, elegant in character. It was customary to follow a minuet with a trio, after which the minuet was repeated (creating an overall ABA structure); we find minuets and trios in symphonies as well as in other multi-movement forms, such as sonatas.This piece requires a strong rhythmic backbone as well as some articulation and delicacy with the ornamentation. Do we play the right hand in bar 7, for example, legato or detached? Perhaps the first beat might be detached, and a slur added between the second and third... Read >>
Pilling - Philomela
ABRSM Grade 5 – B3
There is a plaintive, lamenting quality in Dorothy Pilling’s Philomela. The legendary character of Philomela was changed by magic into a nightingale, expressed by the singing line in the RH of this piece. Notice the phrase structure in the supporting LH, the many two-bar phrases require a little stress at the beginning of the first bar with no accent on the first beat of the second bar. Other features to savour include hemiolas (shifts in rhythmic emphasis) and the ravishing harmonies that were influenced by the composer’s love of Debussy’s music. Preview... Read >>
JS Bach - Invention No. 8 in F, BWV 779
ABRSM Grade 5 – A4
In a Bach Two-Part Invention both hands are equally important - we might imagine a duet between a violin and cello, or flute and bassoon. The F major Invention is exuberant and joyous in character, the theme rising up in ever larger jumps (broken chord) and floating back down in scale fragments. We can energise our playing by making the quavers bouncy. Notice the keys that Bach visits on the journey: a strong arrival in C major (dominant) in bar 12, then brief visits to G minor in bar 16, D minor (relative minor) in bar 24 and B flat... Read >>
Mozart - Theme, Var. 1 and Var. 5 (from 12 Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", K. 265)
ABRSM Grade 5 – A10
The French melody Mozart used for his 1785 set of twelve variations, Ah, vous dirai-je, maman first appeared in 1761, and has been used for many children's songs since. The innocent theme presented in the right hand can be coloured by some imaginative articulation in the left hand, with the possibility of some overholding (finger pedalling) in spots to create a harmonic carpet. The semiquaver patterns in the first variation require not only careful control but also contouring and phrase shaping. The fifth variation is all about dialogue between the hands, the one interrupting the other in playful fashion. The... Read >>
Schumann - Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (No. 1 from Kinderscenen, Op. 15)
ABRSM Grade 5 – B10
Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood) is a set of 13 pieces written in 1838 in which Schumann looks back on childhood memories from the perspective of an adult. The opening piece, Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands and People) features a diminished chord on the second beat of the first bar. The player needs to colour the sound here to create a sense of wonder or mystery. The texture of the piece is typical of the Romantic style - a top melody supported by broken chords and a bass line (a counter melody appears in the bass in... Read >>
Beethoven - Bagatelle in G minor, Op. 119 No. 1
ABRSM Grade 5 – A5
A bagatelle is a short piece, usually light in nature. Beethoven wrote several sets of bagatelles throughout his life, the opus 119 set was completed in 1820. The G minor, op. 119 no. 1 is like a minuet, beginning with a melancholy theme in G minor, followed by a calmer section in E flat major. A short bridge brings us back to the opening theme, this time varied with more activity and an especially athletic left hand part. A Picardy third ends the piece with a smile. Preview (please log-in... Read >>