ABILITY RATING ADVANCED Chopin’s Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 No 2 was composed in 1847 and sits nicely between the sparkling No 1 in D flat (‘Minute’) and the lilting No 3 in A flat. It was written for Madame la Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild – a p

BEGINNER This is the final movement of a sonata compiled by Handel around 1750, perhaps for a musical clock; he wrote the original music for an orchestral ensemble. Playing tips: The RH much takes the lead in this sunny but gentle dance. Start off wi

ADVANCED The editor of Pianist has been waiting to put this spellbinding piece in the magazine for many years. There is a historic recording by Rachmaninov, which is worth seeking out (on YouTube) even if the pianist’s unsentimental style is presentl

INTERMEDIATE In the early days of cinema, ‘Träumerei’ was so frequently deployed for its reliably tearjerking appeal as incidental music that one film critic was already reflecting, in 1910: ‘We might call Schumann’s “Träumerei” a number with a posit

Studies, finger exercises, scales and arpeggios. Whatever you choose to run through, it’s generally accepted that using them to warm up before you get stuck into playing repertoire is a GOOD THING. Who doesn’t know a pianist with tendon or finger-str

INTERMEDIATE The music of French Romantic composer Mel Bonis has received somewhat of a revival to date. Pianist has followed suit by featuring three intoxicating pieces inside recent issues: Méditation (issue 110), Phoebé (issue 121) and Mélisande (

On 18 December 1867, in Kherson (now in Ukraine), Samuil Moiseevich Maykapar was born into a Karaite Jewish family. The archaeologist and scholar Abraham ben Samuel Firkovich (1786-1874) had demonstrated to the Tsar’s satisfaction that the Karaite co

INTERMEDIATE WATCH IAGO NUÑÉZ PLAY THIS AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM Playing tips from Iago Nuñéz: This celebrated piece, written in 1890, predates the explosion of the tango as a popular dance in the slums of Buenos Aires. Like much of Albéniz’s musi

INTERMEDIATE The Partitas BWV 825-830 are a set of six keyboard suites which were originally published individually beginning in 1726, then together as Clavier-Übung 1 in 1731, the first of Bach’s works to be published under his own direction. They w

ADVANCED DON’T MISS GARETH OWEN’S LESSON ON THIS PIECE Chopin’s Waltz Op 64 No 2 is not as famous as the piece which precedes it – the ‘Minute’ Waltz Op 64 No 1 – but it is still popular. The form is a dance with trio, but Chopin enriches the simple

BEGINNER Virtually unknown today, German composer Arnoldo Sartorio was remembered by past audiences mainly for pedagogical pieces written for his piano students to play. Many of these were issued under pseudonyms, which include Felix Durand, T. Devri

INTERMEDIATE Playing tips: This piece is a wonderful study in balance: both hands have the opportunity to project a beautifully-phrased melody over a chordal accompaniment, while both voices in the imitative middle section need to sing equally. The ‘

‘Goethe said, “Dreams are the feelings of the imagination.” Likewise, to me, fantasy and imagination without feeling are each hollow and dry. Music only comes to life when they are combined.’ Time spent in the company of Burkard Schliessmann, is time

INTERMEDIATE The London Sketchbook is a series of 43 untitled pieces and sketches written by Mozart between 1764 and 1765 while he was London with his family on one of their ‘grand tours’. The set of works is denoted by the K number (15) followed by

INTERMEDIATE Russian Romantic pianist, composer and teacher Samuil Maykapar became professor at the St Petersburg Conservatory. He wrote an array of piano pieces for all levels of players – this simple piece, The Little Orphan, appearing within the s

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE Composed in 1913, Satie’s three short Peccadilles importunes (‘Tiresome pranks’) were dedicated to the pianist Marguerite Long. No 3, presented here, has a very long subtitle: ‘Profiter de ce qu’il a des cors aux pieds pour lui

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, the fifth of the celebrated seven musical siblings, was in her first term studying piano at the Royal College of Music [RCM] when a Covid lockdown struck in 2020. She found herself confined to her hall of residence bedsit with on

BEGINNER Notes from the composer: Strolling was inspired by one of my favourite sets of Grade 1 piano pieces, Work and Play by Felix Swinstead. His little collection contains 12 charming melodic gems which are both imaginative and fun to play. Stroll

INTERMEDIATE WATCH CHENYIN LI & IAGO NUÑÉZ PLAY THIS DUET AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM Summer Dreams Op 47 is a suite of six pieces for piano duet which Amy Beach composed in 1901. They are delightful and picturesque miniatures, evoking fairy tales an

PIANO WEEK returns to its favourite UK venues this summer – Dulwich College (15-20 July) and Rugby School (21-28 July; 28 July-4 August) – with concert artists and leading pedagogues guiding participants of all ages and abilities through the world of