I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the celebrated pianist Nicolas Horvath for enthusiastically
bringing my Debussy works to public attention in their solo piano formats, both through his recent
recitals across France and through this Naxos Grand Piano release (GP822). In some cases these are
true piano pieces (like Toomai des �l�phants), in others they are piano reductions of orchestral scores
(like F�tes galantes), while in others they are piano solos in their own right that also exist in orchestral
versions (as in the incidental music for Le Roi Lear). Needless to say, most of these tracks are world
premi�re recordings, and this is certainly true of A Night in the House of Usher and its companion piece Un Jour affreux avec Le Diable dans le beffroi (?A Dreadful Day with the Devil in the Belfry?) which I arranged specially for Nicolas in November 2018 as a virtuosic, almost Lisztian paraphrase-fantasy. To remind us of the plot as the dramatic scenes unfold, Un Jour affreux avec le Diable dans le beffroi, like the start of No-ja-li) has a narrator (spoken in French by Florient Azoulay on the Grand Piano recording):

[After an overture rising from the underworld, with a polka and a citation of a chldren?s folksong Savez vous plantez les choux?, a carillon rings out]: Hearing it, the Dutch villagers start to count, with the bells of the belfry / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, and 12 / Perfect! / 13!?!/ The bell rang 13 times / 13! / The Devil is here where the clock should be! / Damn! / The bells are cracked. / The Devil laughs fit to burst / He pulls from the pocket of his coat, a small dancing master?s violin / ?My God!? says the devil ? and he tunes his violin slowly / The Devil leads the villagers in a fantastic and relentless jig [making jokes at the expense of concertos by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky] / The Devil directs the villagers towards the canal ? where he jumps to the other side, laughing all the time / The villagers try to imitate him, but they fall into the water. / [In Part 2] the villagers are transported to a hedonistic and lively Italian village. They are similarly transformed: the men have crooked hats ? the women have wide open bodices! They dance a mad Tarantella / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 13 / shouting ?Hey there! (Hola?) / Jean, the young hero, makes a fervent prayer to God against the Devil / The prayer is answered and the bell again rings normally! / The expression of the Devil changes: he shudders! / Everything goes black / The devil disappears in a brief red glow ? / And the carillon and the bells chime as usual / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 / Perfect! / But the Devil?s grinning face ap-
pears once again where the clock should be ? briefly

This volume contains a wide selection of famous musical themes from Bach to Carl Orff. Some of them were originally written for the piano. most have had their scores carefully arranged to make them easy to play on the piano. Each piece is followed with a jazz interpretation, which can either be played alone or alongside the 'original' version. Perhaps this will show that the 'classics' are not all that far removed from jazz, and that music of earlier periods contains many of the essential characteristics of jazz. Doesn't Lully's 'Gavotte', for instance, contain one of the most famous jazz themes ever? The 'Blue Gavotte' may make this clearer. The theme from Mozart's Sonata in A major (K 331) doesn't require many rhythmic changes to give it a blues flavour ('Mozart Goes Blues'). The driving rhythm of the ostinato bass in Carl Orff's 'O Fortuna' would suit modern jazz-rock performers well, with a few small changes ('A Fortune for a Tune'). What do Bizet's 'Habanera', Brahms' 'Hungarian Dance No. 5' and Paganini's 'Caprice No. 24' have in common? Why have they been turned into salsa music ('Habanera con Cigarro', 'Hungarian Salsa No. 5', 'Capriccio Latino')? Much of this is up to the individual: if you want to discover similarities, they are easy to find.

This early intermediate piano arrangement of Dances With Wolves is evocative of the expansive landscape and strength of the characters in the film. It has a pianistic feel to the sweeping left hand while keeping the integrity of the original melody. As a slow majestic piece, it allows the pianist to focus on syncopation while adding pedal if desired.
Pianists can follow the dynamics, articulation marks and finger numbers while working on maintaining five finger hand positions, coordination and balance between hands.
This arrangement is suitable for children and adults of any age and can be used to help build technique, expand repertoire, perform in recitals or learn for fun.
The approximate duration of this piece is 1 minute 40.

Discover the difference a method can make with this exciting series! Piano Discoveries captures the musical imagination of students and teachers alike with appealing and sensitive repertoire, well-integrated and supportive music theory, creative activities, and a gradually paced building of technical skills that equips the student to progress successfully and musically. Created by an exceptional team: composer and teacher, Janet Vogt; world acclaimed concert artist and master teacher, Leon Bates; along with guidance and contributions from innovative composers and teachers including Nancy Telfer, Gail Berenson, Scott McBride Smith, Martha Sherrill Kelsey, and Rebecca Shockley, Piano Discoveries reflects the expertise and talents of its entire creative team.