SKU: BO.B.3641

These Three Studies for Four-handed Piano were conceived of as a triptych whose unifying principles were to be the first-slow-fast movement order of the classical sonata and a symmetrical arrangement of tonalities with A major occupying the centre (F minor- A major- C minor). The term Studies alludes not so much to the 19th century pedagogical concept of pieces-as-exercises, as to an attempt to extend, investigate and study the possibilities of expression and texture of the piano for four hands.

The First Study is generated out of a single rhythmical motif whose development is modified by the intervention of two contrapuntual passages. A certain difficulty of execution arising from the need to cross hands in both sections of the keyboard conforms, in this case, to the traditional definition of study as an exercise focussed on a specific technical problem.

The second piece might be defined as a study of expression, being the explicit disposition of an ostinato accompaniment and two superior voices in conversation. I cannot help, listening to this study, being reminded of the texture of the slow Largo of Bach's Concerto for 2 violins and the manifest pathos of the Andante of Prokofiev's 2nd Violin Concerto.

The Third Study is an exercise in rhythmical interpenetration in which continual changes of accentuation and metre are combined with passages of a light and mellifluous character.

It is a long-standing ambition of mine to supplement this work with three more triptychs and, so, complete a set of twelve studies for four-handed piano.

SKU: FG.55011-315-2

ISBN 9790550113152.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

SKU: BT.ALHE30257

French.

Composed by Federico Mompou, Piano Preludes is a set of four pieces with two hands for upper intermediate players. It covers the Preludes Nos. 1 to 4 written in 1928. Each of these preludes is written on one to four pages and canbe played separately. The first one is short, to be played like a romance, with chords only. The second one lasts longer and features distinctive parts, starting with an energetic section followed by a sudden musical burst, therest of it being slower until the animated close. The third prelude is quite slow and very expressive while the last piece of this book is quite short and simple. Federico Mompou was a Spanish pianist and composer. He composednumerous pieces for piano and some songs.

SKU: KN.09834S

UPC: 822795098341.

Brahms wrote 21 Hungarian Dances for piano four-hands. Each one is highly individualistic and features slow and fast sections -- in this arrangement, D major is used in the slow opening and closing sections, while the fast middle section is in B minor. Violins have some limited divisi parts, and melodic material is given to the inner voices and cellos in the fast section. Duration 1:15. Available in SmartMusic.