SKU: HL.132022

UPC: 884088968564.

In view of the fact that most people today appreciate the great didactic value of ensemble playing in the musical education of children, there is a growing interest in the repertoire for four hands. In an attempt to satisfy the demand for works of this type, the present little collection, intended for primary schools, avails itself of the little known French didactic repertoire. These are pieces by contemporary composers of the older generation, written mostly at the beginning of the twentieth century.

SKU: HL.285230

UPC: 888680908737. 9.0x12.0x0.264 inches.

'Flee the storms.' Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) put this motto of classical artists at the heart of his music for piano four hands, preferring the balance of proportions to the roar of passions, the eclecticism of good taste, charm and delicacy. Berceuses falls within the French tradition of children's music such as illustrated by Faure's Dolly and Ravel's Ma mere lOye. These seven pieces evoke with refinement the happiness of a cloudless day, the effervescence that reigns on Christmas Eve, or the gentle syncopated rocking of a young Creole, Selfiana. The Variations pueriles sur une melodie de Carl Reinecke manifest a free, whimsical vein, whereas the Trois preludes sur des airs irlandais drink at the pure sources of folk music, borrowing their thematic material from the famous collection Songs of Old Ireland which Stanford had brought out in 1882. Published for the first time from ahandwritten score, the Variations sur un theme de Charles Levade end with a wild quadrille that takes the heroes of the celebration to the nearest inn. The Piece en forme daria et Bergerie from 1896, finely polished, takes up with the ambiance of the pastorale, popular in the 17th century.