Notes and Editorial Reviews
Are you a piano teacher looking for easy yet interesting pieces to assign your students? Have you had your fill of the Anna Magdalena Notebook, Schumann's Album for the Young, or Bartók's For Children and Mikrokosmos? Then you've come to the right disc. Here are 10 virtually unknown yet delightful suites of miniatures penned by a broad range of eminent American composers. Amy Beach's Children's Carnival is typical of her Romantic parlor-room style, and its tricky passagework will keep students honest. Contemporary techniques involving chord clusters, bi-tonality, wide-leaping intervals, and new ways of pedaling characterize Robert Starer's Sketches in Color.
Miriam
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Gideon's Altered Steps to Altered States offer similar modernism on an easier technical level, while Louise Talma's Soundshots are delicate, smartly contrasted neo-classical jewels. George Perle's knotty Modal Suite (modal by the skin of its atonal teeth!) might be described as a bridge between Bartók's more difficult Mikrokosmos and Schoenberg's Six Little Pieces Op. 19. I like the brash rhythms and urban zest of William Mayer's Subway in the Sunshine and Other Memories. And who'd guess that the charming, snappy Four Pieces that close the disc actually were written by as uncompromising a modernist as Roger Sessions?
Such repertoire, however, is best served when interpreted by a mature artist possessing seasoned, adult-size fingers. Enter Sahan Arzruni, whose discography suggests that he may well be a "children's piano music" specialist. He certainly plays these works with all the love, attention to detail, tone color, and character they deserve--and his annotations are both thorough and informative. Let's hope this disc will inspire younger generations of American composers to write quality piano music for student consumption.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Sketches in Color by Robert Starer
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
2.
A Quiet Afternoon by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1948; USA
3.
Toccatinas (3) by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
4.
Lyric Piece for Piano by Ben Weber
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956; USA
7.
Modal Suite for Piano by George Perle
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940; USA
8.
Little Suite by Lou Harrison
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
9.
Soundshots by Louise Talma
Performer:
Sahan Arzruni (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944-1974; USA
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