The music world honors Debussy this year, the 100th anniversary of his death. Pianists have always enjoyed playing one of his most beautiful pieces, Clair de lune. It is the third in a set of four pieces grouped under a title drawn from a poem by Paul Verlaine. The poet refers to dancing “masqueraders and […]
Franz Liszt is generally acknowledged to be the greatest pianist. Someone who heard him in person said his playing “was all sunshine and dazzling splendour.” As David Andruss explains in this video, Liszt wrote three Liebesträume. They were originally intended as songs, each based on a poem idealizing a type of love. The poem that […]
Sometimes a work that a composer doesn’t regard as especially important becomes a beloved favorite in later centuries. Ave Verum Corpus, written as a favor for a friend, is a good example. The motet (in Mozart’s time typically a polyphonic choral composition on a Latin text) celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi—and why the text […]
It’s a New Year and what better way to begin than to meet new people. Here we introduce our chief editor for the European Editions of Piano Adventures, David Andruss. You’ve likely heard David’s expressive orchestrations on Piano Adventures CDs! Also, meet Vivaldi, the (possible) poet—with new insight into this unconventional “red priest” who helped […]
Now available! The Adult Piano Adventures Book 1 by Nancy and Randall Faber is in a NEW user-friendly e-book on iBooks, Kindle, and Google Play. This adaptation offers a welcome format for teachers and adult students to explore digital learning, or for screen sharing during classroom instruction. Though digital textbooks have evolved, music e-books present unique challenges with […]
If you’ve taught many adult piano students, you’ve probably made many friends. We don’t teach to make friends and, indeed, the relationship begins as a business transaction. Yet, time and again, personal relationships develop—often with more significance than our client’s developing musical skill!
