Russian Piano Miniatures for Children
Prokofiev:
- Music for Children, Op. 65
Shostakovich:
- Five pieces for children (arr. Levon Atovmian)
- A Collection of Children’s Pieces, Op. 69
Tchaikovsky:
- Album for the Young, Op. 39
Performed by Rimma Bobritskaïa, piano
This CD was issued on 18 April 2011
It was Robert Schumann’s wonderful composition called “Kinderszenen” and also his “Album fur die Jugend” that inspired Tchaikovsky to start working on his own Children’s Album in 1878. He dedicated this music to his nephew Vladimir Davidoff who was 7 years old at the time.
Tchaikowsky wrote the following:
‘For a long time I have been saying to myself that it would be a good thing to contribute, within the limits of my powers, to the enrichment of the piano literature for children, which is rather poor. I would like to compose a series of very easy little pieces with attractive titles like Schumann did’ he wrote to his patron Mme von Meck.’
Like Schumann’s works, there is nothing childlike about this music; rather, it displays an adult’s creative mind, with a sensitive understanding of a child’s view of the world, together with a tender nostalgia. Tchaikovsky’s Op.39 proved so popular that later Russian composers also composed works for children. Prokofiev composed his Music for Children (1935), wonderfully fresh music, quite different from dry texts most children had for piano study at that time.
Shostakovich composed his Children’s Pieces for his daughter Galina in 1947. Rather more closely related to traditional teaching pieces that Prokofiev’s Music for Children, they nonetheless instill rather charmingly the academic notion of a happy ‘major’ and a sad ‘minor’ by inverting it in A Merry Story in E minor, and a Sad Story in G major.
Here is Rimma Bobritskaya playing Bach’s French Suite No.5 in G BWV 816:
Tags: Russian Piano Miniatures for Children, Rimma Bobritskaïa