PIANO PROJECT
An exciting concept - now realized!

9 Composers

11 New Pieces for Piano

Your introduction to contemporary music!

conceived and coordinated by
Anne-Lise Gastaldi & Valérie Haluk

Universal Edition UE33662 • $27.95

Composers:

Georges Aperghis
Pierre Boulez
Ivan Fedele
Cristóbal Halffter
Michael Jarrell
György Kurtág
Peter Eötvös
Luis de Pablo
Salvatore Sciarrino

We are delighted to present this project, which is the result of several years of work. This publication provides a solution to a crucial requirement that we, pianists and teachers, understand to be essential: to familiarize our students with music from their own time — with contemporary music.

We had established that the available repertoire was quite inaccessible for those with only a few years of tuition. Our project, therefore, aimed at creating a collection of pieces that would allow young musicians a quick understanding of the styles used by the most important contemporary composers. We discovered that a language integrated into the learning process at an early stage is subsequently much better understood, even regarding complex works. When good grounding has been established, listening habits also play their role.

Accordingly, with this in mind, we decided to approach several composers who have a musical language particularly characteristic of our time.

We would like to thank Goerges Aperghis, Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, Ivan Fedele, Cristóbal Halffter, Michael Jarrell, György Kurtág, Luis de Pablo, and Salvatore Sciarrino for their commitment and invaluable cooperation. We thank them whole-heartedly for their support with this project, and for their respective contributions of an original music offering for our young pianists.

These pieces have been created and gathered together with the one objective of being suitable as a guide for young developing musicians, and will open up new perspectives on contemporary music.

Our aim has been to create an introductory work, similar to Webern's Children's Piece and many of Bartók's compositions, rather than the usual 'didactic tome'.

It is our most sincere wish that pianists playing these pieces will approach them with as much enthusiasm as we had when achieving this project.

Anne-Lise Gastaldi & Valérie Haluk