Volume 5 of the Urtext Primo series shows that great virtuosos were also able to write easy pieces. It brings together perhaps the two best-known keyboard personalities of the 19th century: Frédéric Chopin und Franz Liszt. Technically undemanding, the pieces compiled here nevertheless have all the flavour of the harmony and pianistic texture so typical for these two composers. And playing a ‘real Liszt’ can do much to increase a beginning student’s motivation. The third composer of this volume is Ferdinand Hiller, also a famous 19th century piano virtuoso to whom none less than Robert Schumann had dedicated his piano concerto. As in some works by Liszt and Chopin, Hiller’s compositions also frequently contain echoes of folk music, for example his Irländisches Lied (Irish Song) or his Fandango.
ABRSM Piano (2021 to 2022)