I was honored recently to be asked to write and arrange some pieces for a series of concept books published by the incomparable Nicola Cantan via her Colourful Keys Teaching Resource Shop.
Concept Collections are limited edition volumes intended for piano students from beginner to intermediate levels. Each collection focuses on a specific concept, and each collection typically features four different composers.
In the past several months, I was invited to write and arrange pieces for three collections: Portato (Concept Collection 11), Forgotten Melodies (Concept Collection 13), and Lefties (Concept Collection 14).
Colourful Keys gets exclusive rights to the pieces for two months, then they release the rights back to the composers. My pieces for left hand alone won’t be released back to me until June 1, but I thought I would share here the four pieces I wrote/arranged for the Portato and Forgotten Melodies collections.
PORTATO (Concept Collection 11)
Portato Soup is a lively, lilting ABA piece in 6/8 meter. Most of the melody in the A section is to be played with a portato touch. Right hand takes the melody for the first phrase, then left hand picks it up for phrase two.
Level: Late Elementary
Sheet Music: https://daniel-light.com/product/portato-soup/
Solace uses portato touch in conjunction with the damper pedal to create a lovely, bell-like effect that sounds quite different from a truly legato touch. While the pedal masks some of the separation, the non-legato articulation can still be heard. The piece asks for most of the right hand melodic line to be played portato in conjunction with pedal.
Level: Intermediate
Sheet Music: https://daniel-light.com/product/solace/
FORGOTTEN MELODIES (Concept Collection 13)
I chose to arrange two tunes by Amy Beach for this collection: Waltz, from Children’s Album, Op. 36, and a lovely melody from the second movement of Beach’s Gaelic Symphony.
Waltz, Op. 36, No. 3 by Amy Beach
Waltz is the third of five short, elegant dances in Amy Beach’s Children’s Album, Op. 36, composed in 1897. The original piece is suited for intermediate piano students, but the arrangement here is intended for elementary-level pianists, splitting the lovely melody evenly between the hands. This short setting uses only the opening theme from the original solo. The piece can be played as a solo or with the optional duet.
Level: Elementary
Sheet Music: https://daniel-light.com/product/waltz-amy-beach/
Theme from Gaelic Symphony by Amy Beach
This lyrical theme comes from the second movement of Amy Beach’s Symphony No. 3 in E Minor, often referred to as the Gaelic Symphony. Amy Beach herself assigned this subtitle.
The oboe plays this tranquil melody at the start of the second movement, evoking a peaceful, pastoral mood. The melody is an adaptation of the Irish folk tune, The Little Field of Barley.
Level: Late Intermediate
Sheet Music: https://daniel-light.com/product/theme-from-gaelic-symphony/