For the little Paganini
Prelude pieces for violin and viola with piano accompaniment that encourage a joyful performance.
Edition Peters has published the following under the title Piccolo Paganini 30 rare original pieces for violin in the 1st position and piano for children from the second year of learning have been published, a colorful palette of sensitive, funny, dramatic, one-and-a-half to four-minute performance pieces by composers from Arcangelo Corelli to Andrea Holzer-Romberg, to be performed with a wide variety of rhythms and techniques. The violin part is carefully marked with bowings and alternative fingerings for 2nd and 3rd position. The motivating piano part is easy to play. The accompanying CD contains all the duos and encourages the children to play emotionally; all the presti are kept at a moderate tempo so that they soon dare to play along.
Two extremely instructive but fun-to-play concert fantasies for girls and boys aged three to four are finally available in Europe after having been in successful use in America for over a century. Edward Mollenhauer, who was born in Erfurt, emigrated to the USA in 1853, founded several conservatories there and had a lasting influence on music education in America. The Infant Paganini requires 1st to 3rd position, harmonics in the middle of the string, pizzicato on the empty E-string with the left hand, spiccato and arpeggio over three strings. The Boy Paganini moves up to the 5th position, uses double stops, chromatic passages, the harmonics in the middle, lower third and quarter of the string, left-hand pizzicato, delicate and racy bow effects and four-string arpeggio - all ingeniously elementary and melodiously designed for rapid success.
These two booklets are also available in versions for cello.
Kurt Sassmannshaus, the famous pedagogue in the USA and son of Egon, the creator of the highly acclaimed string school work Early beginningpresents 14 moderately difficult short performance pieces for viola. Of the original works, an Andante by Viotti, an emotional Rêverie by Wieniawski and three of the colored Notturni from op. 186 by Kalliwoda (the latter is recommended, all six are available in their entirety from Peters). Also the hearty La Vergilletta by Ferdinando Bertone, the exciting violinBerceuse op. 16 and the refreshing celloSicilienne op.78 by Fauré among the arrangements make the book worthwhile. The comfortable fingerings and bowings can be adapted to higher demands with the help of the teacher.
Piccolo Paganini, 30 concert pieces in the first position, Vol. 1, edited by Christiane Schmidt and Gudrun Jeggle, EP 11381a, with CD, Fr. 25.90, Edition Peters, Leipzig et al. 2015
Edward Mollenhauer, The Infant Paganini for violin and piano, edited by Kurt Sassmannshaus, Bärenreiter's Concert Pieces, BA 10691, € 8.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2015
id., The Boy Paganini, BA 10692, € 8.95
Concert pieces for viola and piano, edited by Kurt Sassmannshaus, Bärenreiter's Viola Collection, BA 9697, € 19.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2015
