Melodic bridge-building
Adrian Bucher has self-published a very careful piano booklet for young people, which includes both popular and classical-romantic music. Special attention is paid to pedal playing.
Just like the jetty made of piano keys on the cover of the magazine Bridge of Melodies Adrian Bucher's piano pieces lead us into finely woven piano sounds. The 14 pieces brought together here are stylistically multi-layered and colorful. Despite their proximity to popular music, I can clearly sense the author's classical-romantic roots and the high demands this places on a coherent piano composition. Harmonically and rhythmically very carefully crafted and notated in equal detail, I consider the pieces to be valuable literature for teaching, which should appeal directly to young people at intermediate level. For them, these pieces could help to build a bridge to the piano writing of the Romantics, both in terms of style and playing technique. We find wide-spread chordal accompaniments (sometimes spread over two hands) with beautiful bass lines, secondary voices and surprising melodic and harmonic twists. With the detailed fingerings, the precise indications for shaping the phrases as well as the tempo and dynamic progressions, Adrian Bucher wants to encourage conscious music-making and shaping, paying particular attention to the use of the pedal. On his website adrianbucher.net the pieces are available as mp3 files and can also be ordered there.
Bridge of Melodies, 14 stylistically versatile piano pieces for intermediate level, BUA 3901, Fr. 25.50, self-published 2016, www.adrianbucher.net
