Thirteen times full of character

When it comes to "seasons", many music lovers probably think first and foremost of Vivaldi or Haydn. Perhaps also Tchaikovsky, who gave his collection of 12 musical monthly pictures for piano the same name. The 13 Seasons for piano by Daniel R. Schneider, which were published by Gilgenreiner-Verlag at the end of 2019.

The Winterthur composer, who also writes for orchestras, ensembles and theaters, has always been involved with a wide variety of musical styles and is obviously at home in classical music, jazz and folk music. The 13 Seasons are, as he says, inspired by everyday stories, moods and events and combine different styles into a unified musical language. The individual numbers have no titles (as in Tchaikovsky, for example), but are simply marked with a metronome number and a simple tempo or character description. Some reveal the skillful jazz musician who likes to sweep the entire keyboard with virtuosity. In others, an immediately touching mood is created with very simple (and yet not everyday!) pianistic and compositional means. This is particularly true of number 11.

Schneider also knows how to incorporate new playing techniques such as clusters or preparation. However, the instructions are not always formulated in a completely coherent manner. In some places, the composer invites you to improvise. This may be the case with number 5 in particular, with its wide-ranging accompaniment figures in the left hand and the long pauses in the right hand.

The level of pianistic difficulty varies considerably from piece to piece, but this need not be an obstacle. In the preface, Schneider expressly writes: "The cycle can be performed in its entirety or individual pieces can be combined as desired." However, it is definitely worth taking a closer look at the whole booklet. Because the last piece in particular, number 13, is a little gem!

Daniel R. Schneider: 13 Seasons, for piano, Fr. 36.00, Gilgenreiner, Winterthur 2019, ISMN 979-0-700268-31-2