Описание
From OPENING DOORS, the in-progress collection of late-elementary piano pieces in keys of 2+ sharp/flat key signatures, this is Crab Trio in A# minor - the only elementary-level piano piece in A# minor of which I (the composer) am aware.
Notes on the composition:
A "crab minuet," sometimes called a "minuet al roverso," is a type of composition that combines the minuet dance type (medium tempo and triple time) with a structure that is itself a palindrome. If you track all the notes of both the right and left hand parts, you'll see that they "meet in the middle" and are a near-exact palindrome, with a couple adjustments for accidentals and durations! Franz Joseph Haydn enjoyed writing various "crab" pieces (not all of them minuets) and they pose an interesting problem for the composer, who will need to make sure the harmonic progressions and lines make sense in both directions. "Trio" simply refers to the piece being placed after a minuet in a typical minuet-and-trio set. Trios are usually also in triple time and feel much like minuets, however.
This trio is meant to pair naturally with the Crab Minuet in F# major, posted separately for the time being. To perform the minuet and trio in the way that would be typical of the Classical era, the performance order would be as follows:
1. Minuet, with repeats
2. Trio, with repeats
3. Minuet, without repeats
Notes on the collection:
OPENING DOORS features mid-to-late beginner piano solos representing all key signatures with two or more sharps/flats (including enharmonics)--keys rarely seen in today's pedagogical piano literature for the early grades. This collection grew out of the high praise for my early intermediate collection of unusual-key solos, entitled VENTURING BEYOND and published in 2014, which led to some requests from teachers and adult students to write a similar collection a couple levels easier than most of Venturing Beyond's pieces.
These pieces, written in Baroque, Classical and Romantic styles, not only help acquaint students with the idea of reading "within keys," but they also introduce common musical genres of the Western Classical canon. These short, expressive compositions--each no more than two pages in a medium-sized font and requiring no more than a major sixth reach--are also ideal for adult students or college group piano students who desire to play musically satisfying repertoire that is within their technical grasp, but still suitable for public and private performance. Many of the pieces are cast in binary forms with repeats, which allows students to increase the length and substance of a piece for performance without requiring them to learn more musical material.
This volume also refrains from invoking programmatic titles or content that might suggest that it is geared toward the school-age student; thus, it is ideal for student pianists of all ages, from 5 to 105!
Fingerings are not included in this edition, given that ideal fingering choices vary widely among different hand sizes and are best decided upon by consultation with a knowledgeable teacher.