Menotti: Poemetti [Alf:00-44327]

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911--2007) is best remembered as an opera composer and founder of three international performing arts festivals. Menotti has left behind a lasting legacy of lyrical and accessible music. Poemetti: 12 Pieces for Children was first published in 1937. These descriptive pieces demonstrate Menotti's celebrated lyric gift as well as the careful craft that characterizes his work. Taken as a whole, the set can be seen as Menotti's version of an "Album for the Young," recalling images of his colorful childhood in Italy. These brief compositions are varied in meter, tempo, character, texture, and technical demands and are suitable for developing the musical imagination and keyboard facility of pianists at the intermediate level. The collection is pianistic in style, with each piece serving as a miniature technical etude. The titles are evocative and aid the performer in conceptualizing a convincing interpretation. Titles: Giga * Lullaby * Bells at Dawn * The Spinner * The Bagpipers * The Brook * The Shepherd * Nocturne * The Stranger's Dance * Winter Wind * The Manger * War Song.