Album For The Young

Robert Schumann's 'Album für die Jugend' ('Album for the Young') was written in 1848 as a Christmas present for his children and was originally entitled 'Weihnachtsalbum für Kinder, die gern Clavier spielen' ('Christmas Album, for children who like to play the piano'). The 43 pieces combine pedagogic aims with artistic quality, a rare combination in the musical repertoire. Our new edition contains nine pieces which were missing in the first edition: For the Very Small - Doll's Lullaby - In a Gondola - Guckoo in Hiding - Catch Me if You Can - Venetian Lagoon - Bear-Dance - Rebus - [Little Waltz]

A wonderful collection of miniature pieces reminiscent of childhood, similar to Schumann's Album For The Young. Each selection is delightful and entertaining for students and audiences of all ages.

The brilliant yet tortured Robert Schumann virtually launched the Romantic Era with his music, which conveyed the depths of his emotions through a unique blending of music and poetry. Nearly the entire Schumann catalogue is represented in this newly reissued edition.

*Finalist for the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism* *A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Literary Criticism and Essays Pick for Spring 2012* The Grey Album, the first work of prose by the brilliant poet Kevin Young, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize Taking its title from Danger Mouse's pioneering mashup of Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' The White Album, Kevin Young's encyclopedic book combines essay, cultural criticism, and lyrical choruses to illustrate the African American tradition of lying—storytelling, telling tales, fibbing, improvising, "jazzing." What emerges is a persuasive argument for the many ways that African American culture is American culture, and for the centrality of art—and artfulness—to our daily life. Moving from gospel to soul, funk to freestyle, Young sifts through the shadows, the bootleg, the remix, the grey areas of our history, literature, and music.

A new collection of the accessible and evocative "micro-verse" from one of Russia's most beloved poets. Vera Pavlova's If There Is Something to Desire delighted the poetry world a few years ago. Her poems, rarely longer than a few lines, thrill and puzzle us like Zen koans, considering matters philosophical, romantic, sexual, familial, artistic. Album for the Young (and Old), whose title poem takes its name and inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s music, carries us through a life in miniatures, drawing from a wide-ranging group of poems translated by the poet’s late husband, Steven Seymour. Here Pavlova returns to her childhood to peruse its key ingredients (“a glass jar, a rag, a sponge . . . Mom’s listening to the Beatles, / Dad, to Radio Liberty”), confronts adulthood (“And, please, no forbidden fruits!”), balances her loves and losses (“Without you, my unquenchable . . . woes are bearable, / joys are not”). Once again, this poet’s piquant short poems sum up worlds and take on heavyweight challenges, yet are light enough to carry with us.

The New International Edition of Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1 includes French, German and Spanish translations as well as a newly recorded CD performed by internationally renowned recording artist Seizo Azuma. Now the book and CD can be purchased together or separately. While the music selections in Volume 1 remain the same as the earlier edition, the spacious new engraving with minimal editing generally keeps only one piece per page. Instruction material in many pieces from Volume 1 has been removed in lieu of right-hand studies at the top of the page and left-hand studies at the bottom. Tempo markings are now included on many pieces. Titles: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" Variations (Shinichi Suzuki) * Lightly Row (German Folk Song) * The Honeybee (Bohemian Folk Song) * Cuckoo (German Folk Song) * Lightly Row (German Folk Song) * French Children's Song (French Folk Song) * London Bridge (English Folk Song) * Mary Had a Little Lamb (American Nursery Song) * Go Tell Aunt Rhody (Folk Song) * Au Clair de la Lune (J. B. Lully) * Long, Long Ago (T. H. Bayly) * Little Playmates (F. X. Chwatal) * Chant Arabe (Anonymous) * Allegretto 1 (C. Czerny) * Goodbye to Winter (Folk Song) * Allegretto 2 (C. Czerny) * Christmas-Day Secrets (T. Dutton) * Allegro (S. Suzuki) * Musette (Anonymous). The International editions include an updated title page that designates the book as the International Edition.

Numerous selections from Schumann's Album for the Young have long been favorites of intermediate students, and few collections fail to include the "Soldier's March," the "Happy Farmer" or the "Wild Horseman." This historically informed edition of the entire collection clearly differentiates the markings of the first edition from Clara Schumann's later-edited version. Discussions of ornamentation and the collection's origin are also included.