Нино Рота 7 пьес для детей

The 7 Pezzi difficili per bambini (’7 Difficult Pieces For Children’), written in 1971, demonstrate Rota’s ability to combine simplicity of texture with his directness of emotional communication melodically and/or harmonically. The whimsical and playful character of the first two pieces in the set—Salti e giochi (’Skips and Games’), and Capriccio (’Caprice’)—are interesting. Whilst Salti e giochi uses a semiquaver figuration surrounded by chordal movement emphasising a secundal approach, the nature of a caprice is perfectly illustrated via a polychordal implication (B minor combined with a G major chord) that leads to a chordal alternating cadential statement. The third piece—Cantilena (’Lullaby’)—presents us with a beautiful melodic (Aeolian mode) theme juxtaposed with a descending chromatic line situated over a recurring dominant note, a sadness underpinning the piece at the start that in the middle section moves to the brighter Dorian mode which dislocates time before returning to the opening material. The fifth piece—Grillo notturno (’Cricket in the Night’)—is a sublime miniature, the repeating F sharp at the start representing the cricket metrically offsetting Rota’s evocative melodic line in the left hand that illustrates the night, with the final chord engendering a feeling of inconclusiveness. The sixth piece—Puccettino nella giungla (’Puccettino in the Jungle’)—musically explores the fairy-tale nature of Puccettino, musically delivering comedic figuration, again reminiscent of Prokofiev. The two largest pieces in the set—No. 4. Le scalette (’Little Scales’) and No. 7. L’acrobata (’The Acrobat’)—both retain the quintessential waltz figuration. In Le scalette, modality is interspersed with tonal cadential functionality. In the middle section, the descending chromatic line supported by a harmonically static chordal implication does communicate a feeling of stasis as a counterbalance to the opening. Whilst in L’acrobata, chordal chromaticism underpins the simplicity of the melodic line at the opening, emotionally delivering an unsettling feeling, which is increased when the right hand plays a descending chromatic figuration before leading to a bright C major cadence. (Naxos Music Library) Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Feel free to change the video quality to a minimum of 480p for the best watching experience. Performer: Angela Annese (Musica Viva, 1994) Original sheet music: music/ (Ricordi, 1981)