1. Erinnerung (Recollections); 2. Vergangenheit (The Past); 3. Zu spät (nach Lenau) (Too late!)
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Conrad Ansorge (1862-1930) was a Silesian pianist, and one of the last pupils of Liszt, whose music he later championed. He taught for some years at the Klindworth-Scharwenka conservatory in Berlin, and after WW1 taught in Prague.

These pieces might well appeal to anyone who likes the songs of Hugo Wolf and wishes that he had written more piano music, for the piano writing is quite similar. The title of the last piece derives from a line ('Für die Toten ists zu spät') in an extremely gloomy 1831 poem by Nikolaus Lenau (1802-50) - 'Die Selbsmord' (The Suicide) in which, if UI understand the German correctly, the feelings of the victim are compared to a storm-wrecked ship. It is hardly surprising that the piece reminds one of the Dutchman's aria from Wagner's 'Der fliegende Holländer' Ansorge evidently had some bad dreams!
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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This is the published piano version (2001). I have heard several versions of this piece, and I think at least one has a different ending to that published. Nevertheless I prefer the published ending and have used it here. I apologise if the light level on this video is slightly lower than usual - I used an incorrect camera setting
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) was born in Caracas, Venezuela, although her career was highly international - and colourful. She was probably the only major pianist to have had a second career as an opera singer! She was married four times (her husbands included two brothers). As a composer, she is best known for her waltzes - to which I was alerted by a very favourable newspaper review of a selection played a few years ago at a London concert by the Venezuelan pianist Clara Rodriguez.

This beguiling waltz is not particularly little - and it is certainly not easy, requiring awkward changes of hand position throughout.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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This is the published piano version (1996) - the title means 'The Dark Line' (actually the horizon, as the album looks at the sea from different perspectives). I have taken note of some extra nuances Einaudi adds in his 2003 La Scala concert recording, and in particular the unmarked ritenuti at the beginning of some bars..
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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Daniel Andrés (1975- ) lives in Barcelona where he teaches at the Dmúsica school of music (http://www.dmusica.com/). He wrote this in 2009 as background music for a videographic project of a former student of his. I think it makes a good short study in minimalist piano patterns - it was certainly quite tricky for me to learn! Note: the composer of this piece should not be confused with the Swiss composer Daniel P. Andres.

I should say that Daniel has also recorded his own performance of the piece on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =c1IvwYk7nrU
I recorded my version not because another video was needed, but because I liked the piece!
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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Debussy's Syrinx is perhaps the best-known classical woodwind solo of all time. It was written in 1913 - originally entitles "La Flûte de Pan" - as incidental music to a play that was never completed . It was renamed by Jean Jobert, publisher of the first edition in 1927. Debussy dedicated the piece to the flautist Louis Fleury (1878-1926), who played it by candlelight at its premiere. Debussy originally wrote the piece without barlines or breath marks. As well as being a key staple of the flute repertoire, it is often played as a saxophone solo. One argument for playing it on melodica is that this instrument has a separate reed for each note, and as such is vaguely akin to the 'panpipes' which have a separate instrument for each note.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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This arrangement of the famous piano piece was made for the instrument known as an 'English concertina'. I am playing it here on melodica. I think this minimal version captures quite well the mood of the original, and is an offbeat contribution to the Mendelssohn birth bicentenary.

Incidentally, the named arranger 'Faulkner Brandon' - is actually the London musician Charles Arthur Rawlings (c1856-1919) who published under over 60 different pseudonyms (!) the best-known of which was Theo Bonheur. Others included: Oscar Verne, Gordon Temple, Maurice Telma, Paul Perrier, Emerson James, Auguste Cons, Dennis Duprez, Jean Douste and Gilbert Loewe. Rawlings was adjudicated bankrupt in 1895 so one assumes that the multiple names must have had some commercial purpose!. Interestingly, when his daughter Elise died in 1960, the 'Times' named her father as 'Theo Bonheur'! His brother, Alfred William Rawlings also composed under pseudonyms - Edward St. Quentin, Stanley Gordon, Constance White, Ivan Tchaikoff etc. I am sure there is a fascinating story waiting to be written about these two.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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Welcome to my channel. See my profile below, and details of my videos to the right.

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The Bohemian composer Julius Schulhoff (originally Šulhov) (1825-98) studied at the Prague Conservatory (a fellow pupil was Wilhelm Kuhe, who achieved fame as a salon composer in the UK). His 'big break' was getting an introduction to Chopin in the 1840s, and becoming his protege. He became a popular pianist and teacher in Paris (he taught composition to Lalo), but took time out for extensive tours of Europe. He moved to Dresden in 1870. Schulhoff was famous for his projection of a singing tone on the piano, and as such had great influence on Theodor Leschetitzxky and Anton Rubinstein. He was the great-uncle of the (today) far better-known composer and Holocaust victim Erwin Schulhoff. Julius Schulhoff's music often uses similar forms to that of Chopin and is very melodic. Although generally not black with notes, his scores often demand awkward leaps and hand-crossings. This mazurka, dedicated to a member of the Richault family, Chopin's publishers, could almost have been written by the master himself.
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http://www.psear.co.uk

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I found this attractive short piece on the Sibeliusmusic website while researching suitable music to play on the melodica which has little native repertoire. A lot of duos for two melody instruments can be played on melodica (with two hands) provided the parts do not cross over too much. The score is available for free download from the Sibelius site. More about the composer's interesting career and works can be found on:
http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/i ndex.php?sm=account.details&ui d=10117

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For this recording I have used the published version (1999) with reference to the nuances the composer adds in his 2003 La Scala concert recording. The piece was used in the 2006 British skinhead movie 'This is England'.

Apologies for the lack of my usual titling etc. However, this is the raw video footage and the sound and picture quality may well be better than my usual transcoded and edited work!
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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This is an arrangement by Johan van Slageren for 2 violins (or two clarinets which I play on my melodica (exactly - I hope - as written for the two instruments, except that with the increased range of the melodica I can drop the final note of each section down an octave). I am impressed by the way this arrangement can convey the feel of the orchestral movement using just two parts.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

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