This series of easy piano music for teaching purposes presents pupils in the lower and lower middle grades with a carefully chosen selection of well-known and lesserknown compositions by important masters. The volumes are deliberately kept small in extent, since it is more stimulating for children to change the teaching material frequently.

When the aspiring pianist has dealt successfully with the works of Frederic Chopin for the first time, he will have left the elementary level of instruction behind. The following selection of “easy” pieces also requires security of technique and capability of musical expression in order to enable the florid sound of Chopin’s piano music to unfold. As much as works like the Prelude in D flat major or the Walz in A minor may tempt one to premature endeavours, a study of Chopin’s music should not be attempted too early.

In the following five Preludes, the two Valses and the Nocturne in G minor (six Mazurkas have been published in a separate folio), the editor has made a selection of pieces, which can be mastered by the pupil (with the exception of opus 28/15 and opus 28/20), even if a limited facility and finger stretch is present. Because of the finger stretch required for some chords, a different distribution of the hands has been indicated or simplifications have been suggested. An introduction to the “Tempo rubato”, taking style into consideration, is a task lying within teacher’s responsibility. Indications for pedal use were added by the editor.

Heinz Walter, Salzburg, Fall 1979