RUSSIAN PIANO MINIATURES FOR CHILDREN: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovitch [CD de audio] Rimma Bobritskaïa (piano) and Tchaik

It was Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen and Album fur die Jugend that inspired Tchaikovsky to begin composing his Children's Album in 1878. He dedicated it to his nephew Vladimir Davidoff (Bobik) who was 7 years old. For a long time I have been telling myself that it would be good to contribute, within my means, to the enrichment of children's piano literature, which is quite poor. I would like to compose a series of very simple pieces with attractive titles as Schumann did, he wrote to his patron Mme von Meck. In less than a week of writing these words, she had completed all 24 pieces of her Children's Album. Like Schumann's works, there is nothing childish about the music, but rather it shows an adult mind fully understanding of a child's view of the world, along with a tender nostalgia. Tchaikovsky's Op.39 proved so popular that later other Russian composers also composed works for children. In Soviet times, Prokofiev composed his Music for Children (1935), wonderfully fresh music far removed from the dry didactic texts that most children had for studying the piano. In 1947, Shostakovich composed his Children's Pieces for his daughter Galina. Somewhat more closely related to traditional teaching pieces than Prokofiev's Music for Children, however, they charmingly instil the academic notion of a merry major and a sad minor by reversing it into a Merry Story in E minor and a Sad Story in G elderly.