Martin Stadtfeld – Piano Songbook (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 55:19 minutes | 489 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Following his successful Handel album, Martin Stadtfeld releases “Piano Songbook”, his first album entirely with his own arrangements of themes from well-known classical works, as well as ten short “piano songs” of his own. On the one hand, the album contains 20 short pieces that refer to well-known melodies of classical works, among others by Bach, Mozart, Handel, Vivaldi, but also by Dvorák or Beethoven. “It is exclusively my own heart music, but it goes straight to the heart of many people,” says Martin Stadtfeld. Whether Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” (the football Champions League anthem), arias from Bach cantatas or from Purcell “Didos Lament”, whether melodies from Beethoven’s “Eroica” symphony, a piano quintet by Dvorák or the “March of the Priests” from Mozart’s “Magic Flute” – in his free arrangements, which are deliberately kept short, Stadtfeld has in each case made a particular character of the original work the starting point for his compositions: “With my arrangement, I want to bring out the core of the melody, to offer music that is easy to understand and simple, that touches and in which we can all find ourselves with our own emotions.«
This also applies to his own “10 Piano Songs”, which he wrote for this album: “With them I wanted to return to the original in musical expression. The short works are based on old forms, but also on motifs from nature, for it is after all our elemental origin.”
Martin Stadtfeld attaches great importance to keeping the technical requirements of his works so that they are suitable for self-playing at any level. Therefore, parallel to this album, a sheet music edition will be published by Schott Music (jpc 10459791).
“Piano Songs” is, as a result, an album that surprises with familiar and beautiful melodies in new piano arrangements and, when combined with Stadtfeld’s own “Piano Songs”, offers an entertaining, relaxed listening experience.
Tracklist:
1. Hymn (After a Theme from “Zadok the Priest”, HWV 258 by Händel) (02:14)
2. Never Alone (After “Bist du bei mir”, BWV 508 by J.S. Bach) (00:42)
3. Shepherd’s Song (After “Schafe können sicher weiden”, BWV 208, No. 9 by J.S. Bach) (01:54)
4. Nature Song (After a Theme from Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 by Beethoven) (01:39)
5. Organ Piece (After a Theme from Toccata in C Major, BWV 564 by J.S. Bach) (02:20)
6. Study (After “Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne” from Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 3 by R. Schumann) (00:29)
7. Organ Piece II (After a Theme from Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529 by J.S. Bach) (02:18)
8. Choral (After “Aus meinen Tränen sprießen” from Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 2 by R. Schumann) (01:07)
9. Siciliano (After “Erbarme dich” from Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244, No. 39 by J.S. Bach) (02:05)
10. Hymn II (After a Theme from “Zadok the Priest”, HWV 258 by Händel) (02:57)
11. New Song (After “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied”, BWV 225 by J.S. Bach) (00:57)
12. Folk Song (After “Dumka” from Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, B. 155, by Dvorák) (02:55)
13. Passacaille (After “Crucifixus” from Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, No. 17 by J.S. Bach) (01:54)
14. Night Song (After Nachtstück, D. 672, Op. 36, No. 2 by Schubert) (02:10)
15. Aria (After Serenata Veneziana from Andromeda liberata, RV Anh. 117 by Vivaldi) (02:25)
16. Bach meets Vivaldi (After Serenata Veneziana from Andromeda liberata, RV Anh. 117 by Vivaldi) (01:24)
17. Canon (After “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” from Johannespassion, BWV 245, No. 9 by J.S. Bach) (01:07)
18. Lamento (After “When I Am Laid in Earth” from Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626 by Purcell) (02:00)
19. Folk Song II (After a Theme from Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 by Beethoven) (00:39)
20. Variation (After “Marsch der Priester” from Die Zauberflöte, K. 620 by Mozart) (04:20)
21. Piano Songs: No. 1, Lullaby (00:45)
22. Piano Songs: No. 2, Choral (01:18)
23. Piano Songs: No. 3, Old Song (02:09)
24. Piano Songs: No. 4, Passacaille (02:04)
25. Piano Songs: No. 5, Minuet (01:47)
26. Piano Songs: No. 6, Eichendorff Song (01:22)
27. Piano Songs: No. 7, Natural Loud (01:12)
28. Piano Songs: No. 8, Choral (01:10)
29. Piano Songs: No. 9, March (01:58)
30. Piano Songs: No. 10, Lullaby (01:39)
31. Encore 2: Jesu My Joy (After “Jesus bleibet meine Freude”, BWV 147 by J.S. Bach) (02:19)
Download: