The Piano Pieces for Children - Nakada, Yoshinao

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Nakada, Yoshinao : The Piano Pieces for Children

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▼Details

▼Movements

▼Videos

▼Sheet Music

Work Overview

Music ID : 16870

Publication Year：1956
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：for children
Copyright：Under Copyright Protection
Additional Notes：音楽之友社

Commentary (2)

Author : Sudoh, Eiko

Last Updated: April 21, 2018

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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

Children's Piano Pieces is a collection of 17 piano pieces for children, published in 1956. Setsuko Murata, a piano teacher, lamented the scarcity of children's pieces at the time and commissioned Nakada to compose this collection. As expected from Nakada, who majored in piano, many pieces are easy to play in terms of hand movements. Fingerings are meticulously notated, and the collection is intended to be used as a supplementary textbook alongside methods like Beyer and Czerny.

Nakada is also the composer of well-known Japanese songs such as Natsu no Omoide (Memories of Summer) and Chiisai Aki Mitsuketa (Found a Small Autumn). In this collection too, while employing the pentatonic scale often used in Japanese children's songs (shōka) and enka, he subtly incorporates nostalgic and familiar melodies into many pieces. Many pieces feature creative approaches to their mood and titles to engage children's interest.

For recitals and other performances, pieces like Omatsuri (Festival), which evokes the sounds of flutes and drums, the rustic Dojin no Odori (Dance of the Natives) with its hand crossings, Etude Moderato where the same melody modulates successively, and Etude Allegro with its clear form and vibrant sixteenth notes, are likely to create a vivid impression.

Writer: Sudoh, Eiko

Author : Sudoh, Eiko

Last Updated: April 21, 2018

[Open]

Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

Published in 1956, “The Piano Pieces for Children” is a piano music collection for children composed of 17 songs. A piano teacher, Setsuko Murata, asked Nakada to make this collection because she lamented the Japanese situation at the time where there were few songs for children. Nakada majored in piano at the University, so he could compose many songs with easy hand movements with fingering shown in detail. This collection was intended to be used together with the piano texts of Bayer and Czerny.

Nakada also composed a lot of songs familiar to the Japanese, such as “Memories of Summer” and “Just a Little Autumn.” Even in “The Piano Pieces for Children”,

he used the five-tone scale which was used in Japanese traditional songs and ballads, and created some good old melodies. Also he created original titles and tunes for this collection for children to be able to enjoy.

These pieces create vivid impressions for the audience at recitals with such pieces as “Japanese Festival”, which is reminiscent of whistle and drum tones, “The Dance of Aborigines”, accompanied by a hand intersection, “Etude Moderato” in which the same melody is successively modulated and “Etude Allegro” in which the form is clear and the sixteenth notes are vivid.

Writer: Sudoh, Eiko