Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Works.

Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Works, edited by Joseph Banowitz. Belwin-Mills Publishing/Warner Bros. (15800 N. W. 48th Ave., Miami, FL 33014), 2003. 68pp. $14.95. Advanced.

There are five volumes for solo piano in the Warner Brothers Publication Performing Artist Series. Chopin, Debussy, Schubert, Schumann and Rachmaninoff each are represented in this series meant for the intermediate, late-intermediate and advanced student. Joseph Banowitz is the editor of this series and performs all the compositions on five CDs included with the respective book.

Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Works is geared to the advanced student. Rachmaninoff was a composer, pianist and conductor, and his constant traveling and concertizing may be the reason his body of works only reached Op. 45. However, his piano works are among his finest compositions. The selections in this book are wonderful introductory compositions. There are several pieces from the very accessible Op. 10 and several selections from his Morceau de Fantasy, Op. 3. Unfortunately, along with the delightful Flight of the Bumblebee, the editor als0 includes the often mutilated Prelude in C-sharp Minor, which Rachmaninoff grew to hate since his audiences would not let him leave me stage until they had heard him play it.

Rachmaninoff was a young boy of 13 when Franz Liszt died, and he carried on where Liszt left off. Although he was composing at the same time as Bartok, Debussy, Ravel and Iyes, he remained true to the romantic tradition and expanded it in his use of long melodic lines, complex tonalities and more pianistic and color effects. That he was a pianist of the highest caliber is evident in all he composed. Best of all his works are his piano concerti. Because he wrote equally as well for the orchestra, the piano orchestral works are compositions all serious musicians should explore. The beauty of this volume is that it is a wonderful way to introduce students to this important composer and prepare them for his larger works. The inclusion of the CD is an equally wonderful tool to aid the teacher as well as the student. Reviewed by Dorothea Cromley, Billings, Montana.