Three Suites for Piano: Spirit of the Journey (Composer's Studio Series).

by Mary Dolen. Neil A. Kjos Music Co. (4380 Jutland Dr., San Diego, CA 92117), 2003. 23 pp; $4.95. Late intermediate.

Teachers and players looking for new and fresh-sounding intermediate music written in a truly contemporary style will be delighted with Mary Dolen's premier contribution to Kjos's Composer's Studio series. The book has three different suites, each including three pieces. The music is decidedly modern sounding yet accessible because it is highly imaginative and very well crafted.

Spirit of the Sea, the first of the suites, features unconventional but expressive chord progressions, as well as unexpected variants in repetitions of material. "Seagull's Flight" will engage almost any student and is written in a style similar to early Debussy (thus the Monet painting from 1886 that adorns the cover of the folio). This suite is the least advanced of the three and is the only one at the mid-intermediate level, which is the level indicated on the cover.

The next suite, Spirit of the Desert, is slightly more advanced and much more modern in its language and sound and also is musically more ambitious. Its three highly creative pieces use alternating meters, compelling ostinatos, modal harmonies and, above all, unexpected twists and turns as the "plot" of each piece unfolds. My favorite is "Mojave Mirage." Its bitonal ostinato and airy, whimsical melodies floating above create a convincing aural equivalent of a mirage.

Each piece in the last suite, Spirit of the Mountain, generates a distinctive and memorable mood for late-intermediate students. "Arrival on the Mountain" paints an inspirational scene with surprisingly few notes and sounds more advanced than it is. "First Evening Stars" is an elegant study in two-voice semplice playing and legato octaves. The last piece of the set, "A Walk by the Stream," creates a sudden contrast with its lively tempo and alternating meters, yet shares a melody with the previous piece. This is so well disguised, it is likely only someone observing the score would know--a reminder that the most effective compositional devices are subliminal!

Dolen's pieces are novel and inevitable sounding, devoid of cliches, schlock or predictable patterns--things constantly happen in these works. On the stylistic spectrum, they are more dissonant and less conventional than what most late-intermediate students are playing nowadays. But they are no more so than standard repertoire miniatures by composers such as Pinto, Ginastera and Bartok. The exotic sounds and textures will appeal to many teenagers; playing these pieces also will prepare them to approach more advanced music in similar styles. These are also excellent repertoire choices for college piano minors, since the pieces are short but brimming with interpretive challenges and rewards. Reviewed by Bruce Berr Glenview, Illinois.