Music to Ice Skate By

 The winter Olympic Games are upon us. Tomoko's daughter Beata was an Olympics dance skater, and she continues in that profession. Beata had the advantage of knowing about music, starting with her mother, so she understood the importance of music -- and choosing the most effective pieces -- for choreographing a skating routine.

Classical music is a mainstay of ice skating, ranging from lighthearted winter waltzes to intense dramatic scores used by Olympic champions. 

Iconic Classical Pieces for Skating

These works are specifically associated with the atmosphere of ice skating or are frequently performed in competitive routines: 

• The Skaters' Waltz (Les Patineurs) by Émile Waldteufel: Composed in 1882, this is the most iconic piece of "skating music," featuring flowing melodies and the sound of bells to mimic a wintry rink.
• Boléro by Maurice Ravel: Famous for its steady, building rhythm, most notably used in the perfect 6.0-scoring routine by Torvill and Dean in 1984.
• Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: A competitive staple, used by gold medalists like Oksana Baiul (1994) to evoke elegance and drama.
• The Four Seasons: "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi: Features sharp, rapid string work that matches the precision of high-level footwork.
• Carmen (Habanera/Prelude) by Georges Bizet: Frequently used for its intense energy; famous for the 1988 "Battle of the Carmens" between Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas.
• Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven: A popular choice for romantic or emotional programs, used by pairs such as Gordeeva and Grinkov. 

 

Popular Orchestral Selections

Many skaters select movements from larger classical works that provide a mix of slow, lyrical sections and powerful finales: 

• Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 and No. 3.
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade.
• Saint-Saëns: "The Swan" from The Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre.
• Stravinsky: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.
• Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. 

 

Curated Playlists & Collections 

You can find these and other classical skating tracks on the following platforms:

• 55 Ice Skating Classics (Spotify): A comprehensive collection including Strauss waltzes and Puccini arias.
• Figure Skating's Greatest Hits (Europadisc): A curated CD featuring Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Vivaldi.
• Best Figure Skating Classics (Apple Music): Includes competitive favorites like the "Sabre Dance" and "Méditation" from Thaïs. 

Leaf Us with Composers

 

It’s the autumn season with leaves falling. When combining the idea of leaves and classical composers, two results are possible: piano pieces that have the word “leaves” in the title.

• Felix Mendelssohn  wrote "Album-leaf in E minor, Op. 117".
• Max Reger composed multiple pieces titled "Albumblatt," including one from his "Bunte Blätter for Piano".
• Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a "Feuillet d'album, Op. 169".
• Moritz Moszkowski wrote "Feuillet d'album No. 2" from his Op. 86.
• Modest Mussorgsky composed a piece titled "Méditation (feuillet d'album)"

 

And there is another possibility: composers who have arranged or been associated with the song “Autumn Leaves,” which is English lyrical adaption of the French song “Les Feuilles Mortes” (“Dead Leaves”) by Hungarian composer Joseph Kosma in 1945.

• Frédéric Chopin was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song
• Franz Liszt was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.
• Sergei Rachmaninoff was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.
• Johann Strauss II was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song. 
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.

For fun, you can hear a jazz arrangement of “Autumn Leaves” that is transformed into a homage to Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Strauss, Chopin, Brahms, and Rachmaninov at https://youtu.be/0zARLbNo480

The Flowering Piano

It's summertime: the prime time to see flowers in gardens and fields. Piano composers have been inspired by flowers, as these examples demonstrate. 

• Debussy's "Bruyères":

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  This piece from Debussy's "Préludes, Book II" is a tone painting of the French word for heather, capturing the flower's delicate beauty and subtle fragrance, according to Interlude.hk.
• MacDowell's "To a Wild Rose":

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  A quintessential example of a piece inspired by a single flower, this work is cherished for its simple, elegant melody and its evocation of the wild rose's natural charm. 
• Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers":

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  Originally part of the ballet The Nutcracker, this piece is a grand and celebratory waltz, often arranged for piano and admired for its lively and joyous character. 
• Schumann's "Blumenstück":

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  This "Flower Piece" for piano is a collection of short, contrasting sections, each suggesting a different aspect or mood of flowers. 
• Rachmaninoff's "Lilacs":

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  Op. 21, No. 5, is a lyrical and expressive piece for piano, capturing the delicate beauty and romanticism associated with the flower. 
• Debussy's "Jardins sous la pluie" (Gardens under the rain):

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  This piece from the "Estampes" suite is a depiction of gardens buffeted by a downpour, showcasing Debussy's mastery of creating evocative soundscapes, according to Musicnotes.com. 

May the piano pedals make the musical petals to help your summer blossom!

April Modern Classical Composers

 

If April showers bring may flowers, do piano composers born in April bring music that seems to bloom? You decide about these comparably modern classical musicians.

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born April 1, 1873 in Russia. His compositions exemplified late Romanticism.  His famous piece of voice and piano, “Spring Waters” from his 12 Romances, Opus 14, was dedicated to his first formal teacher: Anna Ornatskaya. At the age of 19, Rachmaninoff performed his first concert, where he premiered his Trio elegiaque No. 1. Besides his impressive compositions, Rachmaninoff was also considered one of the best pianists of his day.

Sergei Prokofiev was born April 23, 1891 in Krasne, Ukraine. His compositions crossed a number of musical genres, although he is considered a key early Modernist. His piano works consisted of five piano concertos and nine piano sonatas. His first piano concertos, which he performed, were controversial because of their innovation and dissonance.

Only eight years late, on April 29, 1899, Duke Ellington was born in Washington, DC. He is now considered a classical jazz composer, and he led the movement to regard jazz as a respected art form. He too was a highly esteemed pianist. Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than a thousand compositions: the largest recorded personal jazz legacy.

Spirited Classical Piano Pieces

 At Halloween time, classical piano music may be very spirited – as in eerie. Here is a sampling, which may have surprising popular culture connetoins.

Viewers of Disney's 1940 movie Fantasia witnessed an abstract visual interpretation of Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor. The opening chords followed by a rippling effect are hard to forget.

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Opus 27, was written at the start of the 19^th century. The nickname of the piece, bestowed after Beethoven's death, alluded to a musical suggestion of moonlight reflected off a German lake. Even without the moonlight, the tone of the piece is ghostly.

Schubert is known for his lieder. His 1815 piece The Elf King was based on a Goethe poem. The rushing sound evokes haunted galloping horses, and may be heard in some horror films.

Chopin's Funeral March (Piano Sonata no. 2) was played at Chopin's own funeral – as well as the funerals of John F. Kenny, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. It is often played in the media: from Beetlejuice to cartoons.

Rachmaninoff compared his Prelude in C# minor (Opus 3, no. 2) when he was only 19 years old. Also known as the “Bells of Moscow” because of its bell-like opening. The piece was indirectly inspied by Edgar Allan Poets gothic writing.

One could say that these piano compositions are scary good, which is why they have featured in film as well as concert halls. They can spirit one away...

Overcoming Challenges

 

Tomoko knows the value of persistence, even when experiencing challenges and failure. She asserts: “Each piano piece has some kind of physical challenge. Tomoko also associates learning to play the piano to mountain climbing. “You need to go up lots of small mountains. If the road is right, you will reach up. So practice daily, and step nicely.” 

Tomoko also shares stories about pianists and composers of piano pieces with her students, and sometimes mentions the challenges these individuals faced and overcame.

For instance, Mozart was a court musician in Salzburg, but was very unhappy in his job. He quarreled frequently with the Archbishop, and was fired from that position. However, he felt liberated, and became a famous pianist after performing in competition before the emperor.

Rachmaninov’s composing career had a rocky start. His first symphony’s premier was a disaster, partly because the orchestra hadn’t rehearsed enough and the conductor was drunk. For three years, Rachmaninov composed very little because he was so depressed. Fortunately, he was able to get psychiatric help, and his later Piano Concerto No. 2 became internationally applauded.

Robert Schumann also started as a performing pianist, but his little finger on his right hand was weak. He tried to fix that problem, but his hand became permanently damaged instead. With that career out of the picture, he turned to composing, and is known for his romantic piano works.

Jean Sibelius started his musical career as a violinist but was turned down by orchestras. He thought he was too old to train further for performance but instead of foregoing music, he decided to switch to composing. He not only wrote great violin concertos but also impressive piano compositions.

Beethoven experienced several challenges. As a boy, he was dominated by his alcoholic father, and then had to be the breadwinner for his family when his father declined and died. Then as early as in his twenties, Beethoven’s hearing started to decline. However, he wrote his best musical compositions when he could hear the music only in his head.

Tomoko too has had her own challenges, but has succeeded as a piano performer and award-winning piano teacher. She and the musicians above are worthy models for piano learners.

  

Piano Music for Gardening

 

The adage “April showers bring May flowers” signals the time for gardening, a favorite pastime of Tomoko. She considers it as a way to wake up, to recharge her psychic batteries. “It’s a fresh feeling.”

Refresh yourself with these ten piano pieces inspired by gardens, with a little information about each piece.

In the 1930s Hungarian Bela Bartok wrote a collection of 85 short pieces entitled For Children. One of those compositions is "Rose Garden." These pieces attest to his belief in the importance to educating youngsters in contemporary musical styles.

Amy Beach was the first major American female composer of large-scale art music. Her 1922 Opus 97, Grandmother’s Garden, consists of five parts, each capturing a different flower.

Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane was commissioned by Life magazine to be featured in a 1962 issue, which includes photographs and an article explaining that this piano piece was one of the few compositions written express for young students by a major composer.

Claude Debussy’s “Jardins sur la pluie” (Gardens in the rain) is part of his 1903 composition Estampes (Prints). It captures the round of raindrops that storm a French garden. 

As a gift to his mother, Australian Percy Aldridge Grainger arranged an English folk tune into the 1918 piano piece “Country Gardens.” The piece was his greatest success financially, selling over 40,000 copies yearly in the United States. However, Grainger came to resent having to perform it constantly.

A visit to a monastic garden inspired English composer Albert Ketelbey to write “In a Monastery Garde.” In 1915. Ketelbey was known for light orchestral music, and wrote music for silent films.

Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu’s 1938 suite Window on the Garden consists of four lyrical movements. The piece reflects his short stay in Paris just before escaping from the forthcoming Nazi invasion.

Edward McDowell was America’s best known composer at the beginning of the 20^th century. His 1902 piano New England Idyls combines classical European harmonic elements and American textual imagery, as exemplified in the piece "An Old Garden."

Rachmaninoff became known for his lyrical inspiration, where the piano captures the sentiments of the text. Lilacs, Op 21, No. 5 “Lilacs, along with Daisies” was composed in 1902 as a song with accompaniment, but was later transcribed as a sensitive piano solo miniature.

In 1893 Tchaikowsky wrote his last solo piano work, 18 Pieces, one a day. Value-bluette, No. 11, was dedicated to the daughter of his lawyer and friend Nikolay Kondratyev.

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The Secret Facts of Composers

Piano teachers need to know their music, and it’s useful to know about the composers themselves. Tomoko likes to read biographies – especially those of composers. And she relates stories about them to her students, providing context for the compositions as well as making those composers more human. Here are some of the lesser known facts about some of them.

Vivaldi became a priest when he was 25, and served as a master of violin at an orphanage. Vivaldi suffered from bronchial asthma throughout his life, which kept him from playing wind instruments.

Liszt was very popular when young, and he was quite the playboy. One of his illegitimate daughters become Richard Wagner’s wife. Nevertheless, throughout his life he considered becoming a priest, and took four minor religious orders when 54.

Schubert was famous for his musical parties, which sometimes lasted until dawn. Yet he was very prolific; he wrote more than 20,000 bars of music, including 600 songs. He wrote 8 songs in one day. 

Rachmaninoff's fingers could span 12 keys.  On the other hand 😉, Schumann ruined his performing career by practicing with a homemade finger-stretching device; then he would plunge his hands into slaughtered animals’ entrails to heal himself.

Frederic Handel loved rich food and wine. He would order enough food for three people – for himself. The food caused him gout, and the wine may have caused him lead poisoning. 

Johann Sebastian Bach frequented Leipzig’s Café Zimmermann where he would drink several cups of coffee (which was a luxury beverage at the time). He liked coffee so much he wrote the Coffee Cantata about a woman who was trying to stop her coffee drinking habit.  Bach was also an amateur mathematician, which is evident in his compositions, especially his canons.

Speaking of coffee, Beethoven was so meticulous that he would measure exactly 60 beans when making coffee.

Mozart’s life included many interesting facts. He could write music before he could write words. He could listen to a piece of music just once and be able to write it down from memory perfectly. He wrote half of his symphonies between the age of 8 and 19. was a big cat fan. He would imitate cats when bored during rehearsals. In fact, he liked cats so much that he wrote a song called "The Cat Duet,” in which the husband asks his wife questions and she answers back in meows.