Cornelius Gurlitt

Hours of Rest Op. 102

The popularity of Cornelius Gurlitt's (1820-1901) varied and abundant piano œuvre, certainly inspired by his work as a music teacher, is undiminished until today and still of great educational significance in music lessons. The musical language of his four-handed piano miniatures is very similar to that of the compositions by Carl Reinecke and Theodor Kirchner. 'Hours of rest' was published for the first time by Schott in 1880 and shall now be made accessible again for music lessons with this new edition. The miniatures have a simple, yet effective structure, are arranged in an educationally sensible way and have an expressive tonal language containing cantabile, folk-song-like, dance-like, expressive and chorale-like elements. Everything that makes beginner's lessons sensible and systematic is dealt with in these 26 varied miniatures; in particular, the pupils are made familiar with all major and minor modes. As in Diabelli's famous 'Melodious Exercises', the primo part is played within the pentatonic scale, thus being perfect for beginners. The demands for the secondo player are somewhat higher. A valuable addition to the piano duet repertoire.