Anthology of 20th Century Piano Music with Performance Practices in Early 20th Century Piano Music: Piano Book & DVD

The DVD transforms what could be a standard anthology into a master class. Hearing Dr. Hinson perform these pieces while contextualizing them historically gives your students permission to hear the strangeness and boldness in the music rather than treating it as background material. This pairing bridges the gap between score study and informed performance.

Stepping into a museum where each room reveals a different composer's laboratory. You encounter ragtime swagger, impressionistic haze, rhythmic complexity, and early serialist thinking, sometimes within the same afternoon of practicing. The music feels exploratory and unpolished in the best way, capturing composers in the act of breaking old rules.

Intermediate to early advanced pianists ready to engage with modernist language and compositional innovation. This collection serves studio teachers and conservatory students who need repertoire that stretches technical and interpretive range while grounding them in historical context.

• Watch the DVD performances before diving into your own interpretive choices. Notice how tempo, pedaling, and tone color shift between composers and across style periods within the century.
• Use the historical anecdotes as conversation starters in lessons. Understanding why Debussy rejected traditional harmony or what drew Joplin to raggy syncopation changes how you hear the notes on the page.
• Reference specific passages from the DVD when you get stuck on fingering or voicing. Seeing where Hinson places hand position in tricky passages often clarifies technical puzzles.
• Return to the performances after you've learned a piece. Your own interpretation will be richer for the contrast.

Build a recital around 20th century innovation by programming one or two pieces from this anthology alongside works by a single composer (a Bartók study paired with a Bartók dance, for instance). The anthology also works as a semester-long exploration in a college piano literature course, with the DVD providing consistent analytical and performance framework.

• Navigating non-traditional harmonic language and chord construction
• Reading and performing mixed meters and irregular rhythmic patterns
• Adapting pedaling technique to impressionistic color and modernist clarity
• Interpreting performance directions in multiple languages and styles
• Understanding compositional innovation within historical context
• Developing tone production across widely varied aesthetic approaches