Essential Keyboard Repertoire, Volume 1: Piano CD

This recording captures 100 carefully graded pieces with the interpretive clarity students need to hear how these works should sound. O'Reilly's background as both an editor and performer means these recordings model good musicianship at every turn, giving your students a reliable audio reference as they work through the corresponding volume.

A journey through centuries of keyboard writing, from the orderly clarity of Baroque minuets through the romantic character pieces and into contemporary work. The recordings honor each period's aesthetic while maintaining consistent technical clarity, so students hear not just individual pieces but the evolution of keyboard style.

This CD pairs directly with Essential Keyboard Repertoire, Volume 1 for pianists working at the early intermediate level. It serves teachers who want authentic reference recordings without diving into multiple sources, and it supports independent practice when studio feedback isn't immediately available.

• Listen to the full track before assigning it; this helps you identify which passages might need extra attention in your students' practice.
• Use specific sections as demonstration models for phrasing and articulation choices rather than playing the entire recording straight through.
• Have advanced students compare their interpretations to O'Reilly's version after learning a piece, discussing what choices she makes and why those choices serve the music.

Assign alongside the corresponding chapter in the Essential Keyboard Repertoire book so students hear the pieces in context before performing them in studio recitals or student showcases. This works especially well early in the school year when establishing performance standards and helping students understand what musicality looks like at their level.

• Listening for phrase shape and breathing in different musical periods
• Recognizing interpretive choices in articulation, tempo flexibility, and dynamics
• Developing aural models for early intermediate-level technique and musicianship
• Understanding stylistic differences across Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and contemporary idioms