I Remember Gurlitt, Book 2: A Collection of 12 Original Piano Pieces: Piano

This collection captures what makes Gurlitt enduringly useful: each piece stands alone as a satisfying musical experience while building competence in specific Romantic conventions. Rather than generic etudes disguised as compositions, you get character pieces with genuine melodic appeal and harmonic substance, so students remain engaged while mastering essential skills.

These pieces evoke the gentler side of Romanticism: intimate, conversational, sometimes wistful, occasionally buoyant. There's a consistency of voice across the collection that makes it feel like genuine musical expression rather than a textbook progression, with just enough harmonic color and formal variety to stay fresh across all twelve pieces.

Intermediate pianists ready to engage with the Romantic era through accessible, rewarding repertoire. Students who thrive when pieces have clear character and genuine melodic interest rather than abstract technical exercises will find these pieces instantly compelling.

• Listen closely to how rubato shapes the phrasing in "Longing" and "Daydreams." Have students practice with a metronome first, then gradually introduce subtle tempo flexibility in the melody line while keeping the accompaniment steady.
• Pedal becomes a voice in pieces like "Song of the Sea." Work through the harmonic changes without pedal to hear the voice leading clearly, then add pedal mindfully to avoid muddying the texture.
• The dances ("Danish Dance," "Gavotte," "Polka," "Waltz") benefit from rhythmic precision and character. Identify the natural pulse of each dance form and let that rhythm live in the student's body before sitting down to play.

Book 2 works beautifully as a primary source for intermediate recitals, offering enough character variety that two or three pieces from the same collection can feel well-paired on a program without repetition of mood. Use it as the backbone of a unit on Romantic piano style, allowing students to explore different compositional approaches within a single, cohesive aesthetic.

• Singing phrasing with attention to Romantic-era melodic shapes
• Playing lyrical passages with natural breath and direction
• Applying appropriate rubato within metric boundaries
• Voice leading in simple harmonic progressions
• Character differentiation between dances and character pieces
• Pedal application for harmonic color and resonance
• Reading and interpreting 19th-century musical style markings