Piano, Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1740341

By Juan Maria Solare. Composed by Juan Maria Solare. This edition: pdf, streaming. 20th Century, Classical, Instructional. Score. 42 pages. Juan Maria Solare #1301463. Published by Juan Maria Solare (A0.1740341).

Ballet Scenes: A Cycle for Ballet Pianists

Conceived for pianists who accompany dance classes, Ballet Scenes offers music with structure and colour—far from the routine repertoire. Each piece was designed for classroom or rehearsal use, yet is expressive enough to hold its own in concert.

The cycle combines rhythmic precision with expressive freedom, humour with lyricism. These twelve pieces, inspired by classical ballet exercises, are functional music for study and living music for the stage. Ideal for those wishing to enrich their everyday repertoire with works that can also shine in performance.

Three of the Ballet Scenes, performed by Aída Mara Álvarez Sanz in Bremen, Germany.

Ballet Scenes

Programme Note

This cycle of twelve ballet pieces originated at the suggestion of pianist Aída Mara Álvarez Sanz, who at the time accompanied classes at the theatre in Flensburg. She was able to translate for me, in musical terms, the dancers’ way of thinking and the particular needs of classical ballet. The pieces trace the essential moments of a class, from the first warm-up to the grand, sparkling waltz that traditionally closes the session.

I conceived the cycle in two ways: as functional music, suitable for classes and rehearsals, and as a concert suite—a distilled ballet unfolding within the piano. A hybrid form is equally conceivable: concert music accompanied by a danced performance, something akin to an open class.

While each piece follows the rhythmic and formal structure of its corresponding step, it also possesses its own harmonic and expressive identity: from the lyricism of Winter’s Breath to the humour of Frappé bien frappé, from the vitality of Grand battement to the dreamlike Walk through the Magic Mountain.

The scenes – the pieces – also traverse different musical languages: from the almost atonal writing of Frappé bien frappé to the direct neoromantic expression of Risvegliandosi da un sogno, passing through the Prokofiev-like neoclassicism of Plié mais pas rompu.

Some titles retain the traditional French of ballet terminology (Grand battement), while others include humorous nods to literature (Plié mais pas rompu, alluding to La Fontaine) or wordplay (Tendu Tendre, Softango, Piruletas), along with a pair of gloriously idiomatic turns of phrase borrowed from Argentine Spanish, such as the exuberant Gran vals brishante (‘Grand brilliant waltz’, deliberately misspelt to mimic Rioplatense pronunciation) and the forthright De frente march.

Taken as a whole, the cycle explores the frontier where music can both accompany the body and stand on its own.

Juan María Solare