Musical Impressions was written to provide pianists with the experience of playing in a variety of styles. Capturing the essence of different styles is an important aspect of pianistic development. Jazz styles, romantic ballads, mysterious sounds, and more are found in this series, providing pianists of any age with pieces in many moods. Titles: * Brassy Rag * Burmese Temple Bells * Celtic Jig * Cool Strut * Crackerjack Jazz * Enchilada Festival * Fireball Rag * Gentle Ocean Waves * Silver Moonbeams * Skateboard Boogie * Starry Night Dreams

Musical Impressions was written to provide pianists with the experience of playing in a variety of styles. Capturing the essence of different styles is an important aspect of pianistic development. Jazz styles, romantic ballads, mysterious sounds, and more are found in this series, providing pianists of any age with pieces in many moods. Titles: * Armadillo Rag * Brazilian Maracas * Butterflies and Rainbows * Castle by the Sea * Chocolate Smoothie * Drum Beats * Hot Air Balloon Ride * Hound Dog Blues * Mariachi Band * What's That Noise? * Whistle-Stop Boogie

Warm, lyrical, cantabile melodies and rich harmonic structures are found in this expressive series.

Warm, lyrical, cantabile melodies and rich harmonic structures are found in this expressive series.

These short, musical sketches written in a Romantic style by famed composer Martha Mier will encourage students to play with nuance and sensitivity. Titles: * Elegant Waltz * Elizabeth's Ballad * An Evening in Paris * Graceful Ballet * Interlude * The Magic Garden * Prelude in D Major * Romance * Song of Peace * Young at Heart

These 10 elementary solos display the excellent writing style and attention to detail that many teachers have come to expect from Martha Mier. Students will experience culture from around the world as they are guided on a musical tour through Spain, England, Australia, Mexico, Japan, and the United States. Titles: * Firecracker Boogie * Sophisticated Rag * Farewell Blues * Daintree River Crocodiles * The Great Barrier Reef * The Wallaby Hop * English Primroses * España * Mexican Salsa Cha-Cha * Japanese Temple. "These stylish pieces help bridge the gap between method book pieces and classical literature." -Lynette Zelis, Clavier Companion

Analyzes two groups of "musical novels" -- novels that take music as a model for their construction -- including jazz novels by Toni Morrison and Michael Ondaatje, and novels based on Bach's Goldberg Variations. What is a "musical novel"? This book defines the genre as musical not primarily in terms of its content, but in its form. The musical novel crosses medial boundaries, aspiring to techniques, structures, and impressions similar tothose of music. It takes music as a model for its own construction, borrowing techniques and forms that range from immediately perceptible, essential aspects of music (rhythm, timbre, the simultaneity of multiple voices) to microstructural (jazz riffs, call and response, leitmotifs) and macrostructural elements (themes and variations, symphonies, albums). The musical novel also evokes the performance context by imitating elements of spontaneity that characterize improvised jazz or audience interaction. The Musical Novel builds upon theories of intermediality and semiotics to analyze the musical structures, forms, and techniques in two groups of musical novels, which serve as case studies. The first group imitates an entire musical genre and consists of jazz novels by Toni Morrison, Albert Murray, Xam Wilson Cartiér, Stanley Crouch, Jack Fuller, Michael Ondaatje, and Christian Gailly. The secondgroup of novels, by Richard Powers, Gabriel Josipovici, Rachel Cusk, Nancy Huston, and Thomas Bernhard, imitates a single piece of music, J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. Emily Petermann is Assistant Professor of American Literature at the University of Konstanz.