Martin Stadtfeld - Piano Songbook (2021) [Hi-Res]

Following his successful Handel album, Martin Stadtfeld releases "Piano Songbook", his first album entirely with his own arrangements of themes from well-known classical works, as well as ten short "piano songs" of his own. On the one hand, the album contains 20 short pieces that refer to well-known melodies of classical works, among others by Bach, Mozart, Handel, Vivaldi, but also by Dvorák or Beethoven. "It is exclusively my own heart music, but it goes straight to the heart of many people," says Martin Stadtfeld. Whether Handel's "Zadok the Priest" (the football Champions League anthem), arias from Bach cantatas or from Purcell "Didos Lament", whether melodies from Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony, a piano quintet by Dvorák or the "March of the Priests" from Mozart's "Magic Flute" - in his free arrangements, which are deliberately kept short, Stadtfeld has in each case made a particular character of the original work the starting point for his compositions: "With my arrangement, I want to bring out the core of the melody, to offer music that is easy to understand and simple, that touches and in which we can all find ourselves with our own emotions.«

This also applies to his own "10 Piano Songs", which he wrote for this album: "With them I wanted to return to the original in musical expression. The short works are based on old forms, but also on motifs from nature, for it is after all our elemental origin."

Martin Stadtfeld attaches great importance to keeping the technical requirements of his works so that they are suitable for self-playing at any level. Therefore, parallel to this album, a sheet music edition will be published by Schott Music (jpc 10459791).

"Piano Songs" is, as a result, an album that surprises with familiar and beautiful melodies in new piano arrangements and, when combined with Stadtfeld's own "Piano Songs", offers an entertaining, relaxed listening experience.