— Transcript —

The Winter Olympic Games just opened in Italy, and I picked some sporting music to share this week in celebration. When I was a kid, I was always drawn more to the Winter Games than the Summer ones.
Maybe it was because I was a skier, I could more easily imagine myself one day racing down a downhill course, as opposed to running the 100-meter dash or throwing a javelin. And the snow and the alpine setting always captured my imagination.
So today, I’ve got five pieces for you at the elementary and intermediate levels, all inspired by the Olympic Games, or by sports that play a big role in the Winter events.
And one of them is based on a sport I never would have guessed had a piano piece written about it. So let’s hear some music to get us in the Olympic spirit. It’s coming up next on the Piano Pedagogy Playlist.
Greetings and welcome to the Piano Pedagogy Playlist. I hope your day is going well. My name is Luke Bartolomeo.
I’m a pianist, a teacher, and I also develop apps that help young music students in their studies, including Flashnote Derby.
Each Monday here on the podcast, I play some of my current favorites from the contemporary repertoire written for piano students. Today, we’re celebrating the winter games, so let’s jump right in.
1:38
Margaret Goldstonʼs Olympiad
This first piece came to my attention just this week. I received an email from my friend, the composer Chris Goldston. I played one of his pieces previously on the podcast.
His mother, Margaret Goldston, was a very well-known and respected composer. She passed away back in 2003, and I’m very certain you’re familiar with her music.
Chris now self-publishes his own compositions, and he’s also taken on the wonderful project of republishing some of his mother’s out-of-print works, as well as completing and releasing some of her unfinished sketches. I mean, how beautiful is that?
Her piece I’m going to play today is called Olympiad. It’s an energetic three-four piece at the late elementary level. It’s built with plenty of solid and broken triads.
And there’s this small section toward the end that I especially like from a teacher’s perspective. The right hand has solid fifths, G and D together. But the fifth finger holds down the top note while the other fingers continue the melody.
It’s a subtle but very useful preparation for later contrapuntal playing, where students have to manage multiple voices within one hand. Here’s the piece Olympiad by Margaret Goldston.
Now that we’ve completed our opening ceremonies, it’s time to move on to the events.
3:56
Susan Griesdaleʼs Slap Shot
And ice hockey is, of course, one of the big ticket sports at the Winter Games.
And this year, it’s going to be especially exciting for fans in North America, with both the United States and Canadian teams expected to be strong contenders in both the women’s and the men’s events.
This next piece by Canadian composer Susan Griesdale is called Slap Shot. It’s a high-energy work in 6’8 time, and it has arpeggiated figures in an extended hand position.
It also includes a very familiar Oregon lick that fans of almost any team sport will recognize instantly. If you have students who play hockey or are just big hockey fans, that piece can be a great motivational tool.
It actually comes in two versions. The one I played is at a solid intermediate level, but there’s also a slightly easier version that thins out the texture a little bit while keeping all of the fun and the energy.
6:00
Heumannʼs Winter Sports
Back in December, I played several selections from a collection called Winter Dreams by the German composer Hans-Günter Heumann. There are two pieces that I didn’t include in that episode that fit perfectly into today’s theme.
The first is Ice Skating. It’s in the almost required 3-4 time, but the left-hand accompaniment grows more and more active as the piece builds towards a graceful conclusion.
And this second piece is based on a sport that honestly, I never would have guessed had a piano piece written about it. I’m going to let you listen first and see if you can guess what it is.
So first, I’ll play Ice Skating, and then I’ll tell you the name of the second piece after I play it. So do you have a guess? Well, that second piece is actually titled Curling.
And you know, I can see it. You really can sense the floating motion of the curling rocks gliding across the ice. It’s so peaceful, though, and free of competitive drama.
It makes me wonder if, in some cold weather countries, if curling is the equivalent of, say, shuffleboard in the Southern US. Maybe a Canadian listener can comment and let me know. Are there curling clubs for retirees?
I hope so. The idea of that just makes me smile.
9:50
Wynn-Anne Rossiʼs Fanfare
And for our final piece today, Wynn-Anne Rossi is back again, after her canine collection I featured last week. This time, she’s closing out our program with Olympic Fanfare. When you think of a fanfare, you think of French horns.
And when you think of French horns, you think of perfect fifths. And this piece has plenty of them. Broken, solid, even interlocking fifths between both hands.
It’s a great opportunity to work with students on keeping a supple, relaxed wrist while maintaining the shape of the fifth as it travels all over the keyboard. Here’s our final piece today, Olympic Fanfare by Wynn-Anne Rossi.
If you have students who’ve caught Olympic fever, this week might be the perfect time to channel that excitement into one of these pieces. They’re all available as digital downloads, so you could get started right away.
As always, links for purchasing can be found in the episode description. And just like that, it’s time for the closing ceremonies on today’s episode of the Piano Pedagogy Playlist.
As we watch athletes from around the world chase their goals, it’s a good reminder that progress, whether it’s on the slopes or on the ice or at the piano, comes from small, steady, repeated efforts day after day.
Every scale, every exercise, every practice session is its own kind of training run. I’ll look forward to seeing you again next Monday when I’ll play some more of my current favorites from the contemporary piano teacher’s repertoire.
Until then, keep nurturing the music, and have a great week.