If you've been enthusing about Farewell to Stromness you will probably also enjoy exploring the excellent "Spectrum" collections of piano solos, commissioned by pianist and teacher Thalia Myers, and published by ABRSM over the past few years (there's now also a 'cello book). Spectrum book 2 has the easiest pieces, thirty of them, each by a different UK composer (I believe intended to be around Grades 1-4). Book 1 has 20 more difficult pieces (I believe intended to be around Grades 5-8) again each by a different UK composer, and book 3 is an international collection, with 25 pieces each by a composer from a different country.

I know that Thalia Myers has recorded the Spectrum pieces, and it's possible that you now have to buy the CD with the book. If that's the case I VERY VERY STRONGLY recommend that you sight-read and preferably do some work on each piece BEFORE you listen to someone else playing it. It's a completely different experience, and as soon as you have heard a piece once you lose the possibility of ever having that experience with it. You also miss out on the chance of giving your sight-reading a boost in a wide variety of idioms.

I've heard Thalia speak about commissioning the pieces, and her brief for the composers was that they were to compose without compromising their personal musical language, but within certain technical limits. The idea of the piano books is to open up the exciting and wonderfully varied world of contemporary composition in general and piano music in particular to amateur players who don't have a virtuoso technique. I love them!

Hi,

I really like the pieces in the Spectrum collection and I am really glad to see them as part of the piano exam syllabus. It is not always easy to get pupils to play pieces from the Spectrum collection, but this year, I have convinced one of my grade 2 pupils to play Rosamund's Marchand another grade three pupil to play Tango, both from [the easier] Spectrum 2. I myself love playing pieces from Spectrum 1. I find all the pieces amazaing, and great fun to play. Half the fun comes in working out how they go. Has anyone got the CD for any of the Spectrum series? Thoughts?

This all sounds very exciting and I must look them out.

Thanks for telling us.