Someone just emailed me saying that I should put some of Heller's music on our site. I responded that I would look at some of his pieces. Trouble is that he actually wrote a lot of piano music and I don't know any of it and so I don't know where to start. Can anyone direct me to some of his music that you think would appeal to me?

Good luck with that - I bet most of us are in the same boat as you when it comes to Heller. He's one of those who was overshadowed by his contemporaries, certainly.

Monica, why not try his Op. 46, No.25. I know Heller only for his many nice musical etudes suitable for teaching in intermediate stages of development.

That's nice when people tell you what you should play

Yes, I was a little taken aback by that email. But maybe some good will come of it if I can find something of Heller's that I like.

I can't get over how much he actually wrote! Thanks for the suggestion, Eddy, but I'd rather not play an etude but something more...I dunno...not an etude. Looks like I'll just have to spend time browsing through all his stuff. And certainly any other member here can record some Heller for the site besides me!

Sure, but know this, the one I suggested is an etude for "lyricism" and a study in voicing between the hands. It's quite ... lyrical.

Are you trying to tell me something, Eddy?
Seriously, ok I'll look at that etude. Thank you!

Not at all Monica! BTW its in F major and marked Allegretto con moto. Somebody plays (or tries to) no. 25 on YouTube but it is mis-titled and is really no.26.

Many years ago I did the study opus 45 no. 18 in G minor for an exam. It's quite dramatic, rather effective as a concert piece, and I greatly enjoyed playing it.

I don't know much of Heller apart from the studies opus 45, 46 and 47. Of course they're not on the same artistic level as Chopin's studies (nor as difficult), but some of them are still rather fun, worth looking at. Naturally imslp.org has a long list of works we've never heard of, so maybe you can surprise us with something else too.

Ok, that op. 45 no. 18 sounds interesting too. Thank you, Alexander.

Hi Monica,

When I was just a beginner I recall playing Heller's "L'Avalanche" and "The Warrior's Song". Heller's pieces are pedagogical in nature covering the beginner, low-intermediate and high-intermediate levels. Rarely does anything exceed medium difficulty, so I doubt that it would provide any challenge for you if you were to decide to do two or three. Teaching pieces are seldom recorded, except by students on YouTube. Teachers usually choose not to play new pieces for their students to avoid imitation which is not supposed to be part of the learning process. So the enterprising student then looks for other ways and places to hear a piece. Heller's music sounds a bit old fashioned today, but I guess it must still be used by piano teachers given the request you got.

David

Hi David,
Thanks for the information.

I downloaded some Heller from IMSLP to day and tried it. One was his "Scènes d'Enfants (Childhood Scenes)" op. 124, which has some interesting and challenging writing. After Chris recorded Schumann's, I had thought of looking for other "Childhood Scenes" by other composers. The other was titled "Ballade" op. 34 but is actually a piece based on Schubert's "Erlkönig". It too is a bit of a challenge and from what I got on a quick play through it is effective in its sound.

I to remember some Heller in my student days. They were often the pieces that younger students would want to learn after hearing the older ones play them at a recital.

Scott

Interesting, Scott! I still haven't had a chance to explore Heller's music yet. Maybe next week...