Anna Le Hair

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

French Suite no. 5 in G, BWV 816 (Bach)

i Allemande, ii Courante, iii Sarabande, iv Gavotte, v Bourrée, vi Loure, vii Gigue

The French Suites, BWV 812–817, are six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332 (Mozart)

i Allegro, ii Adagio, iii Allegro assai

Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332 (300k) was published in 1784 along with the Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major, K. 330, and Piano Sonata No. 11, K. 331. He wrote these sonatas either while visiting Munich in 1781, or during his first two years in Vienna. Some believe, however, that Mozart wrote this and the other sonatas during a summer 1783 visit to Salzburg made for the purpose of introducing his wife, Constanze to his father, Leopold. All three sonatas were published in Vienna in 1784 as Mozart’s Op. 6.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

The Seasons, Op. 37 (Tchaikovsky)

i January: At the Fireside, ii February: Carnival, iii March: Song of the Lark, iv April: Snowdrop, v May: Starlit Nights, vi June: Barcarolle, vii July: Song of the Reaper, viii August: Harvest, ix September: The Hunt, x October: Autumn Song, xi November: Troika, xii December: Christmas

In 1875, Nikolay Matveyevich Bernard, the editor of the St. Petersburg music magazine Nouvellist, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write 12 short piano pieces, one for each month of the year. Bernard suggested a subtitle for each month’s piece. Tchaikovsky accepted the commission and all of Bernard’s subtitles, and in the December 1875 edition of the magazine, readers were promised a new Tchaikovsky piece each month throughout 1876.

Johannes Brahms (1883-1897)

Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 (Brahms)

i Intermezzo in A minor, ii Intermezzo in A major, iii Ballade in G minor, iv Intermezzo in F minor, v Romanze in F major, vi Intermezzo in E♭ minor

Brahms’s Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, were completed in 1893 and published with a dedication to Clara Schumann. The set was the penultimate of Brahms’s published works. It was also his penultimate work for piano solo.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Footsteps in the Snow from Preludes Book 1 (Debussy)

'Des pas sur la neige' is the sixth piece in the composer's first book of Préludes, written between late 1909 and early 1910. The prelude was, along with Danseuses de Delphes, one of the preludes Debussy believed should be played "entre quatre-z-yeux" (literally "between four eyes") meaning intimately, as if privately.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Estampes, L. 100 (Debussy)

i Pagodes (Pagodas), ii La soirée dans Grenade (Evening in Granada), iii Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain)

Estampes (Prints), L. 100, is a composition for solo piano by Claude Debussy. It was finished in 1903.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Excursions, Op. 20 (Barber)

i Un poco allegro, ii In slow blues tempo, iii Allegretto, iv Exuberant and joyous barn dance

Excursions, Op. 20, is the first published solo piano piece by Samuel Barber. Barber himself explains: “These are ‘Excursions’ in small classical forms into regional American idioms. Their rhythmic characteristics, as well as their source in folk material and their scoring, reminiscent of local instruments are easily recognized.” This is typical of neo-Romantic composers such as Barber.

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

4 Songs arranged for solo piano (Gershwin)

i Stairway to Paradise, ii Do It Again, iii ‘S Wonderful, iv I Got Rhythm

Stairway to Paradise is a song composed in 1922 by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Buddy DeSylva for the Broadway revue George White’s Scandals.

Performers

Anna Le Hair - Piano

Anna Le Hair gained an honours degree in music at Edinburgh University, and her postgraduate studies were at the Royal College of Music, London. Anna has a busy and varied career as a performer, teacher, accompanist, ABRSM examiner, adjudicator and conductor. Engagements have included recitals, both solo and as chamber musician and accompanist, as well as soloist in several piano concertos, in many venues in London and around Britain and abroad. Anna currently teaches piano and accompanies at St Albans School, and she also has a thriving private teaching practice at her home in Tring. She is the founder of and runs the successful ‘Piano and more’ concert series at St Peter and St Paul church in Tring and is a founder member of the Icknield Ensemble. She completed her first international examining tour for ABRSM in summer 2019 to Malaysia.