In her first solo recording for AVIE in 2019, Sarah Beth Briggs’ performances of music by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms were described as “81 minutes of pianistic Heaven” by International Piano Magazine.

In her latest offering, Small Treasures, Sarah returns to two of those composers’ greatest sets of miniatures: Schumann’s piano cycle Waldszenen and Brahms’s 4 Klavierstücke, Op.119, his final statement for solo piano.

Alongside these, Sarah sets Schumann’s much loved Arabeske from earlier in his composing career and the delightfully fleeting Impromptu by his wife Clara, together with her 4 Pièces fugitives, much lauded in her lifetime.

The remaining ‘Treasures’ transport the listener to 20th-century France, comparing works by two members of Paris’s composing circle ‘Les Six’ – Francis Poulenc’s evocative 3 Novelettes (written across a 30-year time span) and Germaine Tailleferre’s Sicilienne.

As an encore, Sarah – a former International Mozart Competition winner – ends with a tiny gem by Wolfgang Amadeus: his 1789 Kleine Gigue in G in which light-hearted playfulness mingles with forward-looking chromaticism, miraculously seeming to find common ground with all of the works from the subsequent two centuries included on Small Treasures.

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1820–1856)
Waldszenen, Op. 82
1. I. Eintritt [2:07]
2. II. Jäger auf der Lauer [1:33]
3. III. Einsame Blumen [2:44]
4. IV. Verrufene Stelle [3:55]
5. V. Freundliche Landschaft [1:12]
6. VI. Herberge [2:13]
7. VII. Vogel als Prophet [3:20]
8. VIII. Jagdlied [2:52]
9. IX. Abschied [3:54]

CLARA SCHUMANN (1819–1896)
10. Impromptu in E Major [2:45]

Quatre Pièces Fugitives, Op.15
11. I. Larghetto [3:09]
12. II. Un poco agitato [2:25]
13. III. Andante espressivo [5:34]
14. IV. Scherzo [2:35]

ROBERT SCHUMANN
15. Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 [6:51]

FRANCIS POULENC (1899–1963)
Trois Novelettes, FP 47/173
16. I. Modéré sans lenteur [2:57]
17. II. Très rapide et rythmé [1:51]
18. III. Andantino tranquillo [2:45]

GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE (1892–1983)
19. Sicilienne [3:15]

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 119
20. I. Intermezzo. Adagio [4:09]
21. II. Intermezzo. Andantino un poco agitato [4:55]
22. III. Intermezzo. Grazioso e giocoso [1:39]
23. IV. Rhapsody. Allegro risoluto [5:24]

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
24. Gigue in G Major, K.574 [1:38]

Sarah opens on Robert’s Waldszenen, Op. 82: and the elegance of Eintritt, the pointed Jäger auf der Lauer, the demure Einsame Blumen and the dainty allure of Verrufene Stelle and then we get the spirited Freundliche Landschaft, the lilting Herberge, a giddy stillness personified within Vogel als Prophet and both the triumphant Jagdlied and the sheerness of beauty within Abschied round the work out.

Along next is Clara’s Impromptu in E Major, a sumptuous work that bedazzles and sweeps as if elegance itself were orchestrating it to. Then comes Quatre Pièces Fugitives, Op.15: and the regal Larghetto, the playfully perky Un poco agitato and both the expressive Andante espressivo and the dutifully impassioned Scherzo come forth.

Up next is Robert’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18, a generously proportioned work of musical art that ebbs and flows with such distinction to every most perfect moment. Then we get Francis’ Trois Novelettes, FP 47/173: which begins on the quietly strident Modéré sans lenteur, the formidable confidence of Très rapide et rythmé, the piece closing on the beautiful hipsway of Andantino tranquillo.

Then we get brought forth Germaine’s Sicilienne, a straight ahead work that dips and flourishes when required, and yet seems to have a freedom at time all of its very own. Then comes Johannes’ Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 119: and the dainty Intermezzo. Adagio, the fervent Intermezzo. Andantino un poco agitato, the transfixing Intermezzo. Grazioso e giocoso, culminating on the formidable Rhapsody. Allegro risoluto; Wolfgang’s flirtatious Gigue in G Major, K.574 bringing the set to a close.

Sarah Beth Briggs plays Small Treasures - A Musical Preview

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