Children’s Suite for Piano

Rikard Schwarz (1897 – 1941) conductor, composer and writer about music, was born in Zagreb on September 20, 1897, and came to a tragic end at the end of 1941 in the Jasenovac concentration camp. While in Vienna Rikard attended the lectures of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg and Joseph Marx and studied piano with Franz Joseph Moser, as well as conducting. Children’s Suite was composed in Belgrade, on January 2, 1935. It was printed in the same year, with an unknown publisher, and dedicated to his pupil, Verica Veljkov. The present edition is based on this printed version. This piano composition is very different than Schwarz’s other works for the instrument. As well as the artistic components, the marked didactic aspect of the work – intended for the development of technique – needs pointing out. The first movement, Präludium, consists of several short fragments characterised by frequent changes of tempo. Then comes the second movement, Fairy Tale, devoid of a tonal centre, which places the emphasis on melody and the creation of an acoustic mood that seems to evanesce both melodically and harmonically. The third movement, Play, unfolds as the name suggests, developing a short motif with imitative procedures. As the title suggests, the work “is devoted to the world of children” and perfectly reflects children’s behaviour and rich inventiveness.