Barbara Heller

Sonatine

During her time at the Munich Youth Music School in the 1960s, the composer Barbara Heller, born in 1936, wrote numerous piano works for beginners and advanced pupils. Being an experienced teacher, she was aware of the interests and struggles of the piano pupils. It was for these reasons that Heller composed a series of piano pieces which are technically easy to master and at the same time have great musical expressiveness. In the Sonatina, Heller develops the beginnings of a freely tonal musical language which would later become established as her characteristic style. Both movements are dominated by the sound of the fourth. The first movement, in classical sonata form, sparkles with enthusiasm and determination, whereas the second movement with its spherical sounds creates an almost hallucinating atmosphere. A work for young piano pupils or adults interested in new sounds!