No. 6 is Debussy's first book of Preludes is called "Des pas sur la neige" or "Footsteps in the Snow", and paints a poetic picture with repeating rhythms and colorful chords, all the time while looking for a way forward. It's hard to put this type of evocative art into exact words, but we can nevertheless look closer at the musical material to see a bit more of what's going on. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.

Video: https://youtu.be/m3eNCDNiGts

Edward Elgar wrote his famous "Salut d'Amour" as an engagement present to his fiancée Alice Caroline Robert. The original conception of the music was probably for violin and piano, but that didn't stop Elgar from writing a version for piano solo: a beautiful song without words and a great encore. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.

Video: https://youtu.be/JDJdgQ3G-o4

My take on the newly discovered Chopin (?) Waltz in A minor (Morgan Library, 2024)

Video: https://youtu.be/BhIyT79Y_CI

This is one of the most interesting piano sonatas of the early 20th century. Scriabin pushes the boundaries both in musical expression, harmonic coherence and structural integration in this amazing work, so full of life and creative spirit. It's also nice to be able to do a substantial analysis play-through when I have the music in my hands, since I've just recorded it for my upcoming solo album Scriabiniana!

Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube.

Video: https://youtu.be/pLq8wHK8mYY

This is a great piece for beginners who have started to play separately with the hands. Robert Schumann wrote the whole "Album for the Young" Op. 68 for his three daughters to learn piano properly, and still to this day it's a great educational resource for getting started with a romantic conception of piano playing. Henrik Kilhamn takes you through the short piece in this video.

Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube.

Video: https://youtu.be/2WY8-XrjRDU

This poignant prelude from Chopin's set of Op. 28 is one page and about 2,5 minutes long. That's almost the length of a modern pop song, but it still contains more interesting musical ideas than most in that genre. It's a great piece for intermediate players, and here I give some playing tips before going through the piece again to inspect those ideas further. Pianist Henrik Kilhamn.

Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube.

Video: https://youtu.be/Pkb5Lk2UCqs

Henrik Kilhamn presents this lesser known Funeral March from a romantic piano sonata, by a composer who admired Chopin but went on to write his own name in music history as well. His first sonata, Op. 6, ends with this very solemn but gripping statement after major struggles of previous movements, marking it a tragedy of great proportion. Can you guess the composer?

Video: https://youtu.be/icrkAmN-rQo

In this video we'll look up the beautiful musical number "Married Life" from the Disney/Pixar movie Up (2009), scored by Michael Giacchino. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.

Video: https://youtu.be/yDglADz8GlA

Sheet Music (My arrangement): https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1551158/Product.aspx

Pianist Henrik Kilhamn points out five things about this iconic theme song written by Danny Elfman.

Video: https://youtu.be/n8Jo48PtRsU

Sheet music (My arrangement): https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1550901/Product.aspx