Native Russian, Samuel Maykapar (b.1867, d. 1938) composed a set of gorgeous, program-inspired pieces, that are carefully phrased, articulated, and fingered. The music is ear-catching in the spirit of Dimitri Kabalevsky and William Gillock as all three composers were highly expressive and imaginative within a pedagogical framing.

Maykapar aims to teach an ebullient, crisp staccato beside a tenuto (leaned on, detached note) in his beautiful miniature, “In the Garden.”

In the attached instruction I explore the flexible wrist and its role in realizing a beautiful tenuto. At first I demonstrate an exaggerated motion in slow demonstration that becomes attenuated in the assigned Allegro tempo.

(Baby step, separate hand practicing as always is recommended in a layered-learning process)

Rada Bukhman, author, has a generous serving of Maykapar’s compositions in her book, Discovering Color Behind the Keys, The Essence of the Russian School of Piano Playing. An interview with Ms. Bukhman can be found at:

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/an-interview-with-rada-bukhman-pianist-teacher-author-about-the-russian-school-of-piano-playing/