Doepke: Piano Tales for piano, for piano

Cologne-based Martin Doepke is not only a teacher with passion, but a consummate musician who feels at home both on stage and in the recording studio. Numerous band projects as well as theatre and television productions have awakened in him a passion for arranging and composing. Together with his teacher degree and teaching activities at the Rheinische Musikschule Köln, plus various CD productions and international crossover projects, Doepke has acquired a wealth of experience, which is also expressed in his "Piano Tales".

The thirteen pieces for solo piano are mainly single works, which were written at very different times and places. Perhaps this is why their characters are so wonderfully multifaceted. Elements from classical music, film or musicals can be found in this colourful collection of piano stories, set at a lower level of difficulty. Three of them are taken from the original German version of the musical "Beauty and the Beast", for which Martin Doepke wrote the music. In "Das alte Schloss", "Pas de deux" and "Irgendwann" the composer takes us directly into the romantic story about Bella and the Beast, who becomes a prince through her love. All other ten compositions are individual works and thus completely independent of each other in terms of content. Each tells its own personal story – sometimes lively and adventurous, sometimes graceful and dance-like, sometimes thoughtful and floating, sometimes pulsating and pressing. Doepke always manages to immediately put players in the right mood, which will surely jump over to the audience after a few bars.

The compositions inspire (young) pianists especially because of their versatility, which is reflected mostly in the choice of tempo, time signature, rhythm or stylistic echoes. In addition to the special timbre and the captivating expression that Doepke gives to each individual piece, he also incorporates versatile pedagogical aspects. This way the solo pieces contain numerous learning contents that help piano students on their way.