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At the heart of George Berg’s œuvre are his seven collections of keyboard music. His sonatinas for harpsichord were a by-product of his teaching, appearing in three volumes between 1759 and 1762. Technically fairly simple, these are lively, inventive and finely polished works. Berg’s sonatinas are as well suited to the piano as the harpsichord sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti from which they draw so much inspiration, provided that the player makes sparing (or no) use of the sustaining pedal and avoids over-fussy dynamic variation.
“The sonatinas of op. 3 provide high quality music of moderate difficulty, and all are in two movements. This is music of much greater inventiveness than is often found in such collections for beginners. This is music which is rewarding to play, and while intended for performers of modest ability, it should not be ignored by the advanced player either, as the inventiveness and charm of this music is considerable.” (Read the review in The Consort)
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Playing score
Music example (pdf)