Childhood Scenes, Op. 32 (First Book)

Composer:

Valery Zhelobinsky

Title/Parts:

Childhood Scenes, Op. 32:

  1. Morning

  2. Quarreling

  3. A New Toy

  4. Sunbeams

  5. In Thought

  6. On a Tricycle

  7. Nightmare

  8. In a Good Mood

  9. Dangerous Adventure

  10. Business Day is Over

No. 1 - Morning (Утро), opening measures from the 1940 Muzgiz edition.

Instrumentation:

Solo piano

Date Information:

Composed in 1939, first published in 1940.

Published Editions:

1940 - Muzgiz (USSR), presumably the first published edition.
Per Russian State Library, a second printed edition from 1948 also exists.

Notes: 

Relatively simple, inoffensive, short, tuneful pieces. The first of two books of Children's Scenes, the second not having a definitive opus number listed in any published editions, but dating from several years later (1945). This set could be seen as the simpler of the two, some pieces certainly appropriate for study by younger performers. The music is almost reminiscent of Kabalevsky.

Notable Performances:

There are references to some of the Children's Scenes having been performed in the United States, but it is not possible to know if the first or second set is being referenced. A small handful of movements exist on YouTube, recorded by ametuer pianists for their personal accounts.