Beach, A :: Pierrot and Pierrette, from Children's Carnival, Op. 25, No. 4

Publisher: International Music Company

Editor: Stroud, Loren (arr.)

International Music Company presents 'Pierrot and Pierrette' from 'Children's Carnival, Op. 25, No. 4' by composer Amy Beach. Originally part of a solo piano suite, it is arranged here for flute (or oboe) and piano by Loren Stroud. 

Amy Beach composed the piano suite 'Children's Carnival in 1894, comprised of six easy-to-play pieces that would appeal to a youngster's imagination. The movements depict characters from the Commedia dell'arte, a form of Italian improvised theatre. The character Pierrot was the lovesick, melancholic clown, dressed in a blousy white costume with large buttons, with his face painted with makeup. The female counterpart Pierrette was invented in the late 1800s. This character has been portrayed as his lover, who competes for Pierrot's affections. 

Amy Beach's 'Pierrot and Pierrette' is simple and straight-forward, marked 'Tempo di Valse' with a soft, cantabile melody, perhaps suggesting the two characters locked in a gentle ballroom dance. In this flute (or oboe) piano arrangement, the solo instrument takes the right-hand melody from the original. The piano part has been transformed from the rudimentary left-hand waltz accompaniment to a fuller texture, while maintaining the original harmony.