The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 4

Cornelius Gurlitt (1,820–1,901)

Key: C major
Style: Studies
Level: Foundation
Roughly: RCM Prep A–B · ABRSM Initial · Trinity Initial
Lesson: F.6 Grow louder and softer
Musicianship: F.6 Steps and skips
Focus: Half-note reading, crescendo/diminuendo and alternate endings

What its lesson teaches

F.6 Grow louder and softer

Study Gurlitt Op. 117 No. 4 in C. It starts forte; follow its crescendo (bars 3–4) and diminuendo (bars 6–8) over half notes, and play the repeated bars again at the repeat sign, taking the first and then the second ending. Near and Far, the alternative, plays a soft phrase and its loud echo; then echo a phrase loudly and softly at the keyboard.

Ideas: Dynamics
Crescendo and diminuendo
The phrase
Repeat signs and navigation
Theory cards: Crescendo and diminuendo
The phrase
Repeats and navigation signs
Technique: C major five-finger pattern, hands separately

Edition and licence

Score: Musalea, from a public-domain edition · public domain

The First Lessons, Op.117 No.4

Edition: G. Schirmer, New York, 1895: The First Lessons / Die Anfangs-Stunden, Op. 117 (identified from IMSLP's listing)

Published: 1895

Source: https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/400775 (IMSLP #400775, G. Schirmer, New York, 1895)

Public-domain source edition(s).

Checked bar by bar against IMSLP #400775 (G. Schirmer, New York, 1895), 2026-10-28: every bar compared; 1 bar corrected.

Adapted by Musalea: corrected from the print, converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

The other lesson pieces of Foundation

Home Light, written for the Method
Vorschule im Klavierspiel, Op. 101 No. 10 — Kinderlied (Child’s Song), Ferdinand Beyer
Study in C major, Op. 190 No. 1, Louis Köhler
Aller Anfang ist schwer (Every Beginning Is Difficult), Handstücke I No. 1, Daniel Gottlob Türk
The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 3, Cornelius Gurlitt
Raindrops and Ribbons, written for the Method
Study in C major, Op. 190 No. 2, Louis Köhler
Vorschule im Klavierspiel, Op. 101 No. 11 — Der Kuckuck (The Cuckoo), Ferdinand Beyer
The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 1, Cornelius Gurlitt
A Second Voice, written for the Method
Three Steps, written for the Method
Long Shadows, written for the Method

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