"Fairy Tale" from 6 Pièces Enfantines Op.34 by Anton Arensky

About the Piece

"Fairy Tale" is a charming little piece (about 3 minutes duration) orignally for piano duet by Anton Arensky, one of 6 Pièces Enfantines Op.34, which has been arranged for brass dectet (4/1/4/1) by John Goodwin.

A must-have for the ensemble that wants to play luscious Russian Romantic music, with a strong Russian style reminiscent in places of Tchikovsky, this gentle yet strong piece would provide an unusual interlude, or could form an innovative item at a Christmas concert.

The piece is not technically difficult but requires sensitive playing and ensemble work to obtain a good result.

About The Composer

Anton Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine.
With his mother and father, he moved to Saint Petersburg in 1879, where he studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky's musical compositions. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1882, Arensky became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students there were Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Gretchaninov.

In 1895 Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as the director of the Imperial Choir, a post for which he had been recommended by Mily Balakirev. Arensky retired from this position in 1901, spending his remaining time as a pianist, conductor, and composer. Arensky died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Perkjärvi, Finland. It is alleged that drinking and gambling undermined his health. The Antarctic Arensky Glacier was named after him.