A teacher’s guide to diverse piano repertoire: an annotated bibliography of intermediate level repertoire by historically underrepresented composers through each historical period

Regarding intermediate piano repertoire, many piano teachers recycle the same repertoire year after year for their students. These frequently played works by the masters have exceptional merit and rightly deserve such recurrent study; however, the racial and gender makeup of this group of “master” composers is primarily white, male, and largely European. Any other gender or race is grossly underrepresented when it comes to the umbrella of Western Classical music.

This essay is written with the hope that someday the common pedagogical piano literature will reflect the diversity of the world in which we live, and that all people will feel welcome in the classical music world. It provides an annotated bibliography of intermediate level piano repertoire by underrepresented composers in classical music that can serve as alternatives to the standard canon. It consists of 60 pieces in total, with 15 pieces from each of the following musical eras: Baroque/Classical, Romantic, 1900-1950, and 1951-present. Biographical information for composers and basic details of each piece are included as well as small excerpts from the score.

The primary purpose of this essay is to promote underrepresented composers and their compositions. The secondary purpose is twofold: to provide an accessible, user-friendly resource for teachers to easily find literature by underrepresented composers, and to provide options for quality repertoire that can be alternatives to the “standard” literature. A tertiary purpose is to create a grading system for these pieces, to further assist teachers in being able to comfortably use them in their teaching repertoire.