Universal Edition Insectopedia / Igudesman, Aleksey

With humorous titles, the Russian-German composer embarks on insect research. In a musical way, they will investigate what a bug hug feels like, what “Dennis the grasshopper” does or how a “helicopter dragonfly” flies. In a light, child-oriented level of difficulty, young talented musicians let cockroaches march and feel how annoyed ticks can be or how penetrating “most mosquitoes” are. With different pedagogical learning contents, the little pieces show whether an ant can be an aunt, what the life of a butterfly looks like and whether bees can behave.

Entertaining, concertante and with a good portion of humour, the ten solo pieces set the most diverse technical emphases, such as jumps, legato playing, first chord playing or hands taking turns, as well as octavations, key changes, glissandi and much more. Colourful in character and expression, they stimulate the imagination of their players. This ignited creativity and imaginative imagery have a positive effect on the interpretative idea of the young artists and certainly also provide an amusing stage performance. An amusing foreword by the composer to his target group as well as appealing illustrations matching the titles immediately awaken the joy of playing and thus the desire to practice.