Beethoven 4 Kids, like its predecessor Bach 4 Kids, is a short program of vivid and varied piano pieces for listeners of all ages.

A bonus DVD, Sammy Snake’s Lucky Day, provides a mini-introduction to classical piano music, particularly Beethoven’s.

On June 5, 2020 Steinway & Sons released Beethoven 4 Kids (STNS 30130) from concert pianist Andrew Rangell, a follow-up to the album Bach 4 Kids. The program begins with some shorter and simpler works, including Beethoven's beloved Für Elise and other characterful Bagatelles. 

Longer and more complex works follow, such as the Presto con fuoco from Sonata No. 18 in a thrilling performance and the transcendent Adagio movement of the Pathétique Sonata.

This collection is sure to appeal to children and adults alike.

“This is a fun-filled Diabelli I’d rate among the best... Rangell takes the listener on a kind of transcendental, spiritual journey through Beethoven’s late piano works.”

 Fanfare

 

“One is impressed with Rangell's clarity and fine articulation and with his sensitivity to the music's currents and eddies.”

Classical Net Review 

Album Credits

Beethoven 4 Kids / Andy Rangell • STNS 30130 

Release Date: 06/05/2020

Executive Producer: Jon Feidner

Editing/Mastering: Brad Michel
Art Direction: Jackie Fugere
Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo

Production Assistant: Renée Oakford
Cover illustration: Robert Gale

Photo of Andrew Rangell: Bill Fried

Consists of previously released material.

About the Artist

Andrew Rangell enjoyed drawing pictures long before he began studying piano at age nine. He drew many pictures even while attending The Juilliard School, which nonetheless awarded him a doctoral degree in piano (and exhibited his cartoons in the library). Andrew Rangell is now a much-admired concert pianist and recording artist. His more than 30 CDs encompass 4 centuries of keyboard music, from Sweelinck and Gibbons to Schoenberg, Fartein Valen, and Christian Wolff.

Rangell made his New York debut as winner of the Malraux Award of the Concert Artists’ Guild, and has since performed and lectured throughout the United States, and in Europe, Israel, and China. He has also taught on the faculties of Dartmouth, Middlebury, and Tufts University.

In the 1980s, already recognized as a distinctive recitalist and collaborative artist, Mr. Rangell gained national attention — and the award of an Avery Fisher Career Grant — for his vivid traversals of the complete Beethoven sonata–cycle in New York, Boston, Cleveland, Rochester, Denver, and other US cities. His Beethoven recordings include the late sonatas, bagatelles, and Diabelli Variations, as well as many earlier sonatas, variations, and seldom-heard pieces.

In recent years Andrew Rangell has created several DVDs for children — integrating his special talents as author, illustrator, narrator, and pianist.

About Steinway & Sons label

The STEINWAY & SONS music label produces exceptional albums of solo piano music across all genres. The label — a division of STEINWAY & SONS, maker of the world’s finest pianos — is a perfect vessel for producing the finest quality recordings by some of the most talented pianists in the world.