Gurlitt: The First Lessons (Op.117)

Cornelius Gurlitt (1820-1901) was a German composer who wrote a great amount of attractive music for piano students. Here is a selection of pieces from his collection The First Lessons (Anfangs-Stunden in German). These editions have been specially prepared for animatedpiano.com and are free to download. They are hosted by the International Music Score Library Project (imslp.org).

The earlier pieces in The First Lessons have no titles so the following descriptions may be helpful:

No.6, Allegretto grazioso, is a charming little melody which grows out of a C major broken chord pattern.

No.8, Vivace, is a spirited march.

No.9, Allegretto, is a little study which encourages a good, well-balanced hand position.

No.12, Moderato, is a simple scale study. It uses the scale of C major in the right hand and, later, G major in the left hand.