Various Composers - Small Treasures (Sarah Beth Briggs)

Information

• Robert Schumann - Waldszenen, Op. 82
• Clara Schumann - Impromptu in E Major
• Clara Schumann - Quatre Pièces Fugitives, Op. 15
• Robert Schumann - Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18
• Francis Poulenc - Trois Novelettes, FP 47/173
• Germaine Tailleferre - Sicilienne
• Johannes Brahms - Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 119
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Gigue in G Major, K. 574

Sarah Beth Briggs, piano

Date: 2025

Label: AVIE Records

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In Small Treasures, pianist Sarah Beth Briggs presents a refined program uniting Romantic and early 20th-century miniatures. Returning to Schumann and Brahms—whose works featured on her acclaimed 2019 AVIE debut—she performs Schumann’s Waldszenen and Arabeske, Brahms’s 4 Klavierstücke, Op. 119, and Clara Schumann’s 4 Pièces fugitives and Impromptu. These intimate works are paired with French pieces by Poulenc (3 Novelettes) and Tailleferre (Sicilienne), offering contrast and color. Briggs concludes with Mozart’s brief yet forward-looking Kleine Gigue in G, linking two centuries of musical expression through her elegant and deeply sensitive artistry.

British pianist Sarah Beth Briggs (b. 1972) is acclaimed as a magnetic and versatile artist, celebrated for her work as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. A former pupil of Denis Matthews, she studied with Bruno Giuranna in Switzerland and Arrau’s pupil Edith Fischer. Her career began early—at eleven she became the youngest finalist in BBC Young Musician of the Year, later winning the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg. She has performed widely across Europe and the USA with major orchestras and at leading venues. Her acclaimed recordings include premieres of Britten and Hans Gál, alongside an active chamber music career.