Winter

Marmion is an Irish pianist and composer whose teaching collection Allsorts (Editions Bim) has become a quiet staple of UK and Australian piano grades — pieces that sound modern without making a beginner negotiate twentieth-century harmony from cold. Winter is the slow, thoughtful piece in the set; the title is descriptive rather than programmatic.

The piece is in A minor and sits in a comfortable five-finger position, but it tests three skills the earlier pieces in the syllabus do not: a real legato across a phrase that does not start on the strong beat, a controlled hairpin crescendo into the second half, and a held final chord that needs careful balance between the hands. There is one moment where the right hand must release while the left hand sustains — small as that is, it's a step into adult voicing.

Two pitfalls. First, players hit the title and slow down too far — Marmion marks a Lento but the piece needs to flow, otherwise the harmonic motion stalls. Second, the dynamic plan is sometimes flattened: the score asks for a clear arc, and a Grade 1 candidate who plays the whole piece mp loses the most distinctive moment.

Marmion's Allsorts set is widely demonstrated by teachers on YouTube; for the syllabus exam, listen to one or two reference performances to calibrate the tempo and then decide what character you want to bring.