Bridge, Frank - Love Went A-Riding (E major, low key, "simplified"/adapted for small hands), H.114 by Frank Bridge Medium Voice - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1620620

The first of its kind, and the second entry in the Accessible Accompaniments library’s collection of small-hand-optimized song literature publications, this is Frank Bridge’s “Love Went A-Riding” in the low key of E major, optimized (but not particularly simplified) for the needs of collaborative pianists with small hands. “Small” is generally understood to be just an octave in span, with limited capacity to grab chord tones within a blocked octave aside from the occasional inner fifth.

This edition was inspired by Boosey’s excellent small-hand edition of the same song in the high key of G-flat major, which thins the large chords that would be problematic or impossible for a barely-an-8ve-reach collaborative pianist to play without adding musically inappropriate rolls or breaks, but also preserves the musical content and grammatically accurate voice-leading. The editor, Ms. DiPaolo, was thankful to find Boosey’s small-hand edition available some years ago when preparing a recital program with a tenor under limited rehearsal time and while facing a computer overuse injury in both arms. Strangely, no one has ever published this adapted score in the low key, where such an edition is even more needed given the increased width of B-C# ninths in E major compared to the equivalent Db-Eb ninths in Gb major. Performers should also feel free to insert their own adaptations, additions, and omissions to this score as needed.

The primary source material for this edition is Boosey’s simplified accompaniment edition in the high key of G-flat. Any proprietary publisher material is left out of this edition, leaving only what is public domain and edited by Ms. DiPaolo. While the current edition basically replicates Boosey’s changes to the original G-flat major accompaniment, Ms. DiPaolo has inserted parentheses around notes that could be omitted in addition in order to accommodate smaller hands. This edition makes minor improvements to the engraving, like removing syllabic beaming in the voice and adding octave lines when appropriate. This edition also uses Accessible Accompaniments’ distinctive house style, marked by its visual beauty and ease of reading.

While this song has already been published in the previously unavailable E major for your convenience, please feel free to request another transposition if you are purchasing from a site that does not offer automatic transposition or you don’t see the key that you need. As its name says, Accessible Accompaniments is committed to accessibility—and that goes for singers, too! http://accessibleaccompaniments.weebly.com.