David Schiff: When Portland Piano International asked me to propose a project for new piano compositions that could be played with awork from the standard repertory I immediately thought of composing a group of pieces that could be played with selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words. I first played Mendelssohn’s pieces when I was eight years old and they were the first works I encountered that seemed to place access to musical beauty in my own hands. I have tried here to write pieces with a contemporary feeling that are within reach of younger players in the hope that they can kindle the love of music that Mendelssohn’s atmospheric and perfectly crafted miniatures inspired in me. Songs included: 1. Simple Song, 2. Wedding Dance, 3. Ballad (for B.E.), 4. Elegy (Blues for A.C.), 5. Tarantella for Puck, 6. Venetian Boat Song, 7. Encore: Ballad for M.P.A.