The fingerings for the piano album Gradual by Eurico Thomaz de Lima (1908–1989) as evidence of a consolidated technical thinking

Abstract

The composition of pieces and exercises for the young has been a preoccupation for a number of leading figures throughout musical history. Schumann's and Tchaikovsky's Albums for the Young are a perfect example of this in composing accessible pieces for beginners and more advanced students. The Portuguese composer, pianist and pedagogue Eurico Thomaz de Lima (1908–1989) did not shy away from this challenge in creating Gradual, an album of pieces “for the young” organised sequentially taking progressive difficulty as a criterion. Heir to a school of piano playing of great solidity, in the person of Rey Colaço and, above all, of Vianna da Motta, his teachers at the Lisbon Conservatoire, Thomaz de Lima left exhaustive fingering indications, in order to provide young people with a solid basis from an early stage of their learning. This article seeks to draw attention to the influence that figures such as Antoine Gilis, Barrozo Netto and Vianna da Motta exerted in this area, by examining, in parallel, Thomaz de Lima's fingerings in his own compositions and in works that he practised for concert performance. A detailed analysis of the meticulous fingerings for the twenty-eight pieces of the Gradual reveals a high consistency of technical principles, laying the foundations for harmonious and solid growth among young pianists.