Modern World Music for Piano

In his five-movement piano suite Southway (2008) the native Brazilian Jean Kleeb blends motifs from legends of indigenous cultures with impressions of the Patagonian landscape and a Latin American feeling to create his own original modern tonal language. This compositional diversity generates a delightful sweeping synthesis of styles—from classical and folkloristic, traditional and modern, serious and light music. Again and again in the harmonies, elements of jazz dazzle the listener.

Kleeb clearly takes his inspiration from the rhythmic melodies of Latin American sources. Characteristic features include constantly alternating, fanciful rhythmic patterns. Refreshing episodes are added using sound images derived from indigenous traditions, with persistent crisp, melodious resolutions. The result is a powerful, partly bewitching, partly intoxicating work of modern world music.

The level of difficulty is medium to advanced, making the piece equally well-suited for ambitious young musicians, students, professionals, and piano enthusiasts. The large-format single edition has a bilingual preface (German/English).

Southway in the HELBLING Media App

With the free HELBLING Media App you have the complete audio recordings of all five movements of the suite Southway at your fingertips. A short set of instructions and the access code are included on the inside front cover.