Daniel Hellbach: Ostinato - from: Pop Piano Vol. 1 (audio + sheet music)

Performed by Christian Dillig (piano)

Ostinato is taken from the collection Pop Piano Vol. 1 from 1999. Its creator is Dieter Hellbach (*1958), a Swiss composer and piano pedagogue. He has written a wealth of educationally valuable pieces in the crossover realm between pop, jazz, and classical music. In doing so, he often draws on existing styles or even works by well-known composers or pop musicians, using them as a foundation to create new pieces that are more accessible to students and provide them with quicker and easier moments of success. Purists might criticize Hellbach for occasionally making classical music overly "pop-like." However, in my experience, Hellbach's approach often opens doors for students who were previously unfamiliar with classical music and encourages them to develop an interest in classical works as well.

Many of Hellbach's pieces are suitable for more advanced beginners and include the label "Easy" in their titles. However, this particular piece comes from a series that no longer carries the "Easy" label but is simply titled Pop Piano Vol. 1 and is aimed at slightly more advanced students. The pieces in this collection become increasingly challenging as the album progresses. That said, even the more difficult pieces can be played at a slower tempo, making them approachable for students. For my performance, I roughly adhere to Hellbach’s suggested tempos, which, in some cases, demand a more virtuosic execution if one aims to meet them fully.

Hellbach calls the piece Ostinato. An ostinato is a repeating musical motif, phrase, or rhythm that remains unchanged over a longer section and is often used as a structural element in music. The piece references the famous Pachelbel Canon    • Pachelbel - Canon In D Major. Best version.  , renowned for its simple yet elegant harmonic progression (I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V), which creates a hypnotic and flowing character. The piece has inspired various well-known composers such as Mozart, Bach, and later contemporary artists like Yiruma, as well as pop musicians like Johann Christoph Pezel and bands like Coolio in "C U When U Get There," because its underlying structure conveys a timeless emotional depth and can be easily adapted to different musical styles.

The original instrumentation of the Pachelbel Canon consists of three violins playing the canon motif and a basso continuo executing the famous eight-bar repeating bassline. The structure of the piece is characterized by the polyphonic technique of the canon, where the three violins successively play the same melody with a time delay, while the bassline remains constant and provides a harmonic foundation.

On the piano, the Pachelbel Canon is playable but technically challenging in its original version with three violins and a continuous bassline. Simplified piano arrangements often reduce the number of voices or combine them to preserve the character of the piece while making it more manageable. Hellbach’s version demonstrates that pop and classical music are often not as far apart as they seem and may spark interest in the original version as well as in the musical style of Pachelbel's era.

I have a playlist with my piano recordings of pieces by Daniel Hellbach    • Daniel Hellbach: Piano solo pieces - cross...  
Here are the ten titles of the sheet music book, followed by the YouTube links to the recorded pieces:
Memories
Modal Rock
Joke
Ostinato    • Daniel Hellbach: Ostinato - from: Pop Pian...  
The Ballet
Heavy Boogie    • Daniel Hellbach: Heavy Boogie - from: Pop ...  
Song without Words    • Daniel Hellbach: Song without words (Lied ...  
Disco Time    • Daniel Hellbach: Disco Time - from Pop Pia...  
Carmen’s favourite Boogie    • Daniel Hellbach: Carmen's Favorite Boogie ...  
Greetings to E J.    • Daniel Hellbach: Greetings to E. J. - an h...  

#Hellbach #Pachelbelcanon #pianosheetmusic












































The sheet music can be obtained at https://www.acanthus-music.ch/gb/.