I would enormously appreciate some suggestions...

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

...regarding works similar to Bartók's "For children" (both volumes). The exquisite charm of these short but wondrous pieces has riveted me for years, and I would really like to know of any similar works (for piano solo, as well) that you may know. It could be Béla himself, or any other composer, of course.

Cheers!
M.W.

[dogperson]

Look at these vignettes by Mompou 'Impresiones Intimas'

[mjames]

I've always liked Mompou's variations, don't recall why I never bothered to venture deeper into his ouvre. That video is excellent Dog, thanks for sharing! So beautiful.

[worov]

We need more information. What is it that you like about these pieces ? What are you looking for ? Hungarian pieces ? Folk tunes ? Children pieces ? Modern dissonant pieces ? All of this ?

[visitor]

We need more information. What is it that you like about these pieces ? What are you looking for ? Hungarian pieces ? Folk tunes ? Children pieces ? Modern dissonant pieces ? All of this ?

agreed, further qualification would help. i do love 'children's pieces' especially when the composer doesn't 'talk down to them' but writes music that requires talented children to step up and do the hard work. have a few in mind, here's one of them

"...Casella's Undici Pezzi Infantili, Opus 35, (‘Eleven Children's Pieces’) were written in 1920 and dedicated to the composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The Preludio, marked Allegretto moderato ed innocente, offers the simplest of right-hand melodies against a continued accompaniment of alternating fourths, with the right hand eventually taking its melody to a register below this. It is followed by Valse diatonique, on the white notes of the keyboard, its outer sections, with a right-hand melody based more or less on a five-finger exercise, frame a middle section that might seem a reminiscence of Albéniz. The third piece is a canon, Canone, on the black notes only, with their unavoidable pentatonic outline. Here the left hand follows the right in imitation at the octave. A lively Bolero follows, marked, for good measure, Allegro spagnuolo, leading to Omaggio a Clementi (‘Homage to Clementi’), a real five-finger exercise. The sixth piece is a lilting Siciliana, marked Allegretto dolcemente mosso and with the same classical simplicity of texture. The Giga has the direction Tempo di giga inglese and is melodically and rhythmically appropriate, fading into the distance only to return with renewed vigour. The eighth piece, Minuetto, recalls Ravel in its gentle nostalgia. It is paired with a Musette, with its repeated bass pattern, to be followed by the return of the Minuetto Carillon follows, with the direction cristallino for the right-hand high-register melody of the bells set against a repeated accompanying pattern. The Berceuse starts with an opening accompaniment of alternating fifths, marked quasi celeste. This initial section frames a central passage marked un poco dolente. The whole work ends with a cheerful Galop Final in characteristic rhythm and melodic contour, leading, as so many of the pieces had, to a final sustained chord, now including all seven white notes of the diatonic..."

Musicology:
11 Pezzi infantili, for piano, Op.35
Year: 1920
Genre: Other Keyboard
Pr. Instrument: Piano
Preludio
Valse diatonique (sui tasti bianchi)
Canone (sui tasti neri)
Bolero
Omaggio a Clementi
Siciliana
Giga
Minuetto
Carillon
Berceuse
Galop final
 

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

First of all, a big cheers for those recommendations, dogperson and visitor!, I've already got my hands on them, and will give them a try as soon as I'm able. 

Secondly, yes, I'm sorry, that request was rather lacking in details. Oh well, that goes to show how I'm not to believe that my brain is always fully functional at 2 AM.

To answer your post, worov, I'm not just looking for Hungarian and Romanian pieces, actually, though it's true that anything from those two countries would of course be more than welcome, especially if it's some of the lesser known stuff.
     I'd rather say I'm looking for a combination of those other factors that you mentioned: folk tunes; some dissonance here and there couldn't hurt, either; relatively short works (where by "short" I mean anything close to Bartók's "For Children" pieces).

If it's of even greater help, these are some of my favorites among the many pieces contained in those two collections of children pieces by Bartók, and it's pretty much works like these that I'm looking for:

[visitor]

i'm ever the champion for Akira Yuyama's work and have scrores for both Confections a piano sweet and children's land (for small hands no interval great than 7th), scores are in print and copyright but easily found enough

since the books have a lot of pieces each i cannot post them all (confiections has like 30 and well over an hour of music but if probably my favorite a bit more advanced ), here is the 2nd from children's land. they are hard to find if you don't hit the right tags since so many of them are Japanese uploads, worth the effort to seek out though.

confections has various styles each depicting various baked treats and some intermezzos breaking them up and also the effects of overindulgance.

and children's land also 'surveys' various styles as it progresses


confections first one (conveyor belt of confections)

various

probably the most famous of the set, frequently performed in competition

[visitor]

 i simply adore well done 'children's pieces' that really don't have to be for children, but are made such that little hands can play them. doesn't mean they have to be any less lovely, these two are two beautiful little gems.
these are from  a collection of works by Takatomi Nobunaga where each piece has intervals in each hand of a 7th or less....lovely little work. reminds me of Akira Yuyama's similarly styled book  but these have a different feel to them, no less 'magical', no need to talk down to them just because they are young...
 

[visitor]

i simply adore well done 'children's pieces' that really don't have to be for children, but are made such that little hands can play them. doesn't mean they have to be any less lovely, these two are two beautiful little gems.
these are from  a collection of works by Takatomi Nobunaga where each piece has intervals in each hand of a 7th or less....lovely little work. reminds me of Akira Yuyama's similarly styled book  but these have a different feel to them, no less 'magical', no need to talk down to them just because they are young...
 

here is the playlist with all 21, they are progressive so starts simple but also some of the early ones are most charming with the modes and folksy elements they are constructed on. worth investing in.

1. morning greeting （ 1 ' 10 "）
2. Many thanks （ 0 ' 40 "）
3. step on the shadow （ 0 ' 50 "）
4. cloudy with sunny, pursuant to a drizzle. After the... Rainbow （ 1 ' 10 "）
5. the Sun is smiling （ 0 ' 55 "）
6. Tea time （ 2 ' 20 "）
7. start dash （ 1 ' 30 "）
8. take a deep breath （ 1 ' 50 "）
9. magic wand manual （ 1 ' 35 "）
10. and La La La singin' （ 2 ' 10 "）
11. bird watching （ 1 ' 50 "）
12. the brave legend （ 1 ' 45 "）
13. can an old （ 1 ' 15 "）
14. Ping Pong （ 2 ' 00 "）
15. the merry-go-round （ 2 ' 30 "）
16. new sneakers （ 1 ' 50 "）
17. Twilight Express （ 1 ' 40 "）
18. oak trees and Hammock （ 2 ' 15 "）
19. happy tails Labrador （ 1 ' 55 "）
20. midnight Aquarium （ 2 ' 35 "）
21. large pot of Marmalade aunt （ 3 ' 20 "）

[worov]

I'm not a connoisseur of Hungarian or Romanian music. So I can't really advise you on this. I know that Zoltán Kodály wrote some children pieces (I don't know the titles but you will find them easily). You might want to check them out.

Many composers wrote children music. Some of them for their own children (J.S. Bach, Schumann, Debussy, Prokofiev) others because their publishers ask them to (Villa-Lobos).

J.S. Bach : the Anna Magdalena Notebook. I don't introduce this one. I guess you know it already. Bach composed also another notebook for his son Wilhelm Friedmann.

Leopold Mozart : the Nannerl Notebook. Written for W.A. Mozart's older sister. Delightful pieces. Some of them are composed by Mozart himself (though it shows he's still a child, but they're  still pretty amazing compositions even for his age). I would love to know a recording of it.

Schumann : Album for the young, opus 68. 43 pieces of wonderful music. The 10 first pieces are easy. The rest is intermediate level. It was recorded by Idil Biret, Michael Endres, Andreas Bach and Angela Brownridge.

Benjamin Godard : Etudes Enfantines op. 149 in four volumes. Influenced by Schumann and French folk songs. Jean Martin has recorded a selection of them. I would love to have a recording of Volume 1.

Amy Beach : Children's Carnival, opus 25. Wonderful little pieces in a romantic style. Sahan Arzruni has recorded it.

Tchaikovsky : Children Album, opus 39. Wonderful little pieces, full of Russian folklore. Intermediate level. It has been recorded by Mikhail Pletnev.

Enrique Grandos : Cuentos de la juventud, opus 1. Romantic music with a Spanish flavour. I love it very much. Most of the pieces are easy. Some are late intermediate (The March which closes the set is tricky). It has been recorded by Alicia de Larrocha and Martin Jones.

Debussy : Children's corner. Debussy wrote this for his daughter. Wonderful impressionistic music. Many recordings are available.

Genari Karganov : Album for the young, opus 25. Excellent material in a romantic style. This is superior music. I heard some of it in YouTube. I don't know any complete recordings and would be interested to be informed.

Prokofiev : Music for Children, opus 65. A set of 12 pieces. Though this is pure Prokofiev, this is completely tonal music. There are some little dissonance here and there. Recorded by Frederic Chiu.

Heitor Villa-Lobos : Cirandinhas. These are based on Brazilian folk tunes. They contain strong rhythms and arevery lyrical. Recorded by Sonia Rubinsky.

He composed also another set called "Guia Pratico". In the 1940s the then President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas, entrusted Villa Lobos with the Musical Education Program of the country´s State Schools. Villa Lobos wrote the Guia Pratico to that end. The pieces are very short and mostly folk tunes. They have been recorded by Sonia Rubinsky and Clara Sverner.

Jean Françaix : "De la musique avant toute chose : dix pičces enfantines pour piano". Contains 10 pieces. This set is about the several stages of childhood : birth, kindergarten era, adolescence... It has been recorded by Martin Jones.


You can find some recordings of these in YouTube. Very often made by amateurs. It is very hard to find recordings of these pieces performed by professional pianists. Most of them don't bother with this stuff.

I'll come back later if I can find more pieces.

[visitor]

+1 to above, and i highly recommend any and all Francaix. love his flavor of neoclassicism.
there was i believe at one point a solo transcription of the Bizet set that is originally for two pianists. those are a joy to listen to. I don't know the specifics of the solo score or how to get it, been meaning to dig around for that....

[worov]

there was i believe at one point a solo transcription of the Bizet set that is originally for two pianists.

Do you mean this ?

petruccilibrary.ca/files/imglnks/caimg/e/ec/IMSLP36707-PMLP06475-Bizet_-_Jeux_d_Enfants__trans._Garban_-_piano_.pdf

This one says it is piano solo : https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sm/7399507

those are a joy to listen to. I don't know the specifics of the solo score or how to get it, been meaning to dig around for that....

This Bizet piece is indeed wonderful.

[visitor]

Do you mean this ?

petruccilibrary.ca/files/imglnks/caimg/e/ec/IMSLP36707-PMLP06475-Bizet_-_Jeux_d_Enfants__trans._Garban_-_piano_.pdf

This one says it is piano solo : https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sm/7399507

This Bizet piece is indeed wonderful.

thanks for that, it's what I was talking about but wasn't able to re search and link it out (i know i had the file somewhere but could not recall the source).
Bizet's piano music is sooo good. It's really a shame more folks do not play/record it, the nocturnes in particular are a breath a fresh air and i would totally welcome the addition of those to a program vs the std Chopin/Field fare....


at OP, some of the less common but oh so lovely music for children by Samuel Maykapar, worth seeking out the set