CD Review | Amy Beach Children’s Carnival, Jeremy VanSlyke

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Beach: Children’s Carnival, Op. 25

Jeremy VanSlyke, piano

Leaf Music, 2025

Amy Beach’s Children’s Carnival is a series of six short piano pieces for children, each depicting a stock character or dramatic element from European pantomime. From the mischievously meandering melodies of Promenade to the lilting arpeggios of Secrets, each piece charmingly evokes its title.

European pantomime has its roots in Italian commedia dell’arte—a caricatural art form centred around humour and entertainment. Beach’s pieces call to mind the great pantomime master Charlie Chaplin. Like Chaplin’s sketches, her compositions are formally simple, yet full of playful twists and turns. Unfussy, delightful, and full of personality, Beach’s music is ideal for children.

These pieces showcase a wide range of piano techniques: staccato grace notes in Promenade, legato chords in Pierrot and Pierrette, and steady, regular pedal changes in Columbine. Beach’s music is not only fun to listen to, but pianistically, also fun to play. As such, it is an ideal suite for a young pianist. 

Jeremy VanSlyke’s performance is sensitively attuned to the playful nature of this music. His rubatos and accelerandos are nearly exaggerated but never overdone—very much in keeping with the theatricality of the Harlequin tradition. His recording provides a strong model for young pianists; he knows how to play with tempo without straying too far from the metronome.

There is careful attention to detail in this performance, but never at the expense of the whole. VanSlyke cleverly connects sections of each piece through subtle tempo changes and varying articulations. His musical diversions are quick-witted, well-placed, and tasteful.

That said, the EP’s presentation does not match the quality of the performance. It would benefit from less generic cover art and a more in-depth description of Amy Beach and the musical tradition in which she composed.

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