Quelques Riens pour Album

This volume of music for piano is part of the collection Rossini wrote late in life and gathered in a series of albums that he himself called Péchés de vieillesse. Study of the manuscripts, while not providing the clues necessary to establish with certainty the dates of composition of each of the 24 pieces constituting this album, does reveal that Rossini's initial plan was to compose a cycle of movements in each of the major and minor keys. This idea was later abandoned, with the result that movements differing in style and inspiration were inserted within the original framework. The title Quelques Riens has an ironic sense, for these are pieces of ample scale and complex writing.

After Rossini's death, his widow Olympe sold the rights to the Parisian publisher Heugel, who issued the collection during the 1880s, adding picturesque titles and completely distorting the order of movements established by the composer. The critical edition reinstates this sequence, along with the precise performance indications of typically Rossinian character. It utilizes, in addition to the autograph, personal copies made by copyists working closely with Rossini, which the composer then reviewed and signed. An Appendix includes the first version of N. 12, "Danse Siberienne," in f-sharp minor.

N.1	Allegretto	g minor	1
N.2	Allegretto moderato	E-flat major	9
N.3	Allegretto moderato	a minor/major	12
N.4	Andante sostenuto	f minor	19
N.5	Allegretto moderato	A-flat major	28
N.6	Andante maestoso	c minor/major	36
N.7	Andantino mosso	D major	47
N.8	Andantino sostenuto	G major	50
N.9	Allegretto moderato	C major	55
N. 10	Andantino mosso	F major	61
N. 11	Andantino mosso	D-flat major	66
N. 12	Danse Siberienne: Allegretto moderato	f-sharp minor	74
N. 13	Allegretto brillante	E-flat major	80
N. 14	Allegro vivace	C major	84
N. 15	Petite Galette Allemande: Allegro brillante	E-flat major	97
N. 16	Douces Reminiscences: Andantino	A-flat major	108
N. 17	Andantino mosso, quasi Allegretto	e minor/major	116
N. 18	Andantino mosso	G-flat major	123
N. 19	Allegretto moderato	E major	135
N. 20	Allegro brillante	C major	142
N. 21	Andantino sostenuto	f-sharp minor/major	152
N. 22	Thème et Variations sur le Mode Mineur: Andantino mosso	d minor	160
N. 23	Thème et Variations sur le Mode Majeur: Allegretto moderato	D major	171
N. 24	Un Rien sur le Mode Enharmonique: \|Adagio/Andantino mosso	D-flat major	183
APPENDIX
N. 12	Danse Siberienne: Allegretto moderato (first version, 1864)	f-sharp minor	192