Pianist Laura Leon

Peter Schickele's The Household Moose: sketches from the summer of 1956 is a just released video featuring the remarkable American composer speaking about this very special and beautiful autobiographical solo piano work alongside its premiere recording recorded by Laura Leon.

Inspired by Darius Milhaud’s solo piano suite The Household Muse-which portrays a wide range of daily life experiences via short piano pieces-Peter Schickele shares insightful commentary about The Household Moose and Milhaud’s score-as well as personal reflections of that 1956 summer at age 21, introducing each of the seven pieces.

David Schickele’s thoughtful, free spirited and charming drawings, printed on the pages of his brother's score, are shown alongside the performances. The creation and inclusion of David Schickele's drawings was inspired by those found on the pages of Milhaud’s work.

The Household Moose was dedicated to Milhaud, a “tribute to Darius Milhaud, especially for his piano suite The Household Muse.” (Peter Schickele)

Recording engineer/Producer: Adam Abeshouse
Video of Peter Schickele: Gregory Purnhagen
Video Editor: Howard Silver
The Household Moose published by Theodore Presser