Album leaf is the title of numerous minor compositions by a wide variety of classical composers. It also appears in the French version, Feuille d'album or Feuillet d'album; the German version Albumblatt (pl. Albumblätter); the Russian version Листок из альбома (pl. Листки из альбома); the Spanish and Latin-American versions Hoja de álbum; and other languages.
Many of these pieces are for piano solo, but the title has also been used for other instrumental pieces in the salon music genre, and for vocal pieces. They tend to be short, pleasant, and not particularly demanding on the performer. There is no standard form or structure; the title Album leaf is quite arbitrary, and these pieces could just as easily have been called Prelude, Impromptu, Romance, Humoresque or other names.
Originally, the term "Album leaf" was used for pieces written in dedication to a friend or admirer, to be inserted into their album or autograph book, and not intended for publication. It later lost any association with a particular dedicatee.[1]
- ^ Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. 1954, Vol. 1, Albumblatt, p. 98