Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Faber Music’s Piano Anthology series understandably continues to prove popular with late intermediate to early advanced players looking for a bounty of fresh music in beautifully presented, keenly priced, and durable volumes.
In recent years, new additions have generally appeared in the autumn, and the most recent was the excellent Harry Potter Piano Anthology, currently on the shortlist for the Art of Piano Education Awards.
Hot on its heels, Faber now bring us another collection, this time resuming the series standard of offering a far broader, more varied selection of pieces for intermediate to advanced players, and celebrating an ever-popular theme: night time.
Inspired by the Night
The bumper anthology offers the following 56 titles:
- A Bad Dream That Will Pass Away (Luke Howard)
- All Through the Night (Welsh traditional)
- Aria (BWV988) (JS Bach)
- The Arts and the Hours (Jean-Philippe Rameau)
- As I Dream (Johannes Bornlof)
- Ave verum corpus (K618) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, transc. Liszt)
- Bella Notte (Ludovico Einaudi)
- Berceuse (Olivia Belli)
- Canon in D (Johann Pachelbel)
- City of Stars (Justin Hurwitz)
- Clair de Lune (Claude Debussy)
- Close (Ed Carlsen)
- Constellation 1 – Pt. 8 (Max Richter)
- Cradle Song (Badnlat) (Edvard Grieg)
- Dido’s Lament (Henry Purcell)
- Dream 1 (before the wind blows it all away) (Max Richter)
- Dreamy (Hania Rani)
- Duvet (Paschburg/Barlow)
- Evening (Balmorhea)
- Faith’s Song (Laurence Love Greed & Amy Wadge)
- Feel Any Worse (from Sex Education) (Oli Julian)
- Felt Improv No. 31 (Niall Byrne)
- For Mark (Joep Beving)
- Gymnopedie: No. 1: Lent et douloureux (Erik Satie)
- Hark (Re-Imagined) (Phoria)
- In Another Life (Dirk Maassen)
- In My Room (Wilson/Usher)
- Lullaby (Wiegenlied) (Johannes Brahms)
- Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig van Beethoven)
- New Moon (Alexandre Desplat)
- Nocturne No. 10 in E minor: Adagio (John Field)
- Nocturnes (Howard Goodall)
- Ode to Vivian (Patrick Watson)
- Olive Tree (Büşra Kayıkçı)
- Overnight (Chilly Gonzales)
- Paranoid Android I (rework) (Radiohead/Brad Mehldau)
- Pavane (Francis Poulenc)
- Petrichor (Keaton Henson)
- Prelude in D-flat major (Scriabin)
- Prelude in E minor Op.28/4 (Frédéric Chopin)
- Rocking (Little Jesu Sweetly Sleep) (trad.)
- Quasi adagio (Béla Bartók)
- Sheep May Safely Graze (JS Bach)
- Silent Night (Franz Gruber)
- Sleeping Beauty Waltz (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
- Sonata No. 42 in D minor (Domenico Cimarosa)
- Souvenir (from Colette) (Thomas Adès)
- Ständchen in D minor (After Schubert) Liszt)
- The Swan (Camille Saint-Saens)
- Sweet Dreams (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
- Through the Blue (Roger Eno)
- Time (from Inception) (Hans Zimmer)
- when the party’s over (Slowed Remix) (Finneas O’Connell / Chad Lawson)
- Wiegenlied (K350) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Wiegenliedchen (Robert Schumann)
- You (Nils Frahm)
This list is so discursive as to be bordering on eccentric, if delightfully so! Nevertheless, it is intriguing that despite the eclectic provenance of these pieces, they combine to create a unified sense of mood and shared identity.
The appearance here of classics such as Tchaikovsky’s Sweet Dreams and Bartók’s Quasi adagio gives substance to the suspicion that they might come from the same well of human inspiration as the music of Nils Frahm, Joep Beving, Luke Howard et al, while I’m pleased to see that these contemporary names are mostly represented by different works to those previously featured in this or the Piano Playlist series.
There are however a few overlaps. Overnight by Chilly Gonzales and Keaton Henson’s Petrichor are duplicated from The Faber Music Contemporary Piano Anthology. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Satie’s Gymnopédie No.1 and Debussy’s Clair de Lune, though thematically relevant choices, seem unlikely to be new additions to many a pianist’s music collection, and surely Faber Music have included City of Stars in enough of these compilations by now.
But in a collection of 56 pieces, one expects to find a few that are already in their music library; what most impresses here is how few they are, and the sheer number of pieces Faber have included for the first time.
Several composer names here are completely new to me (and worth watching out for in future), while others (such as the artist Olivia Belli, whose recordings I always find compelling) return to the series with different titles.
Those who love the contemporary fashion for soft piano pieces, written in a contemplative, slightly melancholy but essentially uplifting vein, will absolutely love this collection. I certainly do!
The Anthology
There’s little to say about this publication that I haven’t already repeated in my previous reviews of this stunningly presented series.
For the benefit of those who haven’t seen any of the anthologies before, and to confirm details of this one, it once again appears in a classy, stiff matt card cover, with has added opening flaps. The book opens flat on the music stand, but can require a little persuasion. No matter: it is designed to withstand long and enthusiastic use.
The 160 pages within are printed on white paper, and the binding is built to last. There are a few moody black and white full page illustrations within, breaking up the music and minimising awkward page turns, which is a nice touch.
Following the contents page, pieces appear in order of ascending difficulty, and the scores themselves are spaciously and clearly engraved. Fingering suggestions are included, but minimal. Classical piano originals appear to be accurately reproduced, without simplification, but (importantly) aren’t presented as scholarly critical editions.
In short, the book is clearly designed with enthusiastic adult players in mind, and is ideal for dipping into of an evening: reading, playing and discovering a wealth of satisfying music. In line with this, Faber Music have certainly done a lovely job with the whole presentation.
Closing Thoughts
Those wanting to dip their toes in this style of repertoire can happily first be pointed in the direction of the same publisher’s superb Piano Player: Classical Chillout album released just a few months ago and reviewed here. That smaller collection offers a perfect entry point, and includes well-known favourites such as River Flows in You and Vladimir’s Blues.
The Faber Music Night Time Piano Anthology delivers a larger (much larger!) compendium of music that will take players deeper into the same territory, and which will suit late intermediate to early advanced players, culminating in pieces at around UK Grade 8 level.
The beautifully presented volume further elevates a deservedly popular series, and is another very welcome addition to the Pianodao Music Library!
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