Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
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With Autumn in full flow, a flurry of new Christmas releases inevitably arrive, prospective additions to the already well-stocked Pianodao Christmas Shortlist of sheet music suitable for all ages, levels, and playing styles.
Leading the way in 2024, Simply Christmas is a collection of 24 new arrangements of traditional favourites, billed as for Easy Piano Solo and suitable for late elementary to intermediate players (around UK Grades 2-5).
What makes this collection truly stand out from the crowd is the quality of the arrangements by Christos Tsitsaros, which are exceptional. Read on to find out more…
Short and Stylish
Christos Tsitsaros was born in Cyprus, studied in Poland, France and the USA, where he now resides. A prolific composer and committed teacher, he is professor and chair of the piano pedagogy department of the University of Illinois. A search on Musicroom reveals more than a hundred publications to his name, including original pieces, collections, and editions of classic works.
Tsitsaros’s “short and stylish” arrangements in Simply Christmas certainly speak to this impressive pedagogic and musical pedigree, each of the 24 pieces in this collection combining well-considered pedagogic value with astute musical quality.
The 24 classics he has picked for the collection are:
- Angels We Have Heard on High
- Auld lang Syne
- Away in A Manger
- Coventry Carol
- Deck the Hall
- Ding Dong! Merrily on High!
- God rest ye Merry, gentlemen
- Good king Wenceslas
- Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
- In the bleak midwinter
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
- Jingle Bells
- Joy to the world
- O Christmas tree
- O come, all ye faithful
- O holy night
- O little town of Bethlehem
- Pat-a-pan (Willie, Take Your Little Drum)
- Silent night
- The First Noel
- Ukrainian Bell Carol
- We Three Kings of Orient Are
- We wish you a merry christmas
- What Child is This?
Helpfully, in the book these appear in order of difficulty, from the relatively easy but perfectly formed Good King Wenceslas and Joy to the World which open the collection (each a single page, and suitable at Grade 2 level), through to the four-page arrangements of O Holy Night and What Child is This? that conclude it.
Tsitsaros consistently delivers arrangements which combine useful educational content with musical interest. Take for example the aforementioned Good King Wenceslas, which repeatedly eschews the obvious in favour of the intelligent, as can be clearly seen in this preview from the publisher:
This is an arrangement which elevates the source material, offering a superb level of detailed articulation to support the player’s musical and technical development, while delivering a performable musical rendering of the old chestnut that includes apt counterpoint, harmonic ingenuity and suspensions, and satisfying dynamic contrast.
It’s the most original and engaging arrangement I have seen of Good King Wenceslas in a long while, and happily these qualities continue to abound throughout the rest of the collection, Tsitsaros proving his mettle as an arranger par excellence.
The Publication
Hal Leonard’s publication is itself a simple affair, but attractively presented nevertheless, and seemingly geared towards adult piano players. The bright card cover opens to a book printed on 48 plain white pages, which commence with a short Preface by Tsitsaros and an alphabetical Contents listing.
The scores are nicely engraved, and include minimal fingering suggestions. These generally appear where they particularly impact phrasing, but for players at elementary to intermediate level I would perhaps have preferred a little more support.
In his Preface, Tsitsaros tells us,
“The selection of keys makes [the arrangements] suitable for use as singalongs, but they can also be played or sightread spontaneously at family gatherings and informal celebrations with relatively little effort and preparation.”
For more advanced players these comments undoubtedly hold true, and I admire Tsitsaros’s commitment to informal music sharing. However, those wanting to sing along will need to source the lyrics of the carols from elsewhere as they are not included here.
Closing Thoughts
According to Tsitsaros,
“My intention in this collection was to present some of the most beloved classic carols in simple, uncomplicated, yet musically satisfying form.”
It seems to me that he has succeeded admirably in his aims, and with greater accomplishment than is typically found in collections of this sort: this new volume deserves to be widely adopted, and a huge success.
With their combination of pedagogic value and musical interest, these 24 arrangements offer genuine quality and for intermediate pianists wanting classic seasonal material, I can highly recommend Simply Christmas as a genuinely exceptional publication. Don’t miss it.
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