Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Hal Leonard’s bumper piano book Contemporary Piano Masters first appeared in 2019, together with an ‘easy piano’ version. Offering “40 pieces from the world’s leading piano composers”, the collection soon became a best-seller.
I gave that first edition a positive review, and have subsequently used the standard version with several students, right up until a couple of years ago it disappeared from view.
Now, having updated the licensing agreements involved, a revamped second edition has appeared, again with an ‘easy piano’ counterpart. But with many similar collections now on the market, how do these new volumes fare? Let’s find out…
Forty Pieces
Let’s begin with the list of pieces included in the second edition, which are the same in both standard and ‘easy piano’ versions:
- American Beauty [Thomas Newman]
- At the Ivy Gate [Brian Crain]
- Ballade Pour Adeline [Richard Clayderman]
- Big My Secret [Michael Nyman]
- Bluebird [Alexis Ffrench]
- Comptine d’un autre été, L’après-midi [Yann Tiersen]
- Dalur (Island Songs V) [Ólafur Arnalds]
- Dawn [Dario Marianelli]
- Fly [Florian Christl]
- Fly [Ludovico Einaudi]
- A Game of Badminton [Dario Marianelli]
- Glasgow Love Theme [Craig Armstrong]
- Grace [Neil Cowley Trio]
- The Heart Asks Pleasure First [Michael Nyman]
- Home from The Beauty Inside [Dustin O’Halloran]
- In The Morning Light [Yanni]
- Le Onde [Ludovico Einaudi]
- Light of the Seven [Ramin Djawadi]
- Lion Theme [Dustin O’Halloran & Hauschka]
- Love [David Foster]
- Merry-Go-Round Of Life [Joe Hisaishi]
- Metamorphosis Two [Philip Glass]
- A Model Of The Universe [Jóhann Jóhannsson]
- Nuvole Bianche [Ludovico Einaudi]
- One Man’s Dream [Yanni]
- One Summer’s Day [Joe Hisaishi]
- Opening [Philip Glass]
- Opus 23 [Dustin O’Halloran]
- Penn Ar Roc’h [Yann Tiersen]
- Porz Goret [Yann Tiersen]
- Prelude No. 2 [Dustin O’Halloran]
- Primavera [Ludovico Einaudi]
- Reprise from Spirited Away [Joe Hisaishi]
- The Shape Of Water [Alexandre Desplat]
- The Tearjerker Returns [Chilly Gonzales]
- Thanksgiving [George Winston]
- Tokka [Agnes Obel]
- Una Mattina [Ludovico Einaudi]
- Vladimir’s Blues [Max Richter]
- Written on the Sky [Max Richter]
A quick look at this list reveals that the seven titles by Yiruma included in the first edition have been removed from the second (and are mostly available in Yiruma’s own excellent book, reviewed here).
Replacing these, the new edition adds pieces by Florian Christl, Brian Crain, Alexis Ffrench, David Foster, Agnes Obel, George Winston, and a second piece by Yanni.
On balance, and while some will undoubtedly now miss River Flows in You, I prefer the new selection, which is wider in every sense, and more varied overall. I am, however, surprised by the omission of composers Hal Leonard have otherwise championed in recent years, notably Ola Gjeilo and Rachel Portman, both of whom surely deserved inclusion.
The World’s Leading Composers?
Revisiting my original review (now archived), I made some observations which I believe still apply, and are worth repeating.
The music here comes from minimalist, film, TV, ‘New Age’, anime, and pop composers, with pieces converging around what have become the instantly recognisable tropes of the ’new classical’ style: repeated pattern-based fragments, ubiquitous left hand vamps, simple functional harmony, an emphasis on mood rather than melody, and so on.
Most interestingly, these qualities are all present and correct in the two pieces by Philip Glass that are included here, Opening (1982) and Metamorphosis Two (1988), suggesting from a musicological perspective that Glass’s 1980’s piano works might be ‘ground zero’ for this whole genre. You can thank him or blame him: the choice is yours!
This isn’t to suggest that the music in this collection lacks variety, or that the personalities of individual composers have been subsumed by cliché. Rather, what is striking is that the commonality of aesthetic, musical ethos and even specific piano figurations have resulted in so fertile and popular a seam of music.
Some will inevitably labour the point that none of these pieces have the melodic charm of Mozart, the dramatic narrative of Beethoven, the psychological insight of Schumann, or emotive poetry of Chopin. That complaint, though accurately and well-observed, seems to me to miss the obvious: here is a music of our time, self-consciously simple, approachable, composed for a universal audience.
These composers surely have no design to supplant the great composers of the classical canon, rather to supplement that repertoire with music that offers a counterpoint to the cacophony of the modern world.
The ‘Easy Piano’ version
When the first edition of this publication appeared, I didn’t review the ‘easy piano’ version, but I heard from colleagues that learners were disappointed by the arrangements, pitched at around UK Grade 2-4 level (the standard version is suitable for UK Grades 5-6).
Looking at the new edition I can understand why. Many of these pieces depend on their signature riffs, and suffer in their absence. But while it’s difficult to recommend the ‘easy piano’ version as a set of arrangements that reward when played as presented, there is much to commend their use in a more creative educational context.
Given the simple harmonic foundation of so many of these pieces, we could for example use these simplifications as a launchpad for exploring the more advanced figurations that are a hallmark of the originals, allowing learners to develop their arrangements from the ‘easy piano’ starting point.
And given the content of both volumes is identical, comparing standard and easy versions side by side will help develop an understanding of how the music is put together, notated, and performed.
I am surprised, however, that having gone to the trouble of commissioning simplified arrangements, the publishers have included so little fingering support to help learners; an album billed as being for ‘easy piano’ should in my view include a little more educational support.
On that note, it remains to confirm that the publications themselves are otherwise as expected, and indistinguishable from the original editions. These are budget-conscious but high quality anthologies, printed on white paper, with well engraved notation, and a sturdy but flexible spine. My 2019 copy of the first edition is still going strong, despite much use, and I anticipate that these new editions will be equally durable.
Closing Thoughts
Since the appearance of the first edition of this anthology in 2019, the sheet music market has gained many competing collections, including Hal Leonard’s own excellent Peaceful Piano Solos series, reviewed here.
But we can certainly extend a very warm “welcome back” as this milestone anthology returns, refreshed, to the catalogue!
For a great collection that includes many of the highlights of the popular ‘new classical’ genre, Contemporary Piano Masters is as hard to beat now as the first edition was when it appeared. And if you don’t already have the bulk of this music, it really is an essential purchase.
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