Debbie Wiseman • Ten

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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By happy coincidence, in the same week that Pianodao celebrated the site’s tenth anniversary, so too Debbie Wiseman’s new piano album Ten appeared. It was a special pleasure to attend the launch event hosted by Presto Music in partnership with publishers Faber Music, at which the composer introduced and performed from the collection.

Debbie Wiseman is undoubtedly one of Britain’s most popular and distinguished living composers. This year she celebrates ten years as Classic FM Composer in Residence, and her new solo piano album brings together ten of her best-loved compositions in new arrangements, together with a brand new ‘bonus’ piece, Ten Years Forward.

The recording is now available from Silva Screen, and can be streamed online on major platforms. Faber Music’s sheet music publication to tie in with this is both an accurate transcription, and suitable for intermediate players.

Subtitled “Memories for solo piano”, I suspect the music book may prove to be one of the year’s most essential and popular new repertoire titles…

Debbie Wiseman’s Memories…

Having composed so many award-winning scores for film and television, Wiseman’s music will be familiar to most, even if some are perhaps unaware of her name.

Wiseman’s concert works include orchestral and choral music, and her recordings have included collaborations with Stephen Fry, Dame Helen Mirren, Alan Titchmarsh, and Damian Lewis. She is also well known as a conductor, radio and television presenter, and has received both the OBE and MBE.

Wiseman was official composer and musical director for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in May 2022. Later that year, her specially-commissioned piece Elizabeth Remembered was used by the BBC for its coverage of the Queen’s funeral and associated events. Then, at King Charles’invitation, she composed a new setting of the Alleluia for the coronation.

With such a catalogue from which to cherry-pick music suited to solo piano transcription, it’s no wonder that Ten includes a succession of appealing and accessible pieces that will bring both instant delight and lasting pleasure to players and audiences alike.

And it is particularly admirable that in making her new arrangements, Wiseman has consciously chosen to provide versions that can be enjoyed by players at intermediate level (around UK Grades 3-5), so that her music can be widely enjoyed in homes and teaching studios.

…for solo piano

The eleven pieces in Ten are:

The Traveller (the Viking cruises signature music)
Together (originally composed for Classic FM to bring people together during the Covid lockdown)
Man of Sorrows (from Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light)
Elizabeth Remembered (commissioned by the BBC as the theme music for its coverage of the late Queen’s funeral)
Jack Frost (from her artistic collaboration with Alan Titchmarsh)
Aegean Sea (from The Mythos Suite, a collaboration with Stephen Fry)
A Lustre to this Day (from The Music of Kings and Queens)
Myrtle (from The Glorious Garden)
Alleluia (O Clap Your Hands) (commissioned by the King for his and Queen Camilla’s Coronation)
Falling Leaves in Autumn (commissioned by Classic FM)
Ten Years Forward (a new composition looking forward to the next ten years)

Having enjoyed the recording, the composer’s live performances, and playing through the pieces myself, I anticipate they will especially resonate with adults playing for pleasure and relaxation. Wiseman’s music has deep roots in the classical instrumental tradition, while having an immediacy and contemporary melodic appeal that underpins her popularity.

Wiseman has chosen her target market with care, and with this collection hits the bullseye with ease. From a technical point of view, her pieces are generally easier to play than many of the relaxing contemporary composer collections out there, and this accessibility certainly works in their favour.

Players at intermediate level (around grade 4) will comfortably manage most of this music, and likely grow as piano players in the process of discovering and interpreting it. Meanwhile, early advanced players (around Grade 6) will find Wiseman’s music offers attractive, quick win pieces which they can expressively engage with and play with ease and enjoyment.

Much of this music can boast an uplifting association with recent peaks in British public life, culture, and entertainment, and this undoubtedly clothes each piece with a deeper meaning and association that will inspire players, delight Wiseman’s existing fans, and win over many more.

The Publication

Faber Music’s publication is a fairly simple, but classy affair. With a standard, shiny card cover featuring the composer’s photograph to tie in with the commercial recording release, the book has 36 pages printed on white paper.

Within, a black and white photo and brief bio of the composer is followed by her personal notes on the eleven pieces in the collection. These take up two pages, and offer an interesting insight into the world of a successful contemporary musician, revealing the media and creative partnership that often drive her projects.

The music itself is carefully scored and spaciously presented. The pieces are mostly two pages, sometimes three, and commendable care has been made to avoid unnecessary page turns.

My one disappointment, given that Wiseman’s adaptations are so well suited for intermediate players, is that no fingering suggestions are included. As I’ve said before, those playing contemporary music welcome, benefit from, and appreciate the same technical support as classical players and students.

Closing Thoughts

Debbie Wiseman has been voted the most popular living composer by Classic FM listeners, and it’s easy to understand her wide appeal based on these attractive and winsome piano pieces, suitable for intermediate players.

Ten is a very easy recommendation, truly one of the must-have publications of 2025 so far, This is genuinely rewarding piano music, and it deserves, a very wide uptake.

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