Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
The Faber Music Piano Anthology series now extends to more than a dozen titles, many of which I have positively reviewed here.
The books have many strengths (not least their formidable spines, which, as I have previously noted, seem built to withstand the force needed to keep them open in use!). But perhaps the series’ greatest strength is Faber’s knack of combining the familiar with the new, ensuring that each successive title offers something for everyone.
The latest addition to this popular series is The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology, which as the book’s subtitle suggests, offers:
“A selection of peaceful and relaxing pieces for intermediate piano solo.”
As usual, the book contains many surprises…
The mindful pianist
Peaceful, reflective piano music has become such a feature of the modern piano world that one could now fill a concert hall with pianists whose contemplative music has reached millions of listeners online.
Artists such as Ludovico Einaudi have achieved remarkable international success, reflecting a widespread appetite for music that offers calm and solace during the turbulent and often confusing times in which we live.
The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology includes music by some of the genre’s best-known luminaries, as well as less familiar contemporary composers. Intriguingly, it also places this repertoire alongside works by composers of the past, demonstrating that while the terminology and contemporary market for “mindful” music may be relatively new, the music itself certainly isn’t.
Here’s the complete contents list:
- Hymn (Craig Armstrong)
- Melt (Hilgrove Kenrick)
- I’ve Been Here Before (Snorri Hallgrímsson)
- Adoration (Florence Price)
- Dark Moon (Michele McLaughlin)
- Hoxa Sound (Erland Cooper)
- aisatsana (102) (Aphex Twin)
- Prélude (Cécile Chaminade)
- Passacaglia (George Frideric Handel)
- Hibari (Hideyuki Hashimoto)
- Miss Clare Remembers (Enya)
- Andantino (Olivia Belli)
- At Dawn (Hania Rani)
- A Heavy Heart (Garreth Brooke)
- Round Dance (Béla Bartók)
- Hinoki Wood (Gia Margaret)
- Mirror Lake (Angus MacRae)
- Scene Suspended (Jon Hopkins)
- blue light (Alanna Crouch)
- Aurora’s Song (Izzy Flynn)
- Prelude in C minor (Henryk Pachulski)
- Largo, BWV1056 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
- Siciliana (Elisabetta de Gambarini)
- Quasi Nienete (Alexander Scriabin)
- Luce Eterna, Raggio Ardente (Marc Teitler)
- Secrets (Amy Beach)
- She Waits (SYML)
- Together We Will Live Forever (Clint Mansell)
- Call (Julianna Barwick)
- Filma Solo (Gabriel Ólafs)
- In Metaphor, Solace (Luke Howard)
- and we’ll leave it there… improvisation (Ólafur Arnalds)
- Sheeta’s Decision (Joe Hisaishi)
- Sensitive (Enrique Granados)
- Routine (Peter Sandberg)
- Be My Home (Eunike Tanzil)
- Re (Nils Frahm)
- Billow Gently (Sophie Hutchings)
- Velvet (Louise Spencer)
- I Giorni (Ludovico Einaudi)
- Awake / Alive (Keaton Henson)
- Sur les prés, la lune se promène (Sergei Prokofiev)
- Gymnopédie No.3 (Erik Satie)
- Northern Lights (Sadie Harrison)
- Current (Phoria)
- Ashitaka and San (Joe Hisaishi)
- Spring (Ola Gjeilo)
- Familiar (Nils Frahm)
- The Faun’s Dream (Olivia Belli)
- Sancta Dorothea (Franz Liszt)
- Milonga del Ángel (Ástor Piazzolla)
- Prélude, M.65 (Maurice Ravel)
- Stillness (Poppy Ackroyd)
- We Contain Multitudes – Piano Rework (Ólafur Arnalds)
- Morning Geese (Matt Carmichael)
- Andante tranquillo – Lento (Frank Bridge)
- Sehr langsam (Arnold Schönberg)
- La fille aux cheveux de lin (Claude Debussy)
- In a Landscape (John Cage)
- Adagio, K332 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Nocturne – Interlude (Laufey)
Recordings of many of these pieces are readily available on the streaming platform of your choice, often in performances by the composers themselves.
Repertoire reflections
When buying so substantial a collection, one expects to find some overlap: scores which we already own in other publications (and sometimes in superior editions). But I suspect few will already own more than a third or so of these pieces. In any case, revisiting old favourites by Prokofiev, Satie, Mozart, Debussy, and Bartók in this unexpected setting, alongside fresh musical discoveries, is pleasurable in itself.
Exploring the collection, I was especially happy to be reacquainted with Pachulski’s popular Prelude in C minor (a favourite to play when I was a teenager), and Ravel’s charming and accessible Prélude, M.65.
Meanwhile, Frank Bridge’s Andante tranquillo was a particularly interesting discovery, and I found myself intrigued by the appearance of Schönberg’s Sehr langsam (from his Six Little Pieces, Op. 19), a reminder that mindful piano music need not always be conventionally beautiful, harmonically predictable, or immediately soothing.
I am a confirmed fan of music by Ola Gjeilo, Olivia Belli, Garreth Brooke, Poppy Ackroyd, and Ólafur Arnalds, but it was a joy to discover less familiar names including Julianna Barwick, Matt Carmichael, Erland Cooper, Angus MacRae, and Eunike Tanzil.
It is impressive that Faber Music have also included some good arrangements of several commercial popular tracks: Aphex Twin, Enya, Phoria, Piazolla, and Laufey are all welcome additions.
Those who already have similar collections on their shelves, and have yet to fully explore them, might naturally think twice before investing in another. It’s worth considering the list of pieces shown above and comparing with other collections to decide which best meets your own musical interests and needs.
Faber Music have certainly produced many such collections themselves, including Mindfulness: The Piano Collection (reviewed here), Play Piano for Well-being (reviewed here), The Peaceful Piano Playlist series (reviewed here), and Piano Player: Classical Chillout (reviewed here).
The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology stands out from the crowd for its especially broad range of repertoire, drawn from several centuries, genres, and musical traditions. Together, these pieces testify to the enduring power of music as a channel for reflection.
The publication
Having reviewed multiple titles in this series, I’ll keep this brief and say at the outset that The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology maintains the high standards of presentation and established editorial approach of the series.
The cover is printed on thick card with a matt finish and opening inner flaps. The pages are bright white, and the collection is interspersed with full-page black-and-white images that support the general tone of the mindfulness theme.
The scores are spaciously laid out, with clean engraving and helpful fingering suggestions. They are ordered progressively, with the difficulty gradually increasing towards the second half of the book. The music ranges from intermediate to early advanced, which I would estimate at around UK Grades 3–8.
The credits on the final page state that many of the transcriptions were provided by the composers themselves, while others are arranged by Oliver Weeks and Sam Lung. The book as a whole has been edited by Lucy Holliday, whose work on this continually growing and ever-interesting series must by now represent a substantial undertaking!
It should be remembered of course that this is not intended as a scholarly edition of the classical works: the aim of this series is to deliver extended and satisfying anthologies of music for enjoyment and, in this case, mindful relaxation.
Closing thoughts
The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology series has clearly established its place in the market and attracted many admirers, and this new addition to the set is likely to further extend the appeal of the range.
Personally, while welcoming and liking each of these publications on its arrival, I have noted that some have more staying power than others, and I suspect this new addition to the series may prove to be one of them. This is another substantial collection of high-quality material, much of which I will want to return to.
Whether you are a completist collecting the series, an explorer looking for fresh repertoire, or an intermediate player seeking an anthology that will provide many hours of relaxing musical pleasure and reflection, The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology is a lovely publication with plenty to offer.
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