Late Intermediate Repertoire

Winter Piano Anthology

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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The Faber Music Piano Anthology series of deluxe bumper books have proven one of the popular publishing successes of recent years, and certainly these robust collections combine excellent value for money with a compelling mix of piano music for late intermediate to advanced players.

With more than a dozen titles now in the series, the anthologies cover a wide range of musical styles and tastes. Some home in on specific genres, such as pop ballads, jazz standards, and piano duets, while others mix core and lesser-known classics, piano arrangements, and relaxed contemporary solos.

For a look at previous titles, you can explore the series here, but let’s now turn to the latest addition, a seasonal chilled Winter Piano Anthology…

Christmas Imaginations

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Growing numbers of music publishers are embracing the trend of releasing multi-composer compilations of new piano music, a formula which offers them plenty of scope to champion different names, showcasing a variety of contrasting styles and individual voices.

Earlier this year I praised The Sonatina Collection from Hal Leonard, which features nine inspiring late intermediate works by some of American’s leading contemporary composers. Many of the same names now reappear in a fresh anthology of Christmas Carol arrangements from the publisher.

Christmas Imaginations features 16 familiar melodies reimagined in a variety of styles from jolly jazz to more lyrical ‘poignant preludes’, and the collection is again well suited to late intermediate players.

The Eugénie Rocherolle Collection

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Eugénie Rocherolle (1936-2025) was born and raised in New Orleans. The music of the city would inspire her compositions throughout her life. She also spent formative time in France, studying with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and later returning to explore the country with her growing family.

Although her career as a published composer began with choral and band music, Rocherolle’s teaching expertise and pianistic instincts soon propelled her to be one of the top educational piano composers of her generation.

In her later decades, Hal Leonard’s Eugénie Rocherolle Series brought well-deserved international fame, and grew to include more than 30 collections of original piano solos, duets, and superbly crafted arrangements of pop and jazz favourites.

Eugénie Rocherolle’s Reflective Piano Solos

Eugénie Rocherolle’s ‘Reflective Piano Solos” is the latest addition to the many superb publications in her Hal Leonard series. But is it what it seems?

Eugénie Rocherolle’s Romantic Stylings

“Romantic Stylings” is as easy to recommend as it is to review: eight superb and varied intermediate pieces, which are bound to bring joy to players at around UK Grade 4-5 level.

Eugénie Rocherolle’s Fantasia del Tango

For those who enjoy the tango genre, this collection is an easy winner, offering engaging material delivered with excellent attention to the needs of the intermediate player, and with genuine stylistic affection.

In Summer 2024, while preparing a compilation of her favourite works, Rocherolle was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The heart-breaking news focused attention on completing this long-planned anthology of pieces for Late Intermediate players (around UK Grades 5-6).

The Eugénie Rocherolle Collection includes two new, final compositions, and was ultimately completed by Hal Leonard editor Charmaine Siagian following the composer’s passing away on 4th March 2025.

Debbie Wiseman • Ten

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
Find out more: ABOUT PIANODAO REVIEWS

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…

A Contemporary Sonatina Collection

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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The sonatina has an important history within the piano literature, with famous examples by Beethoven, Clementi, Kuhlau, and others giving players an early introduction to the rewards of playing a multiple movement work within the aesthetic conventions of a classical sonata.

With the Romantic and 20th century preference for shorter character pieces sporting more imaginative titles, the sonatina’s abstract narrative has been less in vogue, although the twentieth century saw notable additions by Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Bartök, Sibelius, and Ravel.

Hal Leonard clearly hope to reestablish the genre with the publication of a superb new collection of brand new sonatinas by leading piano composers of our time: Daniel Light, Phillip Keveren, Glenda Austin, Mona Rejino, Logan Evan Thomas, Alexander Zhu, William Gillock, Wayne Bucknor, and Kevin Olson…

Ben Crosland’s Jazz Beans!

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Ben Crosland’s Magic Beans for elementary players was one of the very first (and remains one of the best) music books to be reviewed on Pianodao, and in that review (which you can read here) I mentioned other Beans books in the series, Cool Beans and Easy Beans, concluding:

“To summarise, the ‘Beans’ publications establish Ben Crosland as a major voice in educational composing. The whole series is outstanding, and ‘Magic Beans’ easily lives up to the very high standards set by its predecessors.”

Crosland has subsequently concentrated on developing his career composing reflective contemporary pieces in the style popularised by Ludovico Einaudi and others.

Returning with new educational publications, Crosland’s Jazz Beans! series marks a welcome reappearance of three books which were previously published as Get Set Jazz, freshly baked for the Beans series. Suitable for Easy (Grades 0-2), Intermediate (2-4), and Advanced (4-7) players respectively, let’s find out how they taste…

Forest and Seaside Notebooks

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Composer Angeline Bell first emerged in late 2022 with two distinctive and nicely contrasted piano collections from Editions Musica Ferrum, specifically My Lyrical Notebook and My Quirky Notebook. My review of both books was among the first, and in my conclusion I noted:

“With these two collections, Angeline Bell has certainly burst onto the scene with music that has the same explosive energy as the flora and fauna erupting from the pianos on her book covers. On the strength of these, her debut publications, she can be greeted as a major talent.”

Since then, Bell has brought us the super My Garden Notebook, which I reviewed here, and which was nominated in the contemporary category for The Art of Piano Education Awards in 2024.

Bell has more recently produced another two collections in the same series, underlining the point that she is as prolific as she is imaginative. My Seaside Notebook and My Forest Notebook build on the success of the earlier publications and offer selections of her compositions that, while still intermediate, are a little more advanced overall.

Both these publications appear in Musica Ferrum’s traditional house style, with well-engraved notation presented on luxury cream paper, and thick card covers that mix professionalism with characterful, colourful, homespun charm. Let’s investigate…

Piano Player • Movie Soundtracks

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Faber Music’s Piano Player series has established a strong identity since the first volume, celebrating British Classics appeared back in 2022. The series is aimed at adult players at intermediate level, each tastefully presented title offering an imaginative selection of around 20 pieces (a mixture of originals and arrangements) around a specific concept.

Originally, seven titles were advertised, each sporting the artwork of Edward Bawden on its cover (and as a mini posted pullout included within), but somewhere along the line a Christmas Time collection was added and now, bringing the list up to nine titles thus far, a new collection of arrangements of film music.

This arrival is clearly an indication of the popularity these publications have already gained, and as always it delivers an interesting and appealing selection of music…

Beethoven • Masterpieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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The new Masterpieces for Piano series from Edition Peters has proved one of the most exciting additions to the piano player’s library in recent months, and I have spared no blushes in my praise of the Schubert and Mozart titles.

Compiled by Roland Erben from the publishing house’s iconic Green Series of publications, each of these bumper books appears with an eye-catching cover artwork, newly engraved scores presented on luxury cream paper, and offers a significant cross-section of each composer’s solo music for intermediate to advanced pianists.

Joining the series, Beethoven Masterpieces for Piano is now the third title, completing an initial trilogy (and let’s face it, there is plenty of scope for the series to grow!). Once again, the publication offers a stunningly presented and keenly priced volume of indispensable music, but let’s consider whether it lives up to the excellence of the first two bumper anthologies…

Mozart • Masterpieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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When I recently reviewed Edition Peters’ stunning new collection of music by Franz Schubert, I concluded:

“This is an indisputably rich trove of musical treasures from one of the world’s most beloved composers, so those not already familiar with these pieces really need to do themselves a favour and get a copy. There are of course many great, and comprehensive, editions of Schubert’s piano works, but for a compendium that offers such a range, I can think of no equal.”

I mentioned in that review that the Schubert volume was the first of three, and in this review I will consider whether the second, Mozart Masterpieces for Piano, lives up to the same high standards.

This 144-page bumper edition offers 38 works, large and small, and is once again billed as delivering:

“Essential repertoire for intermediate to advanced level pianists.”

With several pieces from the child composer’s early London Notebook, leading to the complete Sonata in C (KV 545), F (KV 280) and A major (KV 331), and the exquisite Adagio in B minor (KV 540), the anthology includes music ranging from around Grade 2 to Associate Diploma level. The full list of pieces follows…