Sheet Music Reviews – Page 2

The LOTR Piano Anthology

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Faber Music have now been producing their series of deluxe piano anthologies for around a decade, with one or two new titles appearing each year, each volume generally bringing together an eclectic but appealing mix of music grouped around a specific theme: Christmas, Jazz Standards, Women Composers, and so on.

You can explore my reviews of the series here.

A previous title in the series broke the usual pattern by focusing on a specific movie series. The Harry Potter Piano Anthology was produced in association with the US publishers Alfred Music, who own the rights and arrangements, and in my review of that title, I concluded that it was “an exceptional publication which is unlikely to disappoint”.

Revisiting that partnership, Faber Music now bring us The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Piano Anthology, again in partnership with Alfred. The cover announces that the book includes:

“The best-loved themes from Howard Shore’s landmark scores along with other featured songs, arranged for intermediate piano solo.”

The anthology is as lavishly presented as ever, and likely to tempt all those who appreciate Shore’s superb movie scores, so let’s take a look…

ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2027/8

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

It’s that time again: right on cue, ABRSM have published their latest piano grade exam syllabus, accompanied as usual by a raft of resources to support players and teachers. With their 2027 & 2028 piano syllabus, they promise:

Refreshed repertoire for Practical and Performance Grades, Initial to Grade 8, with new Piano Exam Pieces books for each.
A separate, 68-page Teaching Notes booklet.
A new online Piano Learning Hub with video demonstrations and learning resources.
Audio recordings, available on all major streaming platforms.

They also confirm the following useful information:

There are no changes to the scales and arpeggios or sight-reading and aural tests for Practical Grades.
You can continue to use repertoire from the 2025 & 2026 Piano Syllabuses until 31 December 2027. During this overlap period you must choose all your set pieces from the same syllabus.

The first of these points may be disappointing for educators, but given the shift towards digital performance grades won’t perhaps come as a surprise. You can read about the pedagogy problems with their scales syllabus here, and significant concerns about the validity of their aural tests here.

My coverage of ABRSM always aims for balance and impartiality, and while critical of their support tests, my reviews of their Piano Exam Pieces books have regularly heaped praise on the board. Rightly so, because in recent years they have brilliantly balanced returning favourites with new commissions and inspiring discoveries.

So the big question is whether the latest Piano Exam Pieces will live up to the board’s high standards, delivering diversity, musical quality, educational value, and genuine appeal. And having had three weeks to live with and play through all these pieces ahead of their publication, that’s the question I hope to answer.

LCME Piano Syllabus 2026

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In the rapidly changing landscape of graded piano exams, the regular appearance of new syllabus and varied repertoire publications has remained a positive constant, so when LCME’s 2021-24 piano specifications expired, it was a surprise that they were extended pending a replacement.

This appears to be because the board has undergone considerable change during and since the pandemic. With new leadership and systems now in place, LCME are firmly back, and have this week published the long awaited new piano syllabus, wisely billed as being “valid for examinations from 2026 until further notice”.

Although the new syllabus is immediately valid from 1st September 2026, the previous 2021 syllabus will also remain valid until 31st July 2027 (but mixing the two is not allowed).

In this extended review, I will consider the new repertoire selections and ‘Piano Handbook’ publications, offer insight into other significant syllabus changes and options, and reflect on LCME’s continuing place within the piano exam market.

So to answer the big question many will have, has the wait for the new LCME piano syllabus been worth it? Let’s find out…

Phillip Keveren • Jazz Preludes

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

The Phillip Keveren Series remains one of Hal Leonard’s notably popular successes, bursting at the seams with his collections of jazz and popular piano arrangements as well as original and fresh educational music.

The latest addition to the series is Jazz Preludes for Piano, which offers:

“15 concise preludes designed to introduce a traditional pianist to the spices that season the language of jazz.”

The book is suitable for late intermediate players, around UK Grades 5-6, and delivers an enjoyable introduction to playing in a variety of jazz styles, all cunningly embedded in attractive new pieces that leave the player wanting more!

So if you (or a student you teach) have an interest in developing a more instinctive grasp of jazz grooves and repertoire, this publication is very much aimed in your direction. Let’s find out more about it…

Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

With the popularity of her OUP collections, and her many contributions to the ABRSM piano and jazz syllabus, Nikki Iles has become a near ubiquitous voice in contemporary music education, her distinctive writing a permeating presence in piano publications.

Fans of her music (of whom I am certainly one) will give a warm welcome to the truly delightful pieces in her latest collection from EVC Music, Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh. The book follows in the footsteps of her previous Piano Tales for Alice (UK Grades 1-3, reviewed here), and Piano Tales for Peter Pan (Grades 3-5, reviewed here).

Rather than rounding off her trilogy with an advanced collection as might have been predicted, Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh delivers a selection of new compositions suitable for elementary to intermediate pianists. Let’s find out more…

Piano Player • Anime

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Faber Music’s Piano Player series has been a welcome success of recent years, each handsome collection in the growing set showcasing the distinctive artwork of Edward Bawden (1903-1989) while offering an appealing variety of music within.

For information about previous titles, read my reviews here.

The cycle appeared to run its course with the release of all titles originally announced, but now enters a new era with two new collections. These no longer sport Bawden’s artwork, but otherwise retain the series aesthetic.

Likely to be particularly popular, Piano Player: Anime curates nineteen themes from Japanese anime soundtracks, arranged for solo piano…

Echoes of the Orient

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In the last three years, I have reviewed five collections of intermediate piano music by the UK-based Malaysian piano teacher Angeline Bell, during which time she has quickly established her name as an educational composer. Her accessible pieces have also begun to feature on streaming sites and on the radio, where their warm, relaxing vibe is proving popular.

Bell’s sixth and latest publication is Echoes of the Orient. The score again appears from Editions Musica Ferrum, with cover artwork by Rebecca Harrie to match Bell’s previous Notebooks, but this time there is also a CD recording of the music by upcoming concert artist Katie Yao Morgan on the ARC Music Productions label, distributed by Naxos World.

These pieces were composed with early advanced performers in mind, and evoke Bell’s nostalgic reflections and personal recollections of growing up in East Asia. As such, this is a very different collection to its predecessors, so let’s take a look…

Naoko Ikeda • Kanade

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

When compiling Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection three years ago, I had the pleasure of selecting the Japanese composer’s best solo piano pieces from more than thirty publications, popular in her homeland and in the USA, but relatively little known here in the UK.

For those wanting more of Naoko Ikeda’s music to follow that Grade 2-5 anthology, as well as fans of her music everywhere, her latest collection from The Willis Music Company is Kanade, and offers “14 Beautiful Piano Solos”. I would suggest that the pieces here would suit Late Intermediate players, around UK Grades 5-6.

Two of these pieces, Foggy Blues and Manhattan Swing, were previously published internationally as single sheets, and I included both in The Graded Collection. The rest are new, with 11 fresh solo compositions, and an arrangement of Bellini’s Vaga luna, che inargenti.