Sheet Music Reviews – Page 25

Learn to Play Ragtime Piano

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Most pianists at some point will want to try their hand at playing Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer, but the wider world of Ragtime remains, for many, something of a mystery. How does the style actually work, who were its main purveyors, and where does it fit within the evolution of jazz piano?

Happily, there is an expert to guide us. Terry Waldo is considered to be the foremost living performer, producer, and historian of authentic ragtime. A producer and arranger of over fifty albums, he has appeared on hundreds of TV, film and radio programmes including his own historic series on NPR, This is Ragtime, latterly also a podcast.

Now, Waldo has blessed us with a straightforward guide to help the more advanced player interested in Ragtime to find their way with the genre.

Ragtime Piano: A Guide to Playing the Best Rags, published worldwide by Hal Leonard, is one of those books which does exactly what it says on the cover. Nevertheless, let’s take a peek!…

Fauré: Romances sans paroles

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

I have previously praised Jean-Pierre Bartoli’s new scholarly-critical performing editions of Fauré’s piano music from Bärenreiter, reviewing the Pavane Op.50 and the Five Impromptus when they appeared.

EXPLORE THE MUSIC OF FAURÉ

Intermediate French Favourites

I have no doubt that this collection is one which I will frequently recommend and teach from in the coming years: simply put, it offers the best introduction to the wonders of the French piano repertoire that I know of…

Fauré: Romances sans paroles

Fauré’s “Romances sans paroles” (Songs without words) are his earliest piano works, yet remain among the most gorgeous and accessible…

Fauré • Pavane Op.50

Fauré’s famous ‘Pavane’ is blessed with one of the most delectable and beloved melodies ever composed. Bärenreiter have just issued a superb urtext edition of the composer’s solo piano version, the subject of this short review…

Fauré: The 5 Impromptus

Following on from the great sets of Schubert and Chopin, Fauré’s five Impromptus present a third significant group of such pieces, and though less well-known they certainly deserve to be played more widely.

The latest arrival in this growing series is a new edition of the Trois Romances sans paroles, which like its predecessors is based on the musical text from Bärenreiter’s Oeuvres Complètes de Gabriel Fauré edition of 2020.

These pieces are wonderful Romantic piano miniatures, accessible to players at advanced level around UK Grade 8, so let’s consider this new addition to the Pianodao Music Library…

Piano Player • Christmas Time

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Regular readers will know that I am quite a fan of Faber Music’s Piano Player series, originally projected to include seven books, five of which are already available and reviewed here, with the final two anticipated for 2024.

With decorous covers sporting the artwork of Edward Bawden (1903-1989), a pull-out reproduction to keep and frame, and a mixed range of popular classics and tasteful arrangements geared towards adult intermediate players, the series has carved out a very particular and worthwhile niche.

Taking us unawares, Faber Music have just launched a new addition to the series. Not billed among the seven titles advertised so far, The Piano Player Christmas Time is more than just a welcome surprise…

The Pam Wedgwood Christmas Collection

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Earlier this year, Faber Music released a brilliant compilation of jazzy pieces selected by Pam Wedgwood from her back catalogue of bestsellers. In my review of the Jazzin’ About Anthology, I described it as,

“a superb publication which I can truly recommend without reservation.”

Now Faber have followed it up with The Pam Wedgwood Christmas Collection, and the same high praise is due. Producing this book is certainly a smart and welcome move.

Wedgwood has an impressive archive of Christmas-themed music to mine, having produced several books of traditional, jazzy and contemporary seasonal music in the After Hours, Jazzin’ About, and Up Grade! series, not forgetting the excellent It’s Never Too Late to Play… Christmas collection.

With such a wealth of material to choose from, let’s find out what Wedgwood and Faber Music have picked…

STAR WARS Piano Anthology

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

There has lately been an influx of new film anthologies for piano solo, recent publications including collections of music by Ennio Morricone, Michael Giacchino, Danny Elfman, Clint Mansell, and the Harry Potter Piano Anthology which I very recently reviewed here.

For me, the film score which first caught my attention growing up was unquestionably Star Wars: A New Hope. Like so many children of the seventies, I was gripped by the film’s release in 1977, equally enamoured by the score, and before long owned the gatefold 2LP Original Soundtrack Recording. It was to prove the first of many John Williams soundtracks added to my growing vinyl collection as a teen.

Perhaps no surprise, then, that the arrival of an impressive gift book including music from all nine episodes of the saga immediately excited me, and I am now pleased to bring you my review of this brilliant addition to the Pianodao Music Library…