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Advanced Repertoire

The Pianodao Music Library brings together all of the piano repertoire which has been reviewed, shared or otherwise featured on Pianodao. As such it is a varied, extensive, inclusive, and ever expanding body of carefully curated music.

The music in the Advanced category is suitable for players preparing for UK Grades 6-8 or equivalent.

In most cases, the sheet music can be purchased online from Musicroom, who deliver to customers worldwide. For your convenience links are provided, and Pianodao Tea Room community members are entitled to a 20% discount on all their sheet music purchases.

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Ola Gjeilo: Dawn

Ola Gjeilo is back with a superb sequel to the brilliant “Night”. The appropriately titled “Dawn” appeared on CD back in the autumn… the sheet music is also now available, and having played through the pieces I want to waste no time waiting to bring you my recommendation…

Edition Peters’ Graded Anthologies 2023-24

Edition Peters new Graded Piano Anthologies for ABRSM Grades 5-8 will be seen by some as alternatives to the official syllabus publications, while others will welcome them as hugely useful supplements that present a wider range of alternative piece selections…

Faber Music Ballads Piano Anthology

Beautifully presented, long lasting, and filled to the brim with classic song arrangements, the ‘Faber Music Ballads Piano Anthology’ deserves to fly off the shelves and into music-loving homes everywhere…

My First Schubert: Easiest Pieces

I cannot think of a directly competing collection of Schubert miniatures that matches this new volume’s mix of accessible presentation and perfectly curated musical appeal…. superb!

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…

The Piano Player: Wintertide Collection

With its gorgeous presentation, superb musical selection, adept pianistic arrangements and helpful fingering, it is very easy to recommend Faber Music’s Wintertide Collection to late intermediate and more advanced players everywhere:

The Christmas Shortlist

Keeping track of all the seasonal music reviewed on Pianodao is becoming more challenging with each passing year. The Christmas Shortlist brings all this music together in one easy-to-use portal, making it easier than ever to find what you are looking for:

Christmas • Peaceful Piano Playlist

With content that will have wide appeal and suggests versatile use, Faber Music’s ‘Peaceful Piano Playlist Christmas’ will be especially attractive to late intermediate players who embrace a wide range of music and will appreciate the relaxed contemporary vibe…

Jazz It Up! Christmas

From boogie-tinged swing to Latin spice, taking in waltz and ballads along the way, every one of these dazzling arrangements proves totally irresistible, adding up to one of the most charming and joyously festive collections I’ve yet discovered…

Donald Thomson’s Winter Piano Music

With ‘Winter Piano Music’ Donald Thomson has delivered a winning collection which deserves to find its place as a seasonal favourite for many years to come…

Christmas Songs & Standards: Jazz Piano Solo

Hal Leonard’s popular JAZZ PIANO SOLOS books are firm favourites with advanced pianists around the world. In this review I check out two Christmas titles, newly available here in the UK, which are sure to roast your festive chestnuts…

Peaceful Jazz Piano Solos

Hal Leonard’s popular and keenly-priced Peaceful Piano Solos series has only becomes more compelling with the arrival of Peaceful Jazz Piano Solos, a collection of 30 standards arranged for early advanced players…

Luke Howard: 28 Transcriptions

Luke Howard has released a succession of albums over the last decade which have established him as one of the leading classical crossover composers, alongside such names as Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Poppy Ackroyd and Nils Frahm. It is wonderful to now have this superbly produced collection of solo piano transcriptions…

Schumann’s Three Romances

There are many considerations when selecting which edition to use in the preparation of a performance of core repertoire such as the Schumann Romances. To my mind, this new edition from Wiener Urtext Edition ticks all the right boxes, and in doing so is somewhat a revelation…

Phillip Keveren’s Latest Hat Trick

American composer and ace arranger Phillip Keveren has been a busy chap this year, and among several publications he has just brought us three new anthologies for advanced players in his immensely popular Hal Leonard “Phillip Keveren Series”…

Jazz Piano Solos: Classical Jazz

I’ve seen several superb publications this year, and am running short of hyperbolic compliments, but Classical Jazz is an absurdly good collection. Don’t miss it!

Discovering the piano music of Leoš Janáček

From the emotive nostalgia of On an Overgrown Path, via the outpouring of 1. X. 1905 and the reflection of In the Mists to the highly personal utterances of his late piano pieces, Janáček’s contribution to the piano repertoire is surely one of the most personal, as well as one of our greatest treasures…

Sibelius: Three Sonatinas Op.67

Advanced pianists with a penchant for Sibelius’s music can welcome this new Breitkopf urtext edition of the Three Sonatinas Op.67 with unalloyed happiness.

Alexis Ffrench: ‘Truth’

“Truth” is the new album from chart-topper Alexis Ffrench, and for those with the enthusiasm and ability to play this music, Hal Leonard have produced a must-have and handsomely presented volume… here’s my review:

Liszt’s Late Pieces 1880-1885

While Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was perhaps the most significant of the pianist-composers of the nineteenth century, the significance of his late piano pieces has been the subject of much debate. Bärenreiter have delivered a scholarly edition of this astonishing music which is long overdue, and they have done so with typical panache…

The Mosaic Series

Mosaic is a superb series, and I am incredibly proud to be associated with it. This is not just educational music at its most creative, but creative composing at its most educational!

Barbara Arens: One Hand Piano

Barbara Arens’s latest collection from Edition Breitkopf is a sequel to her 2013 best-seller “One Hand Piano”. In this review I will take a fresh look at both the original and the newly arrived volume 2…

Górecki: Piano Album

The piano music of Polish modernist composer Górecki included in this enterprising collection from Boosey & Hawkes is certainly of considerable interest, and surely deserves a permanent ongoing place in the repertoire…

Couperin’s Troisième Livre

This new edition undoubtedly once again sets a new benchmark in terms of Couperin scholarship, joining the first two Livres as an essential library edition for all enthusiasts of the French baroque. It is equally the ideal performing edition for those approaching this music today, whether on the harpsichord or piano…

Ludovico Einaudi: Cinema

For those who want to explore the music of Einaudi and aren’t sure where to begin, the new ‘Cinema’ compilation certainly offers a representative starting point that includes several classics alongside some lesser-known, contrasting music…

Women Composers: A Graded Anthology

With the arrival of a third book to complete Melanie Spanswick’s groundbreaking ‘Women Composers: A Graded Anthology’ series, I am republishing my earlier review, fully expanded and updated to include a comprehensive overview of the whole series…

Music from Minecraft

Minecraft fans will no doubt rejoice in the release of these solo piano arrangements. I have a few caveats, but think that the publishers have done a highly impressive job of creating, for the most part, so useful a score. Read the review and let me know what you think in a comment!..

Six Preludes About Time

Following EVC’s new partnership with Hal Leonard I have been re-examining their catalogue, and have been delighted to discover Mark Goddard’s ‘About Time’, which it makes an excellent addition to the growing Pianodao Music Library…

“HerStory”: The Piano Collection

HerStory is a singular and significant achievement, lifting the lid on a terrific range of superb music. The collection will undoubtedly and very deservedly be recognised as one of the most significant publications of 2022.

An Expedition into Czech Piano Music

This new publication from Bärenreiter will come as a joy to those who are already familiar with the riches of piano music by Czech composers past and present, will be a revelation to those who don’t, and must be considered an essential purchase for all advanced players keen to expand their repertoire…

Donald Thomson’s Celtic Piano Music

Bringing together all 20 pieces from Donald Thomson’s previous four Celtic collections, Celtic Piano Music is a publication to celebrate and treasure. Let’s take a look…

The New, Improved Microjazz

As we congratulate Christopher Norton on his 40-year achievement with the Microjazz series, he shows no sign of slowing down, even though he has surely already given us several lifetimes of music to enjoy, an absolute treasure trove! Here’s the latest:

Beethoven: Klavierstücke

As one who regularly teaches Beethoven, the availability of so much central repertoire in one brilliantly presented and editorially authoritative publication is priceless, and stunning value…

Josh Winiberg: Change

For those who enjoy the contemporary piano style and are looking for music which will perhaps challenge them more on a technical level, this publication can be recommended without reservation…

Kashperova: In the Midst of Nature

If you haven’t previously encountered the music of Russian composer Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940), be kind to yourself: until recently, her name was known only as Stravinsky’s piano teacher, her own rich musical output entirely forgotten. Happily the situation is changing…

Elena Cobb: Recital Piano Solos

As she continues in her passionate drive to promote the music of others, we must hope that Elena Cobb also continues to exercise her own wonderful, musical voice. Meanwhile, these two collections include some superb music that we can enjoy today!

Patrik Pietschmann’s Movie & TV at the Piano

With 1.59 million subscribers and more than 400 million video views, Patrik Pietschmann is an internet sensation. Now Schott Music bring us 10 of his most epic piano arrangements from the streaming universe…

Egon Wellesz: Sechs Klavierstücke op.26

These pieces are truly gripping, and provide a superb introduction to a dissonant but deeply expressive school of composition which many still shy away from. Suitable for players working towards UK Grade 7-8, they introduce a musical language can surely be as beguiling as it is unexpected…

Christmas Classics: Jazz Piano Solos

This book is an easy recommendation to any more advanced player who has ever fancied playing popular Christmas music in a lounge jazz style. And if you happen to be playing background piano live in a public space or private function this Christmas, this book is the one you need to order, quickly!

The Beethoven Sonatas: Where to Start?

Henle’s recently published “Five Easy Piano Sonatas” and “Five Famous Piano Sonatas” volumes offer a near perfect introduction to this greatest body of solo piano music….

Adrian Lord: Piano Meditations

Adrian Lord’s Piano Meditations is in short a superb publication in every sense, and a very easy recommendation to any more advanced player who enjoys playing music which is as absorbing as it is relaxing.

Carl Davis: The Piano Collection

In celebration of Carl Davis’s 85th birthday on 28th October, his publishers Faber Music have brought out a beautifully presented, limited edition collection of his most classic works, selected and reworked for solo piano by the composer himself…

Harry T. Burleigh: Through Moanin’ Pines

Celebrating Black History Month here in the UK, I have pleasure in sharing this new recording which I have made of a piece I recently discovered in the collection Four Early 20th Century Piano Suites by Black Composers, published by Schirmer edition.

Herbert Howells: Piano Works

Herbert Howells’ piano music surely deserves a far wider audience, and I hope that this publication will prove to be a significant step towards establishing these pieces as favourites with players and audiences alike. Here’s the Pianodao review…

Yann Tiersen: Kerber

Yann Tiersen is best known for his brilliant and suitably quirky soundtrack to the movie Amélie, which yielded such contemporary classics as the Waltz from Amélie and of course Comptine d’un autre été. His new album ‘Kerber’ is one of those albums within the new classical space which I think deserves repeated listens, and which I believe will stand the test of time. The sheet music publication is also now available… here’s my review:

Accent on William Gillock

There’s little doubt in my mind that William Gillock was one of the most significant educational piano composers of the twentieth century, and it’s a delight to be reviewing The Willis Music Company’s new complete edition of the Accent on Gillock series. I’ve recommended some great publications of late, but this one is quite simply a studio essential, destined to become a favourite if it hasn’t already!

The Impeccable Piano Music of Francesco Cilea

It is surely a pity that only the most “serious” of works tend to survive the rigours of history; in the case of the piano repertoire a golden age of domestic music-making in the mid nineteenth to twentieth centuries has left us with an astounding wealth of wonderful by now too-little-known music ripe for rediscovery…

Peaceful Piano Solos: The Series

The Peaceful Piano Solo series from Hal Leonard is an easy recommendation, delivering a brilliant selection of contemporary favourites in a tastefully presented set of anthologies, with nicely playable editions.

Simon Hester: Scenes from the Movies

This collection leaves no doubt that Simon Hester is a superb composer, whose music deserves a far wider currency. Whether performed as individual miniatures or as a concert set, Scenes from the Movies is sure to delight players and audiences alike…

Edition Peters’ Grade 8 Anthology

Edition Peters’ Grade 8 Piano Anthology is the clear first choice publication for those working towards this all-important exam who wish to delve into the repertoire choices with the intelligent curiosity and enthusiasm that I would hope for in players at this level. Here’s full details and the Pianodao review….

Markus Schimpp: Yearning for Silence

Suitable for early advanced players, “YEARNING FOR SILENCE” will be a superb discovery for many, and is certainly the pick of the recent bunch of inventive and evocative miniatures. Exquisite! Read the full Pianodao review…

J.S. Bach: The Six Partitas

The Six Partitas BWV 825-30 of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) have long been regarded as one of the most important milestones of the Baroque keyboard repertoire, and exist in many editions. The latest, edited by Ullrich Scheideler, with fingering added by recording artist and concert pianist William Youn, and published by Henle (HN 518) replaces the same publisher’s 1979 Rudolf Steglich/Hans-Martin Theopold edition (HN 28), offering the latest in scholarship and performing practice suggestions…

Piano Music of Amy Beach

American composer Amy Beach’s significant contribution to the solo piano repertoire is finally beginning to receive the recognition and popularity it deserves. This collection offers ten intermediate to advanced solo pieces selected from across Beach’s long career by Gail Smith. Let’s take a look…

Nikki Iles and Friends

Nikki Iles is back with two new books of jazz pieces for ABRSM, between them bringing 29 new piano solos to the intermediate and advanced repertoire, composed and arranged by Iles as well as several other stars of the contemporary jazz world. With the drawing power of Iles and friends, and the marketing clout of ABRSM, these two books are sure to fly off the shelves, so let’s take a closer look while we can!

The Faber Music Contemporary Piano Anthology

Faber Music’s growing series of Piano Anthology books are a continuing source of joy, and have been enthusiastically received by several of my regular adult students. I have been impressed both with the intelligence and value of the music selections and the quality of the publications themselves. So it great to be welcoming a new addition to the family with the delivery of The Faber Music Contemporary Piano Anthology, which offers 52 “beautiful neoclassical pieces for solo piano”. Let’s find out whether it lives up to the high standards set by the series…

Martin Doepke: Piano Tales

Those keen to discover and explore imaginative new music, brilliantly and instinctively composed in a popular contemporary style, will find much to enjoy in these pieces. Here’s the Pianodao review….

Alma Deutscher: From My Book of Melodies

Based on her SONY Classical recording of the same name, From My Book of Melodies brings together the original compositions of Alma Deutscher, including pieces based on melodies that she composed from the age of four to fourteen, one piece for each of those eleven years. Here’s the Pianodao review…

Howard Skempton: 24 Preludes and Fugues

Howard Skempton’s 24 Preludes and Fugues are a timely reminder of his colossal intellectual stature and communicative capability. Melodic lines, counterpoint and expressive phrasing are as musically compelling as they are logically inevitable. This is an important publication…

Returning “…from Chopin’s Land”

As the series draws to a close, I would like to share a couple more books that were featured in the PWM promotion, as well as a series of three special collections which actually bear the project name, Music from Chopin’s Land. And then the punchline! I will end this final post in the series with a short reflection on the lasting lessons I have learnt about piano pedagogy following on from my visit to Chopin’s land…

Is this the definitive KV 331?

For all students and performers of Mozart’s music (including those selecting this for their Grade 8 or diploma exam), this revelatory new edition is a priority purchase, recommended without reservation.

Kurt Schwertsik: Collected Piano Works

When Austrian composer Kurt Schwertsik’s Albumblätter: collected piano works landed on my desk in 2018, I was intrigued, but like too many books it ended up buried in my review backlog. Fast forward to Summer 2020, and the newly released recording of this music by pianist Aya Klebahn caught my attention on Apple Music. This time, I was quickly hooked…

Alexis Ffrench: The Sheet Music Collection

Chances are readers will have encountered the music of Alexis Ffrench; his albums Evolution and Dreamland have both topped the classical charts making him the UK’s biggest selling pianist of 2020, and his music has amassed over 200 million streams online. Now, in conjunction with Universal Music and SONY, Hal Leonard bring us the official music book of Ffrench’s biggest piano hits to date, Alexis Ffrench: The Sheet Music Collection. Here’s the Pianodao review….

June Armstrong’s ‘Dreams and Dragons’

June Armstrong continues to consolidate her status as one of our most interesting, characterful and imaginative composers. Her latest publication, Dreams and Dragons, is suitable for early advanced players around UK Grade 6 level has just arrived…

Happy Birthday Schott Music!

Schott Music have celebrated their 250th Anniversary Year in style, with a number of special publications to commemorate their history. I have already reviewed the brilliant Joy of Music collection for piano (and you can read my review here) and I’m equally excited about Happy Birthday Schott Music, a new collection of 10 ‘piano-bar’ arrangements of well-known Schott melodies by the indefatigable Carsten Gerlitz…

Schott’s ‘Joy of Music’

Founded in 1770 by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, the distinguished Mainz publishing house celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2020. In this article I will be looking at “The Joy of Music: Discoveries from the Schott Archives”, a collection of virtuoso and entertaining pieces for piano, as they say: “To mark this anniversary, the Schott publishing house has dug up and reedited treasures from its historical publishing archives.”

Karol Kurpiński: Polonaises

Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857) was a leading figure in the musical life of Warsaw in the early nineteenth century, and a significant inspiration to his much younger compatriot Chopin. These three Polonaises offer us a glimpse of why. Find out more in the latest article in the Music from Chopin’s Land series, which includes a video tutorial by the French pianist Ernestine Bluteau.

Discovering Chopin

Frederic Chopin is of course one of the most beloved of all piano composers, and many players are eager to play his music as soon as they possibly can; in the case of adult learners, often when they have only been learning for a few months. For pianists at any level who are keen to explore and discover the music of Chopin (and who isn’t?), Poland’s PWM Edition offer the definitive range of sheet music publications, from easier anthologies through to the world’s finest complete editions…

‘The Maiden’s Prayer’ and beyond

While The Maiden’s Prayer is one of the most beloved piano pieces of all time, its composer Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska remains one of the many great female composers of the early 19th century whose music was largely ignored in the 20th. In this article I will try to find out who she was, what else she wrote, introduce a wonderful collection of her pieces from PWM edition, Memories of my Cottage, and share the tutorial video that I filmed for PWM offering tips on playing and teaching The Maiden’s Prayer itself…

The Most Beautiful Paderewski

Most piano lovers will of course have heard of Ignacy Paderewski: a seminal figure from the “golden age” of the piano whose brilliant career as a touring virtuoso was interrupted when he became Poland’s Prime Minister from 1919-21. Paderewski’s hugely appealing contribution to the solo piano repertoire fully deserves its place at the centre of the classical literature. Don’t miss it!

The John Rutter Christmas Piano Album

In my review of the John Rutter Piano Album a few months ago, I noted in my conclusion: “Having produced such sumptuous and elevating transcriptions of eight non-seasonal songs, is it too much to hope that Rutter will return soon with a collection of his most beloved seasonal favourites?” Well, I’m thrilled to let you know that Rutter is indeed back with a volume of his Christmas favourites! So let’s jump straight in…

Play Piano for Well-being

Having reviewed and recommended a number of Faber collections before, I have always found them enjoyable and good value. But this one is my new favourite…

Rachel Portman: Ask the River

English composer Rachel Portman is best known for her many gorgeous film scores, which include music for such blockbusters as Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, The Duchess and The Lake House. Portman’s latest musical project is ‘Ask the River’, a self-contained CD of piano-led instrumental reflections on the natural world, with an accompanying book from Chester Music delivering solo piano versions of all 13 tracks, the subject of this review. Anyone wanting to move on from Einaudi to music with a similar contemporary vibe but more nuance, these consummately composed pieces offer a beautiful and evocative sound world that is…

Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora

More than a decade has passed since the publication of these books, and it is odd that so little of this music has made its way onto concert platforms or found regular use in teaching studios, music-loving households and on exam syllabi. Quite why more haven’t picked up this music is a mystery, because anyone with a fair mind, musical sensitivity and imagination will discover as soon as they explore these OUP volumes that the music of these neglected composers is consistently superb. So let’s explore the series…

Melanie Spanswick: Simply Driven

Melanie Spanswick’s latest book Simply Driven is a collection of 5 Virtuoso Pieces, suitable for players at around Grade 8 and above…

Granados: Danzas españolas

Whenever playing or teaching these deliciously Spanish miniature masterpieces, I have found them hugely appealing and popular, and I have no doubt that readers newly discovering them for the first time will be similarly enamoured…

Ola Gjeilo: Night

I have played through a significant number of albums in this general vein before, but Ola Gjeilo’s Night has not only particularly impressed me, but is a collection to which I have absolutely no doubt that I will return for musical and emotional nourishment in the future. Here’s the Pianodao review…

John Rutter: The Piano Collection

John Rutter’s Piano Album: A Flower Remembered, brings together 8 of his best-loved choral pieces in new transcriptions for solo piano. To be honest, I wasn’t initially sure whether these pieces would be “my kind of thing”; though I found the Decca recordings a pleasant listen, it was only really when I sat down with the score that the pieces fully came to life. And I now very much love them! Find out more in the Pianodao review here:

Garreth Broke: Healing

Garreth Brooke’s music enters a crowded field of solo piano music written in an easy-going post-minimal style. But his writing is, in my view at least, a cut above that of many of his peers. I hope that this review has whet your appetite to explore these often-beautiful and evocative compositions for yourself, and that you will discover within them the musical personality of a sensitive and profound artist…

Relax with Meditative Piano

Here is a mixture of simply superb piano solo music, much of it little known but deserving global enjoyment: music that will linger in your heart for a lifetime. There’s a danger that I’m going to get carried away here, because Relax with Meditative Piano is a book that inspires poetry in me as a reviewer. It is just wonderful! Need I say more? Well okay. Here’s the in-depth Pianodao review…

Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: Wiener Urtext

Celebrating this 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, Wiener Urtext have recently released a fully updated and revised urtext edition of his 32 Piano Sonatas. How does this edition compare to the stunning Jonathan Del Mar edition which I reviewed recently? Well, there are some surprises in store…

Andrew Higgins: Seasons

Andrew Higgins continues to impress as a highly imaginative composer, and Seasons is a brilliant addition to the EVC Music catalogue. Not only so, this small collection could make a big pedagogic impact on those who use it….

The Faber Music Jazz Anthology

The Faber Music Jazz Piano Anthology builds on the quality of its predecessors to deliver a sumptuous and brilliantly conceived book of jazz standards, newly arranged as piano solos for more advanced students and adult piano enthusiasts everywhere. Definitely time for a closer look…

Adriano Cirillo: Deux Valses

This slight publication offers up two lovely and beautifully evocative vignettes, and I have found myself returning to them repeatedly for cultural comfort during the challenges of the present coronavirus outbreak. Here we can revel in memories of former times, while losing ourselves in music of genuine quality and compositional ingenuity…

Alan Bullard: 24 Preludes

Alan Bullard’s 24 Preludes for solo piano are a valuable addition to the pianist’s repertoire and will, I have no doubt, be enthusiastically received by Advanced players looking for inventive and approachable contemporary music…

ABRSM’s Core Classics

Once in a while, a publication arrives for review which is based on a great concept and is itself essentially a very good product, but where the mismatch between the original concept and its delivery is a glaring one, as though at some point in the developmental process there was a communication breakdown. Core Classics: Essential Repertoire for Piano, a set of seven progressively “graded” solo repertoire books published worldwide today by ABRSM, is a striking example of this phenomenon. So let’s see what went awry, and more positively, what this beautifully presented new series actually has to offer… here’s…

Gershwin: Three Preludes

Prior to receiving the review copy for this new edition, I hadn’t particularly felt I was losing our with my trusty old copy of the Three Preludes … but what a difference!…

My First Tchaikovsky

Wilhelm Ohmen’s My First Composers collections from Schott Music are proving to be a series which keeps on giving… It only seems yesterday that I reviewed My First Haydn, having previously taken a look at My First Schumann and My First Beethoven. The series also includes collections of music by J.S. Bach, Mozart and Chopin. The latest collection to join the series is My First Tchaikovsky, the subject of this new review…

Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: the Jonathan Del Mar edition

Beethoven wrote to his student Czerny with the words: “…you have to forgive an author who would have rather heard his music played exactly as he wrote it!” With the arrival of Jonathan Del Mar’s authoritative new benchmark edition for Bärenreiter, we have less excuse than ever. This magnificent resource is surely not only a new landmark in Beethoven scholarship, but for pianists the publishing event of the decade…

Beethoven’s Variations for Piano

In the 250th centenary year, Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas will be difficult to hide from (should any wish to!) but the Variations for Piano offer a welcome and immensely rewarding alternative for performance and exploration by pianists everywhere. Henle Urtext are to be thanked for providing this updated, authoritative and practical performing edition…

Graham Lynch’s “Art Preludes”

Having listened to and played through these pieces multiple times since receiving a copy, I have to say that they continue to grow on me. These are rewarding compositions that brilliantly evoke the pictures that inspired them. They would make enjoyable concert pieces individually, and a complete performance of the full suite would certainly not outstay its welcome. These five Art Preludes are really lovely!

The Faber Music “Soundtracks Piano Anthology”

Faber Music have over the last couple of years greeted the onset of the Christmas shopping season with the publication of lavish anthologies, making perfect gifts for the pianist in your life (or indeed for yourself!). New for 2019, the Faber Music Soundtracks Piano Anthology is a collection of 58 pieces which have appeared in movies or TV shows, including popular classics alongside recent film scores. Let’s take a look….

Peaceful Christmas Piano Solos

Housed within a subtle, understated cover, “Peaceful Christmas Piano Solos” succeeds in looking very sophisticated from the outset… I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in this excellent collection.

Jazz on a Winter’s Night

Jazz music and Christmas have a beautifully nostalgic association for many, and it’s no surprise that jazz pianist Nikki Iles’ Jazz on a Winter’s Night has been such a huge success since its 2009 publication. Jazz on a Winter’s Night proved to be a milestone publication that spawned three outstanding sequels in Jazz in Springtime, Jazz on a Summer’s Day and Jazz in Autumn, each including a selection of seasonally themed jazz standards and originals composed by Nikki herself. I was thrilled to recently notice that Oxford University Press have now brought out a second collection of Christmas classics arranged by Nikki in…

Christmas Carols with a Classical Flair

For 2019, Keveren brings us a newcomer to his best-selling piano book series, “Christmas Carols with a Classical Flair”. Let’s see whether he has again struck gold

The Advanced Pianist

Taken as a whole, the Piano Trainer series surely ranks as one of the most useful, worthwhile and brilliantly executed contributions to the piano pedagogy library in recent years.

Philip Martin’s “New York Nights”

“New York Nights” offers the more advanced player a veritable “greatest hits” of Philip Martin’s more accessible pieces, and promises to be an essential purchase…

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