Christmas Music – Late Intermediate

The Christmas Piano Book

The Christmas Shortlist
Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales

Since Faber Music took charge of the esteemed Edition Peters publishing house, I’ve been interested to see how these two very different entities would complement each other. The new Christmas collection Das Klavierbuch zur Weihnacht provides compelling evidence that theirs is a partnership made in heaven.

To use the English translation (the book includes both German and English throughout), The Christmas Piano Book brilliantly combines Faber’s penchant for bumper anthologies that mix established classics with fresh arrangements and offer superb value, with Edition Peters’ more serious aesthetic and reputation for superb classical music editing.

According to the publishers,

The Christmas Piano Book brings together pianistic arrangements of the most popular carols from Germany and beyond, alongside a selection of festive piano pieces by renowned composers. Ideal for intermediate to advanced-level pianists, the collection features newly created arrangements of favourites such as Silent Night, O Tannenbaum and Joy to the World, alongside works ranging from Bach’s Sinfonia from the Christmas Oratorio and Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, to atmospheric pieces including Elfrida Andrée’s Julstämning and the title theme from Three Wishes for Cinderella. This beautifully presented volume is the ultimate companion for the festive season and an ideal Christmas gift.

This is indeed a beautiful publication, as well as a keenly priced one. The Christmas Piano Book is an easy recommendation, and here’s why I love it…

Christmas Imaginations

The Christmas Shortlist
Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales

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.

Phillip Keveren Carol Anthology

The Christmas Shortlist
Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales

When the top US piano arranger Phillip Keveren tells us that Christmas music is a genre of which he never tires, we can easily believe him, because his catalogue of Hal Leonard publications includes an almost bewildering array of seasonal titles.

The question of where to start an exploration of these publications is made easier by the arrival of another. The Essential Christmas Carol Anthology offers “36 Stunning Seasonal Arrangements”, selected from five previous titles, and including five new arrangements.

As such, and though offering a sampler from which the player might then want to go and explore more of Keveren’s Christmas fare, this could be the only Christmas collection late intermediate players (around UK Grades 5-6) need. Let’s find out….

Piano Player • Wintertide

The Christmas Shortlist
Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales

In a busy year for music publishers, Faber Music’s new series The Piano Player has quickly established itself as a distinctive and enjoyable new imprint.

Introducing the first title in the series, a stirring collection of British Classics released in time for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, I wrote,

“Aimed at intermediate players of all ages (and I suspect with a particular eye on the adult market), these look set to be a lovely collection of repertoire books.”

A second title, Classical Favourites, quickly followed (reviewed here), and hot on its heels we now have a third. Ready for the run up to Christmas, Wintertide Collection offers “A seasonal selection of 20 wintry pieces”…

Christmas • Peaceful Piano Playlist

The Christmas Shortlist
Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales

Each year a flurry of new Christmas piano books arrive before first snowfall, this year proving no exception. Fresh from Faber, the Peaceful Piano Playlist: Christmas book sets the bar high, both in terms of content and presentation. The publication offers,

“A specially curated relaxing playlist of festive piano solos for the intermediate player”,

…and follows on from the popular Peaceful Piano Playlist publication which I reviewed here back in 2019. Read on for the list of included pieces, and of course for the full review…