Faber Music – Pianodao

Jóhann Jóhannsson • Piano Works

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Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018) was an award-winning Icelandic composer, musician, and producer, who wrote music for a wide array of media including film, television, theatre and dance. With his passing in 2018, aged just 48, the world of music lost one of its brightest stars, still in the ascendent.

Faber Music celebrate this extraordinary talent with the publication of a new cloth-bound book, Jóhann Jóhannsson Piano Works, the subject of this review, in which they tell us,

“Jóhannsson’s work is characterised by a fusion of classical instrumentation and contemporary electronic elements and encompasses the diverse influences of Baroque, Minimalism, avant-garde and ambient music, as well as drone-based and electro-acoustic music.”

The book is undoubtedly a beautiful and important tribute, so let’s take a look…

The Piano Player: Christmas Time

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

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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

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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…

The Harry Potter Piano Anthology

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

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The arrival of a beautifully presented new Faber Music Piano Anthology has become something of a tradition as the nights start to draw in each Autumn, and happily this year’s new collection doesn’t disappoint.

While Faber’s previous bumper books have each focused on a genre, their classical, jazz standards, pop ballads, Christmas, contemporary, soundtracks and easy piano collections all featured in the Pianodao Music Library, the latest has a more specific focus: the music of the beloved Harry Potter movie franchise.

Produced in partnership with Alfred Music, The Harry Potter Piano Anthology is a truly sumptuous affair, and promises:

“The best-loved themes from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts soundtracks magically arranged for intermediate piano solo.”

With 56 pieces, including tracks drawn from the soundtracks of all eleven movies in the franchise to date, the book is an obvious must for Potter fans, and a gorgeous gift book. Let’s take a closer look…

The Piano Player: Uplifting Classics

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Faber Music have just unleashed the latest gem in their marvellous Piano Player series: get ready to experience the magic of Uplifting Classics!

This fifth instalment in Faber’s beautifully presented garland of intermediate anthologies, arriving as usual with a delightful cover illustration and pull-out print from the collection of the notable British artist Edward Bawden (1903-1989), offers the perfect remedy for challenging times.

Those unfamiliar with the series can read my reviews of the previous collections here. And now let’s all lift our spirits by exploring this fresh compendium of rousing favourites…

Classical Tear-Jerkers

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Faber Music’s Piano Player Series is proving one of their most enjoyable and easy to recommend in recent years. Bringing together accessible pieces, adept arrangements and vividly showcasing the inimitable artwork of Edward Bawden (1903-1989), the books are proving popular in my teaching studio, and are well worth a look.

The latest is the splendidly titled Classical Tear-Jerkers, and promises “twenty of the most melancholy pieces of classical music, specially arranged for intermediate piano solo”.

How can we resist taking a closer look?

Penelope Roskell • Essential Piano Technique

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

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Few aspects of piano playing seem to divide opinion on forums as much as healthy technique: what it is, how, and when to teach it. Happily, anyone who is looking for clear, authoritative answers to these questions can find them aplenty in the milestone (and mammoth) book The Complete Pianist, which I reviewed here when it appeared in 2020.

The author of that definitive and award-winning book is the concert pianist and expert teacher Penelope Roskell, a world-leader in the field of injury-free piano playing, and Piano Adviser to the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine.

Having so plainly and comprehensively shown us what an essential, healthy piano technique looks like in her previous book, Roskell is now back with an attractively presented series of three books aimed at younger beginners and their teachers. Her new Essential Piano Technique books are certainly unlike any previous children’s piano series I have encountered…

The Cinematic Piano Playlist

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Faber Music’s Piano Playlist series is developing at pace these days. After the success of the first book, published in 2019 and reviewed here, the Christmas Piano Playlist appeared in late 2022, reviewed here, followed just weeks ago by the Peaceful Piano Playlist Revisited, reviewed here.

Now, hot on those heels, they have yet another title joining the series. The Cinematic Piano Playlist promises,

“Over 30 incredible themes from the biggest film soundtracks, games and television shows, all arranged for intermediate piano.”

Let’s find out what the collection delivers…

The Jazzin’ About Anthology

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When I began teaching in the 1990’s, Pam Wedgwood’s Jazzin’ About books were very much the rage, the latest thing that every student wanted to play. The series (as it then was) comprised just a handful of books, but over the years it has burgeoned and in the process clocked up more than half a million sales. Wedgwood’s pieces have become perennial favourites.

Latest addition, The Jazzin’ About Piano Anthology, brings together 41 of Pam’s favourite pieces from across the series, presented progressively in one volume from early elementary to intermediate level (UK Initial to Grade 5). Publishers Faber Music tell us that the book includes six new pieces specially composed for this edition, plus duets and online demonstration audio performed by the composer.

“So take a break from the classics and get into the groove as you cruise from blues, to rock, to jazz!”

Let’s dig in…

The Intermediate Piano Sonata Collection

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The Intermediate Pianist is an award-winning set of three books co-written by Karen Marshall and Heather Hammond, published by Faber Music in 2017. They launched Marshall’s Piano Trainer Series, which grew to include the Foundation Pianist (with David Blackwell, 2018), the Advanced Pianist (with Mark Tanner, 2019), and supplemented by the Piano Trainer Scales Workbook (2021).

Between them, these eight books deliver a fully self-contained curriculum for piano players from elementary to advanced level, but they have now been joined by another important supplementary book. The Intermediate Piano Sonata Collection has been written, compiled and edited by Marshall, and the publishers tell us,

“This collection gathers together nine complete sonatas that are all intermediate to early advanced (Grades 4 to 6) in standard. Featuring works by Beethoven, Anna Bon, Haydn, Mozart and Robert Schumann, it provides the highest quality of music and many years of study. Each sonata is accompanied by a live recording, background information, playing tips and musicianship activities; students are also encouraged to use the Sonata Music Map to analyse each work in detail themselves.”

Let’s start to unpack all this…