Hal Leonard – Page 3

Junior Performer

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Pam Wedgwood’s Up Grade! series from Faber Music has been a fixture of the piano education library for many years, and one of her most understandable successes. Based on a simple concept of offering “light relief between the grades”, the books have proved a popular step in the pianist’s development.

Entering the same space, The Willis Music Company have just released a new set of books from Christopher Hussey which give the concept of “between grades” repertoire a welcome update. Junior Performer includes three books, each covering two grades, thus bridging the gaps from Beginner to Grade 5.

Rather boldly describing itself as “The Perfect Resource for Between Piano Grades”, the series clearly has ambitions, and I have already heard from Pianodao readers keen to know how well it succeeds…

A Contemporary Sonatina Collection

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

The sonatina has an important history within the piano literature, with famous examples by Beethoven, Clementi, Kuhlau, and others giving players an early introduction to the rewards of playing a multiple movement work within the aesthetic conventions of a classical sonata.

With the Romantic and 20th century preference for shorter character pieces sporting more imaginative titles, the sonatina’s abstract narrative has been less in vogue, although the twentieth century saw notable additions by Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Bartök, Sibelius, and Ravel.

Hal Leonard clearly hope to reestablish the genre with the publication of a superb new collection of brand new sonatinas by leading piano composers of our time: Daniel Light, Phillip Keveren, Glenda Austin, Mona Rejino, Logan Evan Thomas, Alexander Zhu, William Gillock, Wayne Bucknor, and Kevin Olson…

Alexis Ffrench’s ‘Classical Soul’

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Alexis Ffrench has long described himself on his website as a “classical-soul pioneer”, but I think it is with his most recent recordings that his unique style has most distinctly come of age.

The aptly-named Classical Soul Vol.1 was released as a 21-track album in late 2024, including 15 new compositions interleaved with short, reverent cover versions of five soul classics: Killing Me Softly with his Song (Roberta Flack), A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke), At last (Etta James), I Say a Little Prayer (Aretha Franklin) and Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers).

This has been followed by a second album, Classical Soul, Vol.1: The Solo Piano Collection. Dispensing with the atmospheric backings and guest musicians of the first release, French here delivers solo versions of his 15 original compositions only, now supplemented by a ‘felt piano’ remix of Reverie and two new bonus tracks.

These 17 originals have now been transcribed and published in a sheet music collection from Hal Leonard, Selections from Classical Soul, Vol.1, the subject of this review…

Peaceful Piano Solos • Musicals

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

When Hal Leonard’s Peaceful Piano Solos first appeared a few years back, the publisher’s intention seemed to be to create a tasteful but inexpensive collection of 30 popular ambient contemporary pieces from the collective pens of Ludovico Einaudi, Yann Tiersen, Max Richter, et al, tapping into the significant popularity of the genre.

The series subsequently grew to include several volumes, and become a staple found in music shops everywhere. So far we’ve enjoyed Easy, Soundtracks, Classical, Christmas, Jazz, and Pop variations on the theme, and while the cover image has remained consistent, presented in a lovely range of pastel hues, the music within has somewhat branched away from that original concept.

For the latest addition, Peaceful Piano Solos: Musicals, the pastel colours have been replaced with a vivid red cover, and the 30 pieces within include a fair number of climactic curtain-call rousers.

This collection may not be entirely “peaceful”, but I suspect it will nevertheless, and deservedly, be popular…

Phillip Keveren • Twelve Serenades

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Phillip Keveren remains best known for his superb piano arrangements of popular, show tune, and movie themes, published as The Phillip Keveren Series by Hal Leonard worldwide.

However, Keveren has of late been composing more of his own solo piano music, written with a musical voice that combines his assimilation of popular styles with a penchant for the relaxing contemporary classical music that is so ubiquitous today, and with significant hints of Copland’s harmonic style.

2019’s superb intermediate collection Piano Calm (reviewed here) paved the way for the more pedagogically driven (but also excellent in my view) Circles (reviewed here), which comprises a “character etude” in each and every one of the 24 standard major and minor keys.

With the more recent So Far… (reviewed here) Keveren delivered compositions for more advanced players, about which I wrote:

“These pieces are a joy to play, life-affirming even, and offer a delicious contrast to much of the more serious music that developing players might be practising as they progress through the higher grades and into the concert repertoire.”

Keveren’s latest music, written for early intermediate players (around UK Grades 3-4) and titled Twelve Serenades, is a set of short evocative pieces that journey through the twelve key centres on the piano, while also serving as lullabies intended for media licensing.

In short, the music here combines the soft, melodic ambience of Piano Calm with the pedagogic intent of Circles. But let’s take a closer look…

Yann Tiersen • Rathlin from a Distance

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

It is unusual for the sheet music tie-in publication for a major release to appear prior to the actual recordings, so when Hal Leonard delivered the new piano solo collection from Yann Tiersen at the start of the year it was quite a coup, giving fans a few months to delve into the popular composer’s latest music before hearing his own versions when the album lands on April 4th.

Having enjoyed dipping into these pieces myself, with preview tracks now available to give you a flavour, and with the full album release rapidly approaching, I think it’s time to take a look at Rathlin from a Distance…

A Dozen a Day • Counting Rhythm

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Fans of the beloved A Dozen A Day series of piano exercise books from the Willis Music Company (reviewed here) may have noticed the recent arrival of a new title in the series. A Dozen A Day: Counting Rhythm supplements the popular piano books with a slim volume of “pre-practice rhythm exercises for all instruments”.

The book’s writer remains uncredited, but is not Edna Mae Burnam (1907-2007), who created the original classics. Nevertheless, this modest addition to the series respectfully aligns with the look and feel of her originals, as well as progressively matching the concepts, rhythmic values and meters of the first four Dozen A Day books.

I have begun trialling this material with a few elementary learners, and am finding it a distinctive and useful studio addition…

Favourite Melodies • Jazz Piano

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Eric Baumgartner’s name will be new to many here in the UK. I only came across his work when his excellent Jazz It Up! Christmas collection appeared for review in 2022. Though glancing at his resume, I remained unfamiliar with his other work, but hugely impressed with his seasonal offering.

Writing in my review here I concluded:

“Baumgartner’s writing is wonderfully pianistic, stylistically spot on, and whether played for background entertainment or performed as concert pieces, listeners will be as delighted to hear these arrangements as piano players are to practise and play them.”

It has been a pleasure playing though many of his other publications in the intervening years, in particular while researching and compiling my newly available Willis Student Recital Collection, and it was while exploring these that his latest Favourite Melodies for Jazz Piano Solo also appeared.