Hal Leonard – Page 6

Peaceful Pop Piano Solos

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Hal Leonard’s popular Peaceful Piano Solos series has been a deserved success over the last few years. I reviewed the original series here, while Peaceful Christmas Piano Solos was reviewed here, and the recent Peaceful Jazz Piano Solos reviewed here.

Peaceful Pop Piano Solos has just joined this growing series, and makes an obvious and very welcome addition to the existing range. The publishers introduce it thus:

“Relax at the piano with this exceptional collection of satisfying and profoundly beautiful pieces to play.”

Quite a claim, but the book is an easy recommendation for those who have enjoyed previous titles, and to teenage and adult players looking for decent late intermediate arrangements of well known hit songs.

Phillip Keveren Carol Anthology

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
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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….

Rachel Portman • Beyond the Screen

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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British composer Rachel Portman refers to the piano as her best friend, and tells us,

“I spend all day with it, most days. I think probably I’m pianistic in my soul.”

Her superb 2020 album Ask the River, the music publication of which I reviewed here, certainly seems to confirm this. At the time I wrote,

“These consummately composed pieces offer a beautiful and evocative sound world, at once accessible, but with plenty of personality… One of 2020’s best “new classical” releases, this is not simply a soundtrack in search of a movie. In a year which has seen many of us compelled to live less frenetic, more localised lives, I suspect that many will find Portman’s latest music gives serene expression to both our outer and inner worlds.”

Certainly it was a recording I listened to on repeat for months, and a music book which several students have loved, so I was excited to see a new piano album appear from Portman a couple of months ago, the music book of which is now available.

Brian Davidson’s Nursery Suite

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Earlier this year I reviewed Scottish composer Brian Davidson’s Music Box, published by Kevin Mayhew, and wrote that,

“This is truly worthwhile music, equally rewarding for player and listener alike, and an enjoyable addition to the developing pianist’s repertoire.”

You can read the full review here.

Now Davidson is back with another collection, again from Kevin Mayhew. His Nursery Suite delivers five original piano pieces aimed at late intermediate adult players, and its evocative reimagining of traditional nursery rhymes could have wide appeal.

Read on to find out more and listen to a couple of the pieces…

The Morricone Collection

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Italian maestro Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) is undoubtedly one of the great names in the firmament of film composers. Rising to global fame for his scores to the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns of the 1960’s, he went on to compose for more than 400 movies, including such classics as Cinema Paradiso, The Mission and The Untouchables.

In a year that has seen several new solo piano collections of film transcriptions, Hal Leonard have recently brought out The Morricone Collection, including tasteful arrangements of thirty of the composer’s best themes.

Being something of a fan of Morricone’s work, I am certainly pleased that this publication didn’t slip under my radar, because it is excellent…

Learn to Play Ragtime Piano

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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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!…

STAR WARS Piano Anthology

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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There has lately been an influx of new film anthologies for piano solo, recent publications including an excellent collection of music by Ennio Morricone, and the Harry Potter Piano Anthology which I reviewed here.

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…

Darren Fellows’ Tasty Tunes

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Darren Fellows hails from North Yorkshire and is now based in Cardiff, where he has found a welcome home in Welsh musical life. With a music catalogue that spans more than thirty years, he has written across a broad range of styles, from contemporary concert works, film music, children’s songs to educational jazz music.

Fellows’ latest publication for piano is the deliciously titled Tasty Tunes, a collection of ten jazzy pieces published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd, each sporting a food-based title. The book is suitable for intermediate players (around UK Grades 3-6), and I would suggest predominantly towards the upper end.

These are enjoyable and inventive pieces which could prove popular with players of all ages, so let’s tuck in…