Classical Christmas Piano Music

November 5, 2013 Jennifer Boster

‘Tis the season for Christmas music!

Piano students in studios all over are getting out their favorite seasonal carols and songs to play. Over the next several weeks, piano teachers will hear rendition after rendition of “Jingle Bells,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (with all 12 verses!). I love this time of year, I love playing Christmas music, and I love that added excitement and motivation that comes to many students when they play these wonderful songs that are familiar to them and that they love.

I’ve been thinking though. As pianists we have such a rich and wonderful collection of great literature to play and perform. I love the traditional Christmas carols just as much as the next person (if not more!). But how cool would it be to hold a Christmas recital (with your more advanced students in your studio) consisting not of arrangement after arrangement of our favorite popular carols and Christmas songs of today, but of challenging, beautiful and virtuosic classical pieces that reference the Christmas season! I have been on the hunt for classical Christmas pieces lately and am so excited about all of the amazing pieces I have discovered! I hope you can use some of these in your studio or even just in your own playing this Christmas season. Merry Christmas! Now get practicing!

Busoni – Elegy No. 4 – Turandots Frauengemach, Intermezzo

This neat piece is based on Greensleeves. I am in love with it! It combines a traditional Christmas tune with some great virtuosic techniques to make for an awesome classical Christmas recital piece for an advanced pianist.

Sheet music is found in this book of Busoni piano works
, or online in the Petrucci Music Library. Here is John Ogdon performing the piece.

Percy Grainger – Sussex Mummer’s Carol for solo piano
I was unfamiliar with this song before finding this arrangement, but what a gorgeous piece! The harmonies are lovely. This would be a unique and gorgeous piece for a student to perform at Christmastime.

Sheet music found here or in this book of classical piano Christmas music. Take a listen!

Max Reger – Silent Night
A nice classical arrangement of the traditional Christmas carol. Find the sheet music here or in this book of classical piano Christmas music
.

Busoni – Nuit de Noel (Christmas Night), BV 251

This fascinating piano sketch includes some quite modern harmonies, evoking a darker holiday mood. The darkness is broken with the sounds of Christmas bells throughout and the familiar Christmas carol O Sanctissima.

Sheet music may be found on jwpepper.com or in the Petrucci Music Library. Listen to this great piece!

Busoni – Sonatina In diem nativitatis Christi MCMXVII BV 274
Like his Nuit de Noel, Busoni’s 4th Sonatina is also quite modern in harmony and also evokes bells. Composed right before Christmas in 1917, it is a gorgeous work – but definitely not your typical holiday piece! This would be a unique and different choice for an advanced pianist’s holiday recital :)Sheet music can be found in the same book as the Elegy listed above
, or online here.

Franck – Christmas Carol from Anjou

Simple and lovely and light, this little piece is beautiful.

Sheet music found here.

Liszt – Weihenachtsbaum (Christmas Tree)
Who knew that Liszt wrote a twelve-movement piece entitled “Christmas Tree?” Not I! This is a fun little discovery. Movement 3, The Shepherds at the Manger, is a light and beautiful transcription of In dulce jubilo.

Movement 4 is a gorgeous and rousing version of Adeste Fidelis (O Come, All Ye Faithful). I am loving this!

Sheet music can be found here.

Rebikov – The Christmas Tree, Op. 21
A simple, gorgeous minor waltz.

Sheet music can be found here.

Schubert-Liszt – Ave Maria

Liszt’s transcription of Schubert’s Ave Maria is gorgeous and looks very challenging! This would be so amazing at a Christmas recital.In searching for the sheet music, I did find it in this Dover collection
of Schubert-Liszt transcriptions, however it does not look like the best edition. Anyone know a better edition?

This is so beautiful! Take a listen.

Bach/Myra Hess – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
This transcription of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by Myra Hess is beyond beautiful. I remember hearing Leon Fleisher play this at a recital and it was absolutely breathtaking.

This piece is so fitting for this wonderful holiday season when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. It sets an amazing tone for a Christmas recital or worship service, or just for playing to bring the spirit of this holiday into your home! I think I could listen to this piece all day long. I think I need to buy this music ASAP. 🙂

Purchase sheet music on Amazon.com

Bach/Egon Petri – Sheep May Safely Graze
At the same recital mentioned above, Leon Fleisher also played this transcription of Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze and I was in love. I played this piece at my senior recital in college. While not as synonymous with the Christmas season as Jesu, this piece to me is wonderful for the holidays. Like Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring it sets a warm and peaceful tone for the season.

Purchase sheet music on Amazon.com

Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker
What is Christmastime without Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker? This music, traditional to the Christmas season, is fun to play (as a solo or a fun and challenging piano duet) and audiences at your Christmas recitals will love it!

The Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a (which includes 8 selections from the Nutcracker ballet), arranged for solo piano by Tchaikovsky, is available on Amazon.com
, as is the Langer arrangement for piano duet
. You can also get the complete ballet for solo piano
arranged by Sergey Taneyev and revised by the composer himself.

Several different arrangements of The Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a as well as the complete ballet are all available online here and here.

Classical Piano Music for the Christmas Season
Alfred has available a neat collection of classical Christmas piano music, edited by Maurice Hinson. It includes several selections, including pieces by Liszt, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and more. A few of the pieces that I have mentioned in this post are included in this collection! I am excited to add this book to my own music library! There are several places you can purchase this book online:
Purchase on Amazon.com
Purchase on jwpepper.com
Purchase on sheetmusicplus.com

Looking for more classical piano pieces for a Christmas or winter recital? Why not try some of these winter-related pieces!

Frank Bridge – Winter Pastoral (listen) (sheet music)
Chopin – Etude Op. 25 No. 11 (Winter Wind Etude) (Sheet music)
Debussy – Des pas sur la neige (Footprints in the Snow) from Preludes, Book 1
Debussy – Children’s Corner No. 4 The Snow is Dancing (listen) (Sheet music)
Dohnanyi – Winterreigen (Winter Round Dances) Op. 13 (listen to No. 10) (Sheet music)
Charles Griffes – A Winter Landscape
Liszt Transcendental Etude No. 12 Chasse-Neige (or “Snow Storm”) (listen) (sheet music)
Prokofiev – Winter Fairy from Cinderella

What are some of your favorite classical piano pieces related to the Christmas season?

Group Teaching: Recitals & Summer Classes

January 17, 2011 Jennifer Boster

2 Comments

Featured Posts, Uncategorized

The final post of the Group Teaching series written by guest contributor Marissa Erekson

Recitals

I held two recitals each year – one before Thanksgiving and one in the early Spring. My students also participated in the Piano Festival in March.

As I had several students, I would schedule several short recitals within the time frame at the recital hall. This gave them a larger performance audience in comparison to the group at the weekly lessons (which often included parents and siblings when I scheduled them to perform at the end of the lessons), but not so large that they were stressed or bored with playing in front of super large audiences or in long recitals.

In the fall recital, group students typically played songs from the lesson and supplemental books that they had been working on already in lessons. This included playing the songs as solos or as “monster” duets where they all simply played the same thing at the same time. In the Spring Recital the students had 2 solos and one ensemble with their group class in which there were 2 or 4 different parts (depending on if it was a 1-piano-duet on 2 pianos or an actual quartet). The Spring Recital allowed the students the opportunity to play two additional solos in front of a judge and others of compatible levels who studied with other teachers. They played one Classical piece and one buy a living American composer.

Summer Classes

Group Classes for Continuing Students
During the summer I offered group classes in specific musical areas (theory, composition, pop chords, history, jazz, ensemble, etc) in which students would come to class a few times the same week. This worked best in regard to working around vacation schedules. This created opportunities for students to expand their knowledge and skills in a specific area. I worked to include each of these areas in lessons during the school year, but time was always short and there were so many things to cover already. The students loved having the extra time to focus just on these specific skills.

I also had students who continued private lessons.

Group Camps for Beginner Students
I held beginner group piano camps during the summer. The camps lasted for 50 minutes a day for 5 days. I found that it greatly aided the students to have concentrated time with me for one week. We were able to cover many of the basics of piano education. There are many concepts that take a lot of lesson time, but don’t necessarily take a lot of practice time during the week in the beginning. Because of this, we were able to progress through the fundamentals quickly. We would typically cover in the one-week what would have been covered in the first couple of weeks of regular lessons. I used the lesson book that they would be using if they
continued during the school year.

This also gave both the parents and myself the opportunity to see if their kids were ready to begin lessons. I had a mix of over eager parents whose kids weren’t ready but typically came back a year later, and parents whose kids progressed more quickly then they imagined and enrolled for that school year. Parents liked to have the opportunity to expose their kids to music in a concentrated setting to see if their kids were interested and ready to sign up for regular lessons. Many of my students came from families where they did not have a lot of exposure to classical music or musical training on any instrument.

Marissa – thank you, thank you for sharing your thorough and organized approach to teaching group lessons! I am sure that many of us will benefit from your wonderful suggestions.

Performing at our recitals

June 27, 2010 Jennifer Boster

1 Comment

Uncategorized

I have really enjoyed Jenny’s posts this week about performing for your students and about fitting in practice time for yourself. This is something I’ve thought about a lot. It is a bit of a downer when I am reminded of how much better I was when I was doing my piano degree than I am now. Depressing! There is no way I can continue to practice 4-5 hours a day now that I am the primary caregiver for two small children, in addition to teaching and other adult responsibilities. BUT, that doesn’t mean that I have to stop practicing altogether! Without a performance to prepare for, it is easy for me to put off practicing, because there is always something else that needs to be done. That is one of the (admittedly more selfish) reasons that I perform at all of my studio recitals. An upcoming performance in front of all of my students and their parents is more than enough motivation for me to make sure that my practicing gets done. And really, anyone can practice, no matter how busy they are, if they make it a priority. (Isn’t this what we are preaching to our students?) My favorite time to practice is at night after my girls are in bed, but I try to get little snatches done during the day – often just 10 minutes at a time. I remember once I was babysitting a friend’s kids along with my own and I got 45 minutes of practicing in because the kids were having such a great time dancing and running around to the music. (It was Prokofiev’s Suggestion Diabolique, and its frantic sound and pace made those kids pretty wild!) Anyway, we musicians are pretty good at time management – a vital skill we had to acquire to fit in all the practicing we did in college – and with enough creativity and motivation, we can continue to develop our musicianship in adulthood.

As far as what to play at my studio recitals, I like to learn something new each time. There are plenty of pieces that I’ve always wanted to play, and it has been a fun challenge to choose a piece, listen to a variety of recordings, decide how I want it to sound, and teach it to myself. (I would, however, like to take piano lessons again someday.)

There are so many reasons to perform for our students! One is to expose them to a variety of classical repertoire that is fun to listen to, thereby (hopefully) generating more interest in different types of classical music. We can show them that it can be exciting to listen to and fun to perform! Another reason for performing is to give ourselves a little more authority when we tell our students what they need to do. 🙂 Students have a lot more respect for a teacher who clearly knows what they’re talking about, and what better way to demonstrate that than by showing them good piano habits in action? Performing is a good way to advertise our “product” not only to our students, but to the parents as well, who are paying us and should know what kind of a pianist their child’s teacher is.

One concern that may keep some teachers from performing at their recitals is that they will seem like they are trying to upstage their students. I have worried about this a little, but I don’t think it has to be an issue. You do not have to make yourself the focal point of the recital – make it clear that the recital is about the students. I’ve found that my students and their parents look forward to and appreciate hearing me play, which is encouraging, but I make an effort to focus on their child’s performance when talking to them after the recital. After all, that is what they really want to hear about anyway. When I was a piano student, hearing my teachers play was a real treat, and I had much more respect for the teachers who performed than for those who didn’t. My piano professor in college is a prolific performer – search for “Scott Holden, piano” on YouTube – and he encouraged us to perform at every opportunity when we became teachers. I am trying to follow his advice, and only good things have come from it.

ten ways to use your continued piano study to influence your studio

June 25, 2010 Jennifer Boster

Off

Uncategorized

Play at your students’ recitals – not only is it a great excuse for you to perform, but it’s a wonderful way to show your students and their parents that you know what you’re doing and that you practice just like they do, and to introduce them to some great repertoire.

Perform at a group class or performance/master class – a fun, informal opportunity to play for your students, giving them an opportunity to hear you play

Give new students a recording of your playing – I like to do this at interviews; I give them a copy of my resume and a CD recording. Of course you could also just perform for them!

Perform in some local ensembles or as an accompanist – I believe that participation in ensemble/accompanying work is extremely important in becoming a good, well-rounded musician. I have found that through accompanying I have learned so much about music-making, teaching, learning, listening, and performance, and I think that has helped in my own teaching. Plus, when you are involved in performances, you can always invite your students to attend!

Accompany your students in duets, concertos, etc. – Fun fun. Another great excuse to perform! Someday I will have two pianos and cannot wait for all the fun two-piano pieces that can be played….

Sight read through (or do a more in-depth study of) intermediate/teaching repertoire – then, of course, you will be much more familiar with it, be better able to choose good repertoire for each student, and will be able to teach it more effectively!

Be involved in studio practicing competitions! – ever think of this? I have never done this but think it could be super fun! You could even do something fun like students getting a prize if they practice more than the teacher – holy motivation! If that doesn’t get you practicing, I don’t know what would. And it might just motivate your students quite a bit, as well.

Learn or re-learn more advanced repertoire being studied by your students – that way you will be able to be so much more aware of the techniques needed and the difficult passages coming up, and will be able to teach the piece so much more effectively. You will also be able to demonstrate passages and techniques much more easily 🙂

Perform a solo recital for students or prospective students – could be a great way to get new students, and something wonderful to work towards in your own practicing!

Take piano lessons again! – I would love to do this sometime. What a wonderful way to improve not only your performance skills, but your teaching skills! Each teacher I have had has taught me so many things that I have been able to incorporate into my own teaching – what a great way to get some fresh ideas and perspective.