Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story's "The Gift", George Winston's "December", early Windham Hill solo piano artists, and "A Winter's Solstice" compilations.


Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Contents:
1. Bring A Torch (Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella)
2. Children Go Where I Send Thee / The Holly & The Ivy
3. Star Of Wonder (We Three Kings of Orient Are)
4. Silent (Silent Night, Holy Night)
5. Midnight (It Came Upon the Midnight Clear)
6. What Child Is This?
7. Greensleeves (homage to Liz Story)
8. Three Ships (I Saw Three Ships, Come Sailing In)
9. The Coventry Carol (Lully, Lulla, Lullay)
10. Sing We Now Of Christmas (Noël Nouvelet)
11. Carol Of The Bells

Album & Songbook review by: Kathy Parsons (MainlyPiano.com):

I have discovered a real wealth of great solo piano Christmas CDs this year! Isadar?s In Search For the Meaning of Christmas definitely falls into this category! Thoughtful, introspective, and a bit moody, Isadar?s arrangements are true to the carols (with some small melody changes in ?Bring a Torch? and ?Carol of the Bells? that bother me just a little) and still seem very personal. ?Bring a Torch?, ?The Holly and the Ivy?, and ?I Saw Three Ships? are given a lighthearted, joyful treatment. ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)?, ?What Child Is This??, ?The Coventry Carol?, and ?Sing We Now of Christmas? are all minor, somber, reverent pieces, and all four are given loving arrangements that keep the dark, mysterious nature of the songs and reflect Isadar?s own sensibilities. ?Carol of the Bells? and Isadar's take on Liz Story?s arrangement of ?Greensleeves? are energetic without losing all abandon. ?Silent Night? and ?It Came Upon a Midnight Clear? present us with a very cold, deep solitude - both feel like late night with moonlight reflecting off the snow. Both are moody, but very beautifully so. George Winston?s ?December? is one of my all-time favorite holiday albums, and I feel In Search For the Meaning of Christmas holds up exceptionally well next to it. This is an excellent collection of Christmas music, and I highly recommend it!

In Search For the Meaning of Christmas is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 solo piano release by the same name. Meticulously transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of New York Music Publishing, the music is faithful to the recording in every way (except for the pianist - YOU!). The scores are clear, concise, and easy to read, and also include chord indications for improvisation or the use of instruments other than or in addition to the piano. Isadar?s arrangements cover a whole range of emotions, from very dark and somber to joyful and buoyant. All of the pieces from the CD are here, including Isadar?s homage to Liz Story and her beautiful version of ?Greensleeves.? My personal favorites of the eleven songs in this book are the bright and cheerful ?Bring A Torch,? ?What Child Is This??, ?Greensleeves,? the darkly gorgeous ?The Coventry Carol,? and ?Sing We Now of Christmas.? Other titles that I really like are ?Children Go Where I Send Thee/The Holly and the Ivy,? ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)," ?Carol of the Bells,? and the effervescent ?Three Ships.? ?Silent? (Silent Night) and ?Midnight? (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear) are a bit too dark for my own holiday tastes, but are interesting and very personal arrangements. This book will make a great addition to your holiday sheet music collection and is available from isadar.com and amazon.com.

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com

As with Gladness Men of Old;Auld Lang Syne; Bright and Joyful is the Morn;Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning; Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella; Calm on the Listening Ear;Christ Was Born on Christmas Day;Christians, Awake;Cold is the Morning;Deck the Halls;Entre le Boeuf et L? Ane Gris;To Us a Child of Hope is Born;From Heaven Above to Earth I Come;From the Eastern Mountains;God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen;Good Christian Men, Rejoice;Good King Wenceslas;Hark! The Herald Angels Sing;Here We Come A-Caroling;How Brightly Shines the Morning Star; I am so Glad Each Christmas Eve; I Saw Three Ships;In Dulci Jubilo;Infant Holy, Infant Lowly; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear;Jingle Bells; Jolly Old St. Nicholas; Kling, Glockchen; Lo, How a Rose Ever Blooming;Noel Nouvelet;O, Little Town of Bethlehem;Pat-a-Pan; The First Noel;The Holly and the Ivy; We Wish You a Merry Christmas;All Through the Night;Away in a Manger; Birthday of a King; Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light ;Gaudete;Gesu Bambino;Go, Tell it on the Mountain;Greensleeves;I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day; In the Bleak Midwinter;O, Christmas Tree;O, Come Little Children; O Thou Joyful Day;Once in Royal David's City;Shout the Glad Tidings;Sing a Song of Bethlehem;Snow Lay on the Ground;Star of the East;Still, Still, Still;The Coventry Carol;The Happy Christmas Comes Once More;There's a Song in the Air;Thy Little Ones, Dear Lord, Are We;Twelve Days of Christmas;What Child Is This?;A Great and Mighty Wonder;All My Heart This Night Rejoices;Angels from the Realm of Glory;Angels We Have Heard on High;Carol of the Bells;Ding Dong Merrily on High;Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring;Joy to the World;O Come, O Come, Emmanuel;O Holy Night ;Maria Wiegenlied;Silent Night;The Friendly Beasts;The Boar's Head Carol;Up on the Housetop;Wake, Awake, for the Night is Flying;Watchman, Tell Us of the Night ;We Three Kings of Orient Are;Wexford Carol;While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks