An arrangement of the timeless classic song that combines the rich harmonic palette of the jazz idiom with some keyboard techniques of the 19th century romantic composers. Performance duration is about 3 minutes 45 seconds, and a performance can be viewed at youtube.com/c/rupertaustin/videos.

A six bar introduction hints at the bridge of the song before the first two verses are presented; the first with chordal writing and the second introducing some left hand arpeggios. The first appearance of the bridge stays close to the original. This is followed by two more verses where the right hand takes flight with figurations that at first outline the famous melody, before the roulades of notes lose sight of the melody and instead weave around the harmonic changes. At bar 48 the bridge reappears with the melody incorporated into a right hand figuration inspired by passages from a Chopin etude (Op. 25, No. 11). However, the much slower tempo makes this section far more approachable than Chopin's fearsome etude. At bar 56 an earlier version of the verse is repeated, which then leads to the close.

A flexible tempo should be used, with generous rubato in appropriate places. In particular, bar 41 should not sound rushed and tempo can be held back significantly here. Fingering suggestions are given in many places, but these will not suit all hands. The closest attention to fingering is required in bars 48-49 and 52-54. The dynamic markings should be viewed as a rough guide and the performer is encouraged to find their own interpretation.

An arrangement for solo piano of the much loved song from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. A performance can be viewed at youtube.com/c/rupertaustin/videos.

The song is first presented in a gentle jazz ballad style (bars 1-24). The tempo then picks up for a swing exploration, at a relaxed tempo, of the song in bars 25-74. During bars 70-74 the tempo slows and the mood changes in preparation for a very different dream-like presentation of the song, where the melody is mostly played by the left hand with the right hand providing a rippling accompaniment that gently splashes across a wide range of the keyboard. In this section the accent marks in the score do not indicate strong accents, but indicate where moderate emphasis is required to bring out the melody above the surrounding accompaniment. In bars 99-115 the arrangement returns to the style of the opening. From bar 116 a coda takes the opening three notes of the melody and wistfully explores them in a chromatic and richly harmonized descent towards a peaceful close.

Performance duration is about 6 minutes, but shorter versions of the arrangement are possible such that the swing section or the dream section (or both) can be omitted, with directions for this marked in the score in bars 25 and 74.

Fingering suggestions are provided in many places, but these will not suit all hands and alternative effective fingerings are possible.

ISBN 9780787771522.

Gary Norian takes us on a jazz-influenced tour of the seasons, with hymns appropriate for all times of the year. His creative approach to melody and inventive, tasteful harmonies will have you returning to these pieces again and again for your own enjoyment, as well as that of your congregation.

ISBN 9781610652414. This book will appeal to pianists who want to learn to improvise in many of the styles current today including blues, rock, Latin-American, country, New Age, World Music, etc. The non-jazz improvisation series is a concept that germinated in Dick Weissman's mind while he was attending music school. He wrote a 15-piece arrangement of the old square dance tune, Cripple Creek, and wanted the trombone to take a solo as part of the arrangement. When the trombonist kept playing a bebop solo that was totally unsuitable for the chart, Dick realized that - in addition to the many musicians who do not improvise - there are even jazz musicians who don't know how to improvise outside the limits of their own stylistic backgrounds. The non-jazz improvisation series mostly includes new original tunes that are intended to show how to improvise in many musical styles, including:* Blues* Country* American folk* Latin-American* World music including South American, Eastern European and Asian * Odd meters (playing in a variety of time signatures* New Age* Classical * Folk-RockIn short, the books are an encyclopedia of virtually every musical style, excluding jazz. Includes access to online audio.