Music from the official Celeste Piano Collections, composed by Lena Raine, arranged and performed by Trevor Alan Gomes, and engraved by David Peacock.

Digital album available on bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and elsewhere. Limited edition CDs and vinyl available. Also available as a physical book!

Capturing the echoed, persistent sound of the arpeggios in this tune was a particular joy. I find that the result is very satisfying and comfortable to play; the secret is taking your time and never letting the tempo feel too rushed, allowing the notes of each arpeggio to unfurl organically. The arrival of the groovier, backbeat-driven section keeps that sort of calm, collected feeling, even as the intensity is rising. Then the final section creates a false sense of security before launching into the ferocious opening of Awake!

Part of what makes the music of Celeste compelling is the high energy that so many of the tracks have. Lena is particularly skilled in creating rhythmically-saturated, high octane grooves. In this particular arrangement, the way I chose to capture that was through constant 16ths in the right hand, almost like a Chopin etude or Hanon exercise might have. While the bulk of this track is certain to keep you ?awake,? the ending brings the themes to a melancholy conclusion.

Music from the official Celeste Piano Collections, composed by Lena Raine, arranged and performed by Trevor Alan Gomes, and engraved by David Peacock.

Digital album available on bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and elsewhere. Limited edition CDs and vinyl available. Also available as a physical book!

In the game itself, Prologue perfectly invites us into the world of Celeste beginning with its stark, plaintive and simple opening figure and culminating in the brilliant flourishes of the ending, setting the stage for what?s to come. I played around with the manual echo effect, letting the echoed notes freely ?bounce? off of the initial one. Quite fun!

Music from the official Celeste Piano Collections, composed by Lena Raine, arranged and performed by Trevor Alan Gomes, and engraved by David Peacock.

Digital album available on bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and elsewhere. Limited edition CDs and vinyl available. Also available as a physical book!

The final piece of the soundtrack was the track that struck me the most when first listening to the Celeste OST. It is poignant, thoughtful, and harmonically dense. I sought to honor that sort of thoughtful nature with an original section toward the middle with mixed meter resembling the music of Debussy. Dig in and really take your time experiencing the chords of this one?its harmony is particularly unique and rewarding.

I wanted to convey conflicting feelings to illustrate Toriel?s perspective and need to protect the human from what exists outside. There are moments when a heartbeat rhythmic pulse can be heard, which gets faster and faster until it stops...

Song List: Father, I Adore You (Bock) Give Thanks (Bock) Glorify Thy Name (Bock) He Is Exalted (Bock) His Name Is Wonderful (Bock) How Majestic Is Your Name (Bock) I Love You, Lord (Bock) Majesty (Bock) O How He Loves You and Me (Bock) Our God Reigns (Bock) Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God (Bock) Sing Hallelujah to the Lord (Bock) Thou Art Worthy (Bock) We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise (Bock) We Will Glorify (Bock)

Song List: Almighty Be Ye Glad For the Glory Lamb Of Glory Praise You, I Will Praise You! Proclaim The Glory Of The Lord Song For The Nations Soon And Very Soon The Beauty of Holiness There Is No Other Name We Bring The Sacrifice Of Praise You Are My Hiding Place

Song List: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God Break Thou The Bread Of Life Come, Thou Almighty King Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken Good Christian Men, Rejoice In Heav'n Above Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring Jesu, Priceless Treasure Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming My Faith Looks Up To Thee My Heart is Filled with Longing (O Sacred Head, Now Wounded) O God, Our Help In Ages Past O God, Thou Faithful God Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Wake, Awake for Night Is Flying!

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

Christmas Peace 2 is a collection of holiday solos for the Intermediate pianist. Tastefully done in a contemporary classical style, these pieces will enhance your Christmas season at church, Recital, gigs, and any holiday setting where beautiful music is desired. Contains: Carol of the Bells; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear; Angels We Have Heard on High; How Great Our Joy; Child in the Manger; Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming; Joy to the World; Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence; The Birthday of a King; God So Loved the World; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; Coventry Carol; I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Connect with Pam Turner at www.pamturnerpiano.com and sign up to be notified of new releases. You might also enjoy the original Christmas Peace songbook (item number 462013).