Peteris Vasks occupies a special position in the circle of Baltic composers. He is not only the most significant and popular composer ever to come out of Latvia. he always speaks to his listeners with a fervent intensity that seems to point to something higher. This higher aspect is without a doubt something that stands above the world of humanity but is also present within each person: divine nature.

"I am deeply rooted in nature, in the nature of the North. It influences all of my music. The nature we know is also quite various. we have four very distinct seasons. The winter is very long, the summer very short and therefore all the more beautiful and longed for. The seasons in between are quite dramatic."

The first of Peteris Vasks's Seasons pieces was not written with the intention of forming a complete cycle. For his friend, Talivaldis Deksnis, he composed in 1980 Balta ainava - White Landscape (Winter), in 1981 Rudens muzika - Autumn Music, and in 1995 the Pavasara muzika - Spring Music. In 2008, Zala ainava - Green Landscape (Summer) came into being, the piece which completed the cycle.

In 2009, as a kind of "encore", Vasks wrote Vasaras vakara muzika - Music for a Summer Evening based on old sketches. this, of all the pieces, is the one most anchored in tradition. Only the two newest pieces - both of which have to do with summer - have a fixed metrical structure. The three earlier works are metrically free, notated without bar lines, which gives them an improvisatory character.

Vasks says of the individual pieces in the cycle: "In Balta ainava everything is white. A new year begins. It is a quiet meditation, a new beginning, with only two themes.

Pavasara muzika. Quasi una Sonata - the most demanding piece in this cycle - is intense, an impressive development. Spring comes slowly, with much drama. It is like a battle, until it is simply there. This multi-faceted piece, with its bird songs, lives from conflicts and dramatic intensification and ends in ecstatic rapture. Zala ainava is based on two themes. Our summer is very brief and offers a respite after the battles. And it is so beautiful! The music reflects joy and contentment. The first theme brings a kind of pure energy. the second is more devoted to tone painting. At the end, a five-note quotation from a well-known Latvian folksong about a drunkard is heard.

Rudens muzika begins pianissimo on a quiet September day, in a peaceful, sunny atmosphere. Now the autumn storms sweep over the land. a gentle sadness settles on the people and on nature, which surrenders its splendor. After a last great storm, the snow comes again as a symbol of purified conclusion and a new beginning. Vasaras vakara muzika takes place at the quiet end of a summer day. The sun sets. Slowness. Memories of previous experiences surface. With the memories' appearance comes an increase in intensity. Towards the end, a kind of folksong is heard: 'We have survived the time of tyranny and retained our identity'. The ending is quiet, everything is asleep."

Christoph Schluren

Translation: John Patrick Thomas and W. Richard Rieves

What Child Is This? is a dynamic collection of seven familiar Christmas carols creatively arranged for solo piano by Michael Ware. Express the joy of the season with bursts of rhythmic energy and intimate, quiet moments. These arrangements are sure to please in a worship or concert setting.

Collection includes:

Christmas Angel Medley (Angels We Have Heard on High with Hark! the Herald Angels Sing)

What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)

On Christmas Day in the Morning (I Saw Three Ships with Good Christian Men, Rejoice)

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Still, Still, Still

Sing We Now of Christmas

Silent Night



YouTube video includes full recordings of all seven carols as performed by the arranger.

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 (No�l 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).

This book is a collection of Christmas carols and holiday songs in soft, nostalgic, and reflective styles for those quiet moments of the season and based on Dr. Stevens' album "Quiet Christmas Piano" which will soon be available on on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Amazon, and other streaming outlets. All of the songs are also available on SMP as individual selections.

Titles include: Sing We Now of Christmas, Deck the Halls, O Christmas Tree, Angels from the Realms of Glory, Angels We Have Heard on High, Silent Night, Joy to the World, Infant Holy Infant Lowly, Mary?s Lullaby, O Come Little Children with Jesus Loves Me, In the Bleak Midwinter, Toyland, What Child Is This, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and Away in a Manger.

The YouTube video features ?O Come Little Children with Jesus Loves Me,? while the MP3 contains the first song, ?Sing We Now of Christmas.?

James Michael Stevens is prolific composer residing in Nashville, TN and serves as the Music Department Chairman of Welch College.

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

For piano solo with chords.
Suitable for Christmas Street Carol Singing or Christmas concert performance.
Key: C major
Duration: 2'34
Songs including:
It Came upon the Midnight Clear,
Angels We Have Heard On High,
O Come All Ye Faithful,
Joy to the World,

Song List: Angels, We Have Heard On High Away In A Manger Deck the Halls God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Good King Wenceslas Go, Tell It on the Mountains Hark! The Herald Angels Sing It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Jingle Bells Joy To The World Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming Now Is Born The Divine Christ Child O Christmas Tree O Come,, All Ye Faithful O Come, O Come, Emmanuel O Little Town of Bethlehem O Holy Night Sheep And Shepherd Medley Silent Night First Noel, The There's A Song In The Air We Three Kings We Wish You a Merry Christmas What Child Is This While By The Sheep While The Shepherd's Watch Thier Flocks By Night