Christmas Around the Piano
Tony Gould offers reflective improvised solo-piano versions of familiar Christmas songs and carols. Played without hurry and coloured by personal memory, each tune is treated as living music rather than seasonal decoration alone.
Leigh Harline composer
Mel Tormé composer
Walter Kent composer
Felix Bernard composer
Franz Xaver Gruber composer
John Frederick Coots composer
Irving Berlin composer
Robert L. May composer
Ralph Blane composer
Ned Washington composer
Bob Wells composer
Kim Gannon composer
Ernst Anschütz composer
John Mason Neale composer
Richard B. Smith composer
Joseph Mohr composer
Haven Gillespie composer
Recorded at Move Records studio in 2015, the programme moves from standards such as Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Christmas Song and White Christmas to carols including O Tannenbaum, Silent Night and Good King Wenceslas.
Gould’s free, unhurried approach lets each melody breathe. The result is seasonal repertoire heard as living music, not decoration alone.
This collection of songs (here without words) are pieces normally associated with Christmas. But a good tune is a good tune, so for me they should be played / heard whenever one feels like it.
Most of the tunes I remember in some form or other when I was a kid, played/sung by mum or dad on our very dodgy wooden framed upright piano. They learned and played them ‘by ear’ as they say; not one piece of sheet music in our house! But a lot of music.
My ‘hopeless’ romanticism compels me never to hurry through music, consequently these improvised versions are deliberately reflective. In that sense they invoke memories of family and friends in early years, but a reminder also that music is always a living breathing art form. Hope you always enjoy some peaceful and musical times.
Artist
Tony Gould
Pianist and composer Tony Gould is one of Australia’s most respected musicians. His career has spanned jazz and other improvisatory forms as well as traditional and contemporary classical, and for decades he has stood at the forefront of music education in Australia.
Audio previews
Tracks
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Hugh Martin Ralph Blane 4:56
- When You Wish Upon a Star Leigh Harline Ned Washington 6:00
- The Christmas Song Mel Tormé Bob Wells 5:30
- I'll Be Home for Christmas Walter Kent Kim Gannon 6:44
- God Rest You Merry Gentlemen (Traditional) 3:45
- O Tannenbaum (Traditional) Ernst Anschütz 4:07
- Good King Wenceslas (Traditional) John Mason Neale 4:13
- Winter Wonderland Felix Bernard Richard B. Smith 3:10
- Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber Joseph Mohr 7:19
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town John Frederick Coots Haven Gillespie 3:57
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Traditional) 3:52
- White Christmas Irving Berlin 4:41
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Robert L. May 4:16
Performers
Composers
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin wrote the songs that lodge in the ear and stay there: White Christmas, Easter Parade, Blue Skies, Puttin' on the Ritz. Simple, direct, and built for the heart, they still travel wherever melody is welcome.
Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane (1914–1995) was an American composer and lyricist whose stage and film songs became lasting standards. His best-known work includes the seasonal classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
John Frederick Coots
J. Fred Coots composed the melody for Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, the 1934 song that became one of the biggest sellers in American popular music, along with hundreds of other songs and more than a dozen Broadway scores.
Haven Gillespie
Haven Gillespie (1888–1975) was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist, best known for the Christmas standard Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.
Franz Xaver Gruber
Franz Xaver Gruber wrote the melody of Silent Night, the Christmas carol first heard at midnight Mass in 1818. Later arrangements for organ and orchestra, with other carols and masses of his, remain in print and in Austrian church use.
Leigh Harline
Leigh Harline (1907–1969) was an American film composer and songwriter, best known for his Disney scores and the song When You Wish Upon a Star.
Walter Kent
Walter Kent (1911–1994) was an American songwriter whose wartime standards became lasting favourites. His best-known melodies include (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover and I'll Be Home for Christmas.
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin's score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis gave Judy Garland three lasting songs: The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, now a seasonal standard across the English-speaking world.
Joseph Mohr
Joseph Mohr (1792–1848) was an Austrian Catholic priest and writer who wrote the words to the Christmas carol Silent Night.
John Mason Neale
John Mason Neale's hymn translations and carols remain staples of English-speaking worship and Christmas repertoire, from Good King Wenceslas to O come, O come, Emmanuel and other medieval texts he brought into common use.
Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé wrote the music for The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), co-authored with Bob Wells, and more than two hundred other songs that move easily between jazz and the popular ballad.
Ned Washington
Ned Washington was a lyricist of enduring popular and film songs, among them the standards The Nearness of You and When You Wish Upon a Star.
Contributors
Cover painting
Janet Ayliffe
Where to listen
Christmas Around the Piano is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Christmas Around the Piano is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3409
- List price
- $15.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 62 minutes 30 seconds
- Venue
- Move Records Studio
- Credit
- Janet Ayliffe
- Release date
- 1 Dec 2015
- Musical work
copyright - © 2015 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2015 Move Records
- Categories
- Christmas, Keyboard
- Genres
- Christmas, Jazz & Improvised
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574340921
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