Faye LópezAn Impressionistic Christmas: 10 Arrangements Inspired by Impressionist Compositions (Sacred Performer Collections)

Normally I would take a great deal of time to savor new music, before writing an evaluation. Not only would I practice it for a number of weeks, but use it at church before writing about it, in order to estimate our people's responsiveness to what they are hearing. I am making an exception in the case of the book, first because it is Christmas music and cannot be played at church for some months, not giving enough time for other church musicians who might wish to select it for the 2017 holiday season. Second, having just received the book today, and having played through most of the individual pieces immediately, I feel unusually enthusiastic.I have no other music arranged by Faye López. I heard of her on a sample CD sent out by Lorenz and Lillenas publishers. I must confess, I had discarded a number of 2016 and 2017 catalogs, but brought the sample CD's enclosed in each one to my car player, listening sporadically as the narrator would announce a composer/arranger and then play samples of a number of works by each. Since I am not a music major, but one of those church organists/pianists who studied little yet played for congregations for many decades, I'm always uncertain what books will actually prove usable, within the limitations of my ability, and feel most comfortable at the upper-intermediate level. I feel a huge high when I can use something at the advanced level, but doing so without lots of practice is usually dependent upon the style of the arranger. For example, I can almost always play music by Tom Fettke, perhaps my favorite Evangelical piano arranger. I also do well with most of the Alfred sacred music series. For organ, Lani Smith is probably my favorite arranger. Faye López was totally new to me, but the lilting, winsome nature of what I heard on that sample CD led me to look for her music on Amazon, and I was delighted to see this book as one of the Alfred Sacred performer series. I will most likely look for more of her work in the future.All this being said, I am thoroughly delighted with the book from a number of perspectives. First, the music is both worshipful and playable. I can read through it at first glance, and know with a little polishing almost every piece in this generously-sized compilation will be of use at our Sunday evening services during Advent. Second, the music flows; it will be enjoyable to play, inspiring to both the musician and the congregation. Finally, though there are challenging key changes and sufficient variations to make it interesting, most of the pieces do not contain pitfalls of small, tricky sections that can discourage a non-professional pianist. It irks me especially when I get to the very last few measures of something beautiful, only to find them unplayable, forcing me either to adapt the ending, or to discard the piece entirely. Faye López's music seems consistently usable, with endings that are satisfying, but not unduly challenging. I am excited at the prospect of practicing this new Christmas music, a worship experience in itself, then using it to bring people Christmas joy, drawing them closer to the Lord.

Beautiful arrangements.

I bought this on request of my son who is an avid pianist. He says he loves the unique arrangements, and I agree! The songs are recognizable but new. Very happy with this purchase!

The composer so artfully combines the Christmas carol with a feel of the impressionistic era. I love the entire series, as this composer gets a flavor of the original work. I would highly recommend the series.

the arangments are great, not too easy and reachable for most late entermediate players plue great music sellections

Normally I would take a great deal of time to savor new music, before writing an evaluation. Not only would I practice it for a number of weeks, but use it at church before writing about it, in order to estimate our people's responsiveness to what they are hearing. I am making an exception in the case of the book, first because it is Christmas music and cannot be played at church for some months, not giving enough time for other church musicians who might wish to select it for the 2017 holiday season. Second, having just received the book today, and having played through most of the individual pieces immediately, I feel unusually enthusiastic.I have no other music arranged by Faye López. I heard of her on a sample CD sent out by Lorenz and Lillenas publishers. I must confess, I had discarded a number of 2016 and 2017 catalogs, but brought the sample CD's enclosed in each one to my car player, listening sporadically as the narrator would announce a composer/arranger and then play samples of a number of works by each. Since I am not a music major, but one of those church organists/pianists who studied little yet played for congregations for many decades, I'm always uncertain what books will actually prove usable, within the limitations of my ability, and feel most comfortable at the upper-intermediate level. I feel a huge high when I can use something at the advanced level, but doing so without lots of practice is usually dependent upon the style of the arranger. For example, I can almost always play music by Tom Fettke, perhaps my favorite Evangelical piano arranger. I also do well with most of the Alfred sacred music series. For organ, Lani Smith is probably my favorite arranger. Faye López was totally new to me, but the lilting, winsome nature of what I heard on that sample CD led me to look for her music on Amazon, and I was delighted to see this book as one of the Alfred Sacred performer series. I will most likely look for more of her work in the future.All this being said, I am thoroughly delighted with the book from a number of perspectives. First, the music is both worshipful and playable. I can read through it at first glance, and know with a little polishing almost every piece in this generously-sized compilation will be of use at our Sunday evening services during Advent. Second, the music flows; it will be enjoyable to play, inspiring to both the musician and the congregation. Finally, though there are challenging key changes and sufficient variations to make it interesting, most of the pieces do not contain pitfalls of small, tricky sections that can discourage a non-professional pianist. It irks me especially when I get to the very last few measures of something beautiful, only to find them unplayable, forcing me either to adapt the ending, or to discard the piece entirely. Faye López's music seems consistently usable, with endings that are satisfying, but not unduly challenging. I am excited at the prospect of practicing this new Christmas music, a worship experience in itself, then using it to bring people Christmas joy, drawing them closer to the Lord.