Once again Denes Agay has put together in The Joy of Christmas an inspiring collection of holiday piano music that can be played, sung or used as accompaniment for dances.

As an intermediate player I can sight-read most of the selections. I have used this collection of carols and music with children while teaching dance, and with my own family and holiday gatherings.

One of the pieces that inspires me most is the original version of "Silent Night" by Franz Gruber. The melodic 6/8 time just rolls along.

In addition to 6/8, there are songs and carols in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time. This is a great opportunity to clap along to the different rhythms - a kinesthetic approach to learning about pauses in spoken language, and for older kids the written language. Singing more than one verse is even a math lesson in sequencing - remembering which verse comes next. For a child having difficulty learning academics - song, music and dance are fun opportunities to teach these math and language concepts.

Extra verses of many selections are written out following the song or carol - very handy for learning more than the traditionally well known first verse.

I'm not going to list every piece in this handy music book, but here are some of the selections: Angels We Have Heard On High; Away In A Manger; Christ Was Born On Christmas Day; Christmas Is Coming Three-Voice Round; Come All Ye Shepherds; Deck The Halls; The First Noel; Fum, Fum, Fum; Go Tell It On The Mountain; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; The Holly And The Ivy; I Saw Three Ships; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear; Jingle Bells; Jolly Old Saint Nicholas; Masters In This Hall; O Christmas Tree; O Come All Ye Faithful; O Holy Night; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; O Tannenbaum; Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow; Silent Night; The Twelve Days Of Christmas; Up On The Housetop; We Three Kings Of Orient Are: We Wish You A Merry Christmas; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.

I highly recommend this "joyful" book of holiday piano music for playing, singing and dancing!

Details - 80 pages by Yorktown Press (December, 1972); 11.9 x 9.1 inches; ISBN: 0825680018

Available from Amazon.com

The Joy of Christmas - Piano Music

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