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There's been talk that for years, George Winston has put the kibosh on anyone who wanted to publish his work in sheet music form.

Apparently, he's had a change of heart, because a music book with 20 of his piano pieces is finally available!

The book is entitled "George Winston: Piano Solos." The cover goes on to say that the pieces within are "exact transcriptions from the recordings," authorized by George Winston.

It is published by Hal Lenoard, ISBN-10 1-4234-1709-7 or ISBN-13 978-1-4234-1709-5. Suggested retail price is $17.95.

The music looks to be mostly Grade 4 and above. (I think if you can tackle "Cristofori's Dream," you can begin working on stuff in this book.) Surprisingly, some very difficult-sounding pieces (such as his rendition of the "Carol of the Bells") don't look so complex on the page. As always, the devil is in the details - playing up to tempo will be quite a challenge!

I'm just glad to finally have sheet music for "Joy" and "Carol of the Bells." Though it's too late for me to learn and polish these two pieces for Christmas this year, I'm definitely learning them for Christmas 2008!

Here's a list of the pieces in the book:

The Black Stallion
The Cradle
Graduation
Joy
Loreta and Desiree's Bouquet (Part 1)
Longing
Lullaby
New Hope Blues
Prelude / Carol of the Bells
Reflection
Stevenson
Thanksgiving
Thumbelina
The Twisting of the Hay Rope
(Variations on) Bamboo
Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel
The Velveteen Rabbit
Walking in the Air
Building the Snowman
The Snowman's Music Box Dance

WoW!!! Thank you soooo much for posting this here!!! How did you find out about it? Oh I am SOO excited!!!! Yea!!!!


Edited to add:

Here's the press release from Hal Leonard: Hal Leonard releases George Winston Piano Solos

This is really something to celebrate! A long time in coming - makes it so much more anticipated and appreciated!

This is the best news I have heard in ages! I am SOOOOOOO buying this book!

p.s. amazon.com has it for $12.21. WOOT!!!

I am a HUGE fan of George Winston. He is one of the reasons that I took up piano. I remember listening to his tapes (no CDs at the time) and thinking "One day...".

I am definately ordering this book. Thanks for the heads-up!

Oh, and I am glad that this book is affordable. Unlike Yann Tiersen's Amelie book which costs about $50. :rolleyes:

When I just read this post Monica came to mind and I was thinking that she will be happy to hear this. Indeed myself an avid fan of George Winston this is very exciting news. Thanks for the price tip Monica. I will so buy this book too. Guess who just left a George Winston info site before reading this? He was asked his advice to new composers and he said," Learn chords and scales." Sandy B

This is great news. I've wanted to learn his Pachelbel's Canon for years. Plus, I need to buy something from Amazon that is $13, so with this purchase, I'll reach the $25 for free shipping. I think if I stretch my reasoning, I can conclude that I'm really saving money by buying this!

Nancy

Thank you Colin Dunn!

I just ordered mine too!

This is great news!!!

I have to admit to using a few of the UNOFFICIAL transcriptions from the net, but now that there is a published version for some of his works, it will definately be on my next order from Amazon.

Thanks for the heads-up,

Rodney

I have 22 pieces from a Japanese edition.

Are these unofficial?


Mel

yup.

Mel, are you sure it's from a Japanese edition and not Korean? I don't mean to suggest that you wouldn't know the difference, but I ask because I know there was a Korean edition (which almost certainly was published without GW's permission.) That edition is no longer available for purchase (according to the importer that I sometimes go through for scores and textbooks, who has gotten me stuff from Korea before.)

However copies of those Korean scores can periodically be downloaded from various websites. (if I told you any more, well you know the rest...)

If you've ever seen a GW score that is not sitting straight on the page-- in other words, it looks like someone scanned it in and they didn't have the original straight on the scanner-- and it has non-alphabet symbols underneath the titles, that's very likely one of the Korean scores.

These are, by the way, not the scores which were made by someone who did his own transcriptions. You used to be able to download them from his website, the quality of the notation was very good in terms of how it looked, very professional. It's notable that his website no longer has his transcriptions available...

Anyway, so I always knew of the existence of a GW score collection published in Korea, and my piano tuner once said he thought there was at one time a Japanese edition, but he also said it's possible that he just saw a Korean one that had been imported. GW is hugely popular in Japan, and AFAIK in Korea as well..

Anyway, sorry to go on and on here, but I have always wondered if there ever was a Japanese one or not. And at one point I spent a lot of time and energy trying to track down that Korean edition and trying to find out what scores were available online etc. So Mel, I'm curious about your scores and I wonder if they are ones I've seen (i.e. the Korean ones) or if they really are Japanese, which would make them a very mysterious creature!!

I am very excited to finally be able to get official scores, and yes, I think it's very reasonably priced. (I just got confirmation email of my order, yea!!)

Wow!!

So.... if I can play Croatian Rhapsody but it is hard for me, can I play these pieces? Most of his stuff seems slow and melodic, so it seems plausible.

I have listened to some of his albums > 100 times and still do not tire of many of them such as December songs.

Thanks George!
Wade

I think so, Wade. Colin in his first post said that if you can play "Cristofori's Dream" you could probably play some of the pieces in this collection. I haven't seen this book yet, obviously, but I am a little bit doubtful about that... I think C.Dream is much easier than any Winston piece I've played or tried to play. Croatian Rhapsody is more comparable in difficulty, imo.

Based on the few pieces of sheet music that I've downloaded off his anniversary CDs, I'm not expecting to be able to play many of the pieces in this collection at this point. At least not without a WHOLE lot of effort. But I'm happy to buy it for the future.

I'm interested but is there anyplace I can listen to those songs?

Rhapsody.com carries all of Winston's albums. It will play 30-second clips if you are not a subscriber.

If you want to hear a BAD rendition of Longing/Love , this is the version I recorded for one of the past recitals:

http://www.uky.edu/~harris/longing1.mp3

don't sell yourself short.. Winston was a fine pianist, however his music is accessible. There are many accompaniment patterns that, if analyzed and practiced with focus, make great little etudes (particularly for the left hand). Many chords are repeated in arpeggiated rhythms

you just have to break his music down into pieces.

I agree, apple*. But it's also the case that, for me, they're not pieces I can pick up and learn and polish in a week or two. But they're so beautiful they're worth the effort.

the rhapsody.com site doesn't let me preview because I'm "outside the US". But I liked your mp3

For any of you that have already ordered this from Amazon--are they quoting you a late October shipping date? Has it not been published yet, or is it just already sold out?

Nancy

Yes, I was told it would be some weeks. (Which is okay, considering I have a 5-foot high stack of sheet music I haven't learned yet. :rolleyes: ) I don't think it's because it's sold out; my guess is it's because it's new and it's taking them some time to get in ordered from the publisher and stocked. I'm sorta hoping it will actually show up earlier.

I'm with you, Monica. I need to create a whole separate life to keep up with piano. Work, children, husband, extended family and general chores take up most of my current life, and I can quantify exactly how much by the height of my unplayed music stack!

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

IIRC you ripped through Croation Rhapsody pretty rapidly. Something tells me you'll sail through your favorite GW pieces by Christmas, even with your whole other life.

I also have a late October shipping date by the way.

I think some of the easier pieces in the book would be comparable in difficulty to "Cristofori's Dream." However, the majority of the pieces look somewhat more difficult.

If I had to guess, the difficulty level ranges from Grade 4 to Grade 8, averaging around a Grade 6.

A Grade Level 4 George Winston piece?

Maybe the first page!

Colin, have you decided which piece you're going to start with? Which piece do you think would be his easiest?

Thanks, Jeff, but I think it will be Christmas of 2008 before I actually play any George Winston even passably!

I'll call my local music seller and see if I can get it before late October, otherwise I guess I have to find some patience and go with Amazon.

Nancy

Ooh! Oh!! My book came in the mail yesterday!!!

I wonder if they do have a certain number of books set aside for importing. Or maybe just because I was the first responder in this thread and put my order in within minutes of reading it...

Anyway Colin, thanks so much for posting this info because otherwise I wouldn't have known.

And on the subject of difficulty level... it depends on what you're playing. The tempo for Carol of the Bells is set at MM=172!!!!

What about the Vince Guaraldi stuff? (Not to complain here). Winston's versions of Guarldi's stuff is slightly different from Guarldi's own versions. Plus, many of Guaraldi's own versions are not available as sheet music. I particularly want Young Man's Fancy, and Theme to Grace/Lament, and WInston's version of The Great Pumpkin Waltz.

Gee, ShiroKuro, I guess it wouldn't be cost effective for me to order one to your house and fly over to get it!

I ordered mine from Amazon this weekend, so I'll probably be the last on this list to get it.

Nancy

Did you order from Amazon also, or did you get somewhere else?

Woo-hoo! Just received the following email from amazon:

Hello from Amazon.com.

We are writing about the order you placed on September 24 2007 07:31 PDT (Order# 102-5316412-5292102). The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected:

George Winston (Author) "George Winston Piano Solos" [Paperback]
Estimated arrival date: 10/18/2007 - 10/22/2007

Yep! I just got the Amazon notice also. My shipping date is estimated Oct 8-10

...I don't, like, want to make you jeaolous or anything Monica, but I got this notice today

Hello from Amazon.com.

We are writing about the order you placed on September 24 2007 12:14 PDT.

The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected:

George Winston (Author) "George Winston Piano Solos" [Paperback]
Estimated arrival date: 10/06/2007 - 10/10/2007

:p

But I placed my order 5 hours earlier than yours! And probably earlier than imac's!!!! Grrrrrr.....

Here's my new Amazon message:

The item(s) listed below will actually
ship sooner than we originally expected:

George Winston (Author) "George Winston Piano Solos" [Paperback]
Estimated arrival date: 10/09/2007 - 10/11/2007

We have an Amazon warehouse in Metro Atlanta, so I'm hoping mine will be here on the earlier end of my range. At least it's not still the end of October!

Nancy

I ordered mine about 2 pm EST on the 24th.

Maybe it's delivery proximity?

No, I prefer a conspiracy theory that amazon.com was monitoring this thread and is out to get me.

Mine now says 10/10 to 10/12. I'm traveling all week on business, then going to Dallas for the Oklahoma vs. Texas football game this weekend. So mid week, when I'm recovering from the party, it should come

Woo-hoo! I just got an email that my order has shipped!

Nancy

I ordered my copy through Amazon Japan, so that might explain the difference.

I just read through GW's Kanon yesterday. I worked on that several years ago, and remember enough of it that it shouldn't be too hard to get the music back in my fingers. (notice I didn't say "get it to performance level") So I think I'm going to start with that.

BTW, who was talking about the difficulty levels? Looking through the book, I think it really varies, but Carol of the Bells? Umm, the MM indication is 172 so yeah, I think that's one that I won't be attempting anytime soon!

I want to play Longing/Love too, but there are too many other things on my practice menu,so that will have to wait. I wish there were more pieces from Autumn in this collection. I can't remember the names, but there are two pieces I really want to play (tracks 6 and 7 maybe?) I hope this collection of scores will not be a one-time event and that it will be the start of more scores from GW!

So what is everyone else going to start with?

I'm only familiar with his December album, so I'll probably try one of the pieces from that (I think there are four). All three of my boys have been playing Pachelbel's Canon lately, so I may wait on that so I don't max out. Maybe I'll look at Joy when the book arrives. Carol of the Bells is tempting, but I may as well wait until next June. Then I'll have time to complete it by Christmas. If I start now, I won't make Christmas, and then I might tire of it before Christmas of 2008.

Nancy

Okay, so now Amazon has bumped my delivery back from Oct 8-10 to Oct 10-17

I think they are monitoring this thread!

Me too... I really really want to learn Colors/Dance someday.

I'm going to start with the Kanon, I think.

It may have to wait until after Christmas, though. I'm polishing up 3 pieces right now that I want to get recorded, and then I'm going to try to re-learn God rest ye merry gentleman, and one or two other Christmas songs. That's probably all I can hope to accomplish in the next two months.

So, amazon, go right ahead with your evil conspiracy to make me the very last person on the planet to get their copy of the Winston book!!

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by imac_100:
<strong> Okay, so now Amazon has bumped my delivery back from Oct 8-10 to Oct 10-17

Go figure

I sight-read "Joy" once to try out the book. I think it is a do-able piece around a Grade 5 level, but with everything else I'm doing this year it won't be ready for Christmas 2007.

Maybe I'll start on "Carol of the Bells" on December 26, 2007, and if I bust my butt it may be ready for Christmas 2008. I'd guess that piece is a Grade 8 owing to its quick tempo, lightning-fast runs down a scale, and 4-against-3 patterns. If you can play this one at performance level, you're probably ready to work on the Fantasie Impromptu.

Thanks for your insights, Colin. I know what you mean about starting right after Christmas--I did the exact same thing for my Christmas recital piece for this year! I haven't seen the George Winston music yet, so I may be moving my start date earlier by a few months once I get a chance to look at it in person.

Nancy

Mine arrived today!

(Runs off to piano)

Nancy

I think you guys should learn Joy, first! heh heh It's so nice.

And then the Kanon in C!

AND THEN, you could arrange your own version of Corrina, Corrina, since it's not in the book.

Yeah.

I spent about an hour with the book today, playing through the three pieces I'm familiar with (all from December). They were: Joy, Carol of the Bells, and Kanon by Pachelbel. Of the three, I really think Joy was the most difficult. I had a hard time reading it and had to go HS. Carol of the Bells wasn't as bad, but I tried putting myself on 172 and had to laugh out loud. I'll need to do months of finger-aerobics before I get to that speed. Pachelbel is most natural under the fingers, I think. I really love that version, so that's probably where I'll start, though probably not until after Christmas. And my teacher will probably kill me for asking her to listen to any version of Pachelbel another time, but I hope she'll grow to like this one as much as I do.

Nancy

I am currently working on the last 3 pages of GW's Kanon now. (Why does he spell it with a K anyway?)

I love the very end. I also like all the rest of it too. It does fit into the fingers very naturally. (of course that might be because I worked on a few years back, using the score from his CD.)

I haven't tried Carol of the Bells, I wonder how it would sound slowed way down... 172 just sounds impossible, but maybe I need to look through the score at the piano instead of just looking at it away from the keyboard.

Anyway, I love working on the Kanon. The LH part is so satisfying in its simplicity and steady, repetitive pattern. The miniscule variations in the RH are so fun and delicious in the ears....

Well, days and days after everybody else :rolleyes: I am *finally* looking through the George Winston book.

After seeing the book, I have to say you were right, Colin: Some of the pieces don't seem that hard at all. In fact, I'm going to start with Black Stallion, which looks (dare I say it?) downright easy.

I am working on Kanon with my teacher, I think she really likes it. She's <s>beating me with a whip</s> not letting me get away with sloppy non-legato playing on all the thirds and things that show up in the RH.

She also has convinced me that for the very end, where the RH has those half notes with the squiggle on the bar (what are those called in English?) the RH has to play not the 2 times like I practiced it, but 4 times for every 8th note in the LH.

Is the Kanon version in the book the same as the one from the CD? The note from the CD was a bit too small for my poor eyes and the monster chord in the beginning on the left hand was way too big for my hand. I hope the book version will be a bit friendlier!

Oh yeah, I just looked at the Kanon sheet music from the cd, and yeah how do people play those monster chords in the bass clef - even C G E, seems like the farthest I can get is C G D?? And then he has even bigger reaches that I don't think any human could get? Is Winston like an extraterrestial or something?

I have a DVD of his playing Kanon in concert. He does have very long fingers and he did play that monster chord as written, I think. Currently I try to learn a bit from the score from CD but for the first part with all the chords, I use a transcription version found on the internet that was mentioned earlier in the thread instead, which was more manageable. Trying to roll that monster chord just does not sound right, unfortunately.

NorwegianForest, this comment really made me laugh out loud!!

Yes, I think George probably does have extraterrestial-sized hands. I've seen video of him as well, not only are his hands huge, but he is a banger. In the back of the songbook, he talks about how he thinks of the piano as a percussion instrument, and when you see him play, you can really tell!

Anyway, N.F. and Bkkmd, you don't have to play all those notes. Normally when one's reach isn't enough for the chords on the score, you can roll the chords (a lot of people roll those in Moonlight Sonata.) But you are right, it really doesn't sound right to roll those chords. The thing to do is not play the "middle" note, in other words, prioritize the upper and lower notes. My reach allows me to cover all the notes with both hands, except for every other note that's written at the top of the LH staff. So I simply do not play those notes. That is the only section in this piece which requires a big reach.

If someone wants, I'll get out my score and tell you exactly how I finger all those chords, but just from memory, I usually play the top note in the bass clef (the top note in the LH) with my RH thumb. When I can't reach that and still play the top notes in the treble clef, I skip that middle note. The way the music is written, this ends up being every other half note, so actually it doesn't really stand out that there's a missing note.

Last time I look at the first 12 measures from the original score from the CD was many many months ago and I decided that it was impossible to play those big chords. So I have been cheating and using the alternate versin as mentioned before. I just look at the CD version again and tried what ShiroKuro suggested. To my surprise, beside the 2nd chord, G-D-D, I can now reach the rest of the chords (although not always comfortable but doable)!. Luckily G-D-D only occurs once with free right hand so that is definitely good news. I supposed the last few months I have been strectching my hands with Chopin Nocturne in C minor op 48.1 . A little benefit that I did not forsee