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I'm looking for a good collection of late-intermediate to advanced piano solo Christmas music - the old traditional stuff but with a classical twist. Any suggestions?

I assumed you've looked at this thread?

http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3170308

Maybe I should have phrased the question better - I'm looking for standard, traditional Christmas carols, Silent Night, etc. etc. but with nice classical type arrangements - something not too simple but not Rachmaninov or Liszt level of difficulty. Late intermediate to advanced...a collection in a music book

OK, you're looking for classical-type arrangements rather than classical piano pieces related to Christmas.

This book might suit you:
https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Christmas-Carols-Solos-Arranged/dp/071190118X

It is probably easier than what you're looking for (I can sight-read them very easily) - my estimation is that they're about RCM level 4/5 (ABRSM Grade 3/4) standard (i.e. easier than Für Elise), but they sound 'classical' with no 'jazzed-up' harmonies, and you can easily add extra fillings to the scores, as there are chord symbols added, so you know what the harmonies are at all times.

As a bonus, you also get the original score of Silent Night, as penned by Franz Gruber - which will surprise/delight/annoy your audience if they try to sing the tune as we usually sing it today........

Sally Deford has some very nice and free arrangements here:
https://defordmusic.com/songs-by-category-and-by-voicing/

There are also many collections of Christmas piano music specifically written in a classical style although I don't think these types of arrangements sound very effective:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/294754/christmas-carols-with-a-classical-flair

Thanks - actually I would like to see the original Silent Night so now you've peaked my interest. I do have an easier version of Silent Night where I was trying to do what you suggested above, filling in some harmonies but I'm not that great at it and it would take me past the season to come up with something good....

I have The Professional Pianist -- Solos for Christmas: 50 Advanced Arrangements by Dan Coates.

It has a lot of good classical type arrangements, and some jazzy ones as well. It’s a good book with a nice variety. Some of them I can sight read. Some are a bit more difficult. There’s a nice arrangement of Deck the Halls a la Mozart.

Thanks Evan - I was looking at that one on Amazon....how is their arrangement of Silent Night?

It’s nice. Fairly simple. It has kind of an arpeggiated bass with some interesting chords.

There's a (Japanese?) pdf floating around called Christmas Songs For Play in First Class Restaurant. You can easily find it with Google.

It has the most unusual arrangements of Silent Night and Jingle Bells that I've ever seen. I always get the impression that whoever arranged those things has something of a sense of humour since you get a lot of.... I'm not entirely sure of the word... ornamental, perhaps... stuff in the melodies that can be really cool.

I imagine the other stuff in it are equally unusual, but I've only tried Silent Night and Jingle Bells myself, so far.

You might like the David Hicken "Carols of Christmas" book of arrangements.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out. Looks like the David Hicken book is out of print tho, sadly.

Could you download the PDF files for the David Hicken, and print them out for yourself?

There are Youtube performances by Hicken available for most of them. The Bell Carol is really fun to play, and impressive to hear.

The David Hicken book is sold through his web site

https://davidhicken.com/collections/songbooks

Thank you for the link dogperson

If anyone should be interested, David Hicken has made a new and different piano solo version of Carol of the bells. You can view and listen to it on Youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag_npbMkbn4

He includes some interesting history of the piece in his commentary on the video if you click on "More," and about recording the first version in the past.

Of course, Carol of the Bells v.2.0 is available for purchase - a download - for $5 US on his site.

For my taste, DH's performance is too fast and much too aggressively and heavily played, although it's an interesting arrangement, if somewhat overdone.

Regards,