White Christmas: HLSPL Intermediate Showcase Solo Late Elementary

by Mona Rejino, Irving Berlin (Composer)

Overview

(Educational Piano Library). This superb arrangement of Irving Berlin's classic Christmas song is a marvelous introduction to this beloved song. The solo melody is ingeniously crafted to provide students with a truly authentic sense of playing the "real" thing. The lovely, sensitive optional teacher accompaniment adds just the right touch for a gracious duet performance. Hal Leonard Student Piano Library Level 3 (Late Elementary); 4/4; moderate tempo; melody is passed between the hands throughout the student part; key of F Major with B-flat indicated throughout as an accidental; Hand position Middle C orientation; fermata and rit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780634020964
Publisher:	Hal Leonard
Publication date:	08/01/2000
Pages:	4
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.01(d)

About the Author

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was one of the most prolific American songwriters in history. Among his more than twelve hundred songs were "God Bless America," "Cheek to Cheek," "Anything You Can Do," "There's No Business Like Show Business," and, of course, "White Christmas." He also composed seventeen film scores and twenty-one Broadway scores. The songs of Irving Berlin have left an indelible mark on music and culture worldwide.

Michael Hague has illustrated more than thirty children's classics, including memorable editions of The Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, and The Secret Garden. He is also the artist of several bestselling books by his wife, Kathleen, including Alphabears, Numbears, and Ten Little Bears. The father of three grown children and the grandfather of four, Michael has a ready audience for all of his work.

Editorial Reviews

Hague's distinctive and beguiling interpretation of Berlin's beloved song eschews Coca-Cola Santas, gingerbread men, and modern kiddies for a Nordic fairy tale wonderland of elves, sprites, and shaggy goats and polar bears. A 20-something woman shakes a snow globe, awakening a world within: rainbows arch over frozen waterfalls, Lokiesque tricksters pop up, a Father Christmas–style Santa makes the rounds, and icicles hang from every surface. Includes sheet music for fireside sing-alongs. All ages. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

K Up—Libraries do not need this disappointing excuse for an illustrated song book. The lyrics of the Berlin standard are illustrated with poor-quality Hague fairies in winter scenes that seem designed for the art resale market. The images are blurry and while skillfully done as one would expect, aggressively commercial and lacking in character. Plus, the paintings do not correspond to the text unless the Beverly Hills matron introduced in the opening verse used to live at the North Pole.—Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Irving Berlin's famous holiday song from the 1940s forms the text for this dreamlike interpretation. The cover illustration shows a huge snow globe filled with fantasy characters: Santa, elves, reindeer, a polar bear and a mysterious snow monster. As the words to the song unfold, these characters interact with fairies and animals in snowy landscapes that appear to be the world within the snow globe. There is virtually no connection between the words of the song and what is happening on the page, as in a dream when things don't quite make sense. Hague's characters have an old-fashioned appeal, but some look depressed or unhappy, and there are a couple of ice monsters that are downright scary. This isn't a Christmas celebration "just like the ones I used to know." (music included) (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews