Johann Strauss: 28 Waltzes, Polkas and Quadrilles (World's Greatest Classical Music)

Intermediate to advanced piano keyboard skill is recommended to bring these pieces to their full boisterous romanticism (the tempo of Viennese waltzes is rather fast). But anyone who can read music and find their way around a keyboard can enjoy these great melodies while applying their personal choice of simplifications.This collection includes all of Strauss' most famous waltzes (including Beautiful Blue Danube, Artist's Life, Emperor Waltz, Roses from the South, Voices of Spring, etc.). For my money, the Die Fledermaus Overture transcription perfectly captures the tonalities, key changes and spirit of the full orchestra score on a piano keyboard. The arrangements are subtly different from the once-popular mid-20th Century transcriptions, and overall I prefer this version. If some of the inner voices. moderate jumps or passage work is too demanding for your technique, you can always simplify. But don't be too worried - the arrangements are nowhere near as demanding as Liszt's opera transcriptions (such as his arrangement of the William Tell Overture). These arrangements were intended for ordinary pianists of that time - such as the middle and upper young ladies who learned piano to entertain family guests.The book itself is strongly bound. Because of the "perfect" binding, Its 304 pages will not lie flat without a bit of weight on one or both sides. Paper quality is durable and good. The print quality of the bars, notes, phrasing, etc. is crisp, clear and clean using standard modern conventions - unlike some older arrangements. The price is very reasonable - there is really no reason to bother downloading inferior older versions. While there are no suggested fingerings, there is plenty of room to pencil in your own preferences.This is the perfect collection for the pianist who wants to transport oneself and listeners to the grand, glittering world of grand balls, elegant dancers and melodies that stick in your head for days.

A good collection of Strauss' most popular pieces arranged for piano, this collection has The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Woods, pieces from Fledermaus, and more. Well-printed and bound, it is easy to use and should hold up well. The technical demands of the pieces included should be within the reach of most pianists of intermediate to early advanced skill.

Beautiful book, fast delivery!

This is a lovely piano music book. However it is very difficult to use as there are so many pages. It is impossible to balance on a music support on a piano. The pages do not lay open. This album should have had a comb bound spine so that the pages can lie flat. I intend to divide the book into thirds and make 3 smaller albums using my comb binder to secure the pages. Apart from this, it is an excellent collection of Strauss music scores.