Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" is a holiday favorite, and this setting for advanced piano duet gives it a fresh twist. It begins with Anderson's jingling melody and some musical banter between the primo and secondo players, and then it launches into a series of variations that take the listener on a journey through a variety of styles, from gently swirling, impressionistic arpeggios to a triumphant coda with brilliant, virtuosic passagework. Audiences will enjoy a number of other musical surprises along the way.
As the popular television co-host of Wake Up, Des Moines! Nicole Reardon has achieved her dream. So why has the network sent "image maker" Alex Kingsfield to the station? The irritatingly handsome man is also the first man she's been attracted to since Jake Marston dumped her three years ago in Starlight, Iowa. When an unexpected assignment sends Nicole and Alex to Starlight, can she rise above the past and make this interview the defining moment of her career? Alex Kingsfield knows Nicole is poised on the cusp of network stardom. But beneath the professional exterior is a small-town girl at heart, genuine and God-honoring. Alex holds the power to boost Nicole's career to unknown heights. Or crush her dreams. From any angle, he's caught in a "no win" situation when he finds himself falling for the beautiful Nicole. What's a man to do when love comes calling at Christmas?
Thirty-nine big note piano arrangements. Titles: * Angels We Have Heard on High * The First Noel * Jingle Bells * Jolly Old St. Nicholas * O Holy Night * Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town * We Wish You a Merry Christmas
When Bing Crosby’s "White Christmas" debuted in 1942, no one imagined that a holiday song would top the charts year after year. One of the best-selling singles ever released, it remains on rotation at tree lighting ceremonies across the country, in crowded shopping malls on Black Friday, and at warm diners on lonely Christmas Eve nights. Over the years, other favorites have been added to America’s annual playlist, including Elvis Presley’s "Blue Christmas," the King Cole Trio’s "The Christmas Song," Gene Autry’s "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Willie Nelson’s "Pretty Paper," and, of course, Elmo & Patsy’s "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." Viewing American holiday values through the filter of familiar Christmas songs, Ronald Lankford examines popular culture, consumerism, and the dynamics of the traditional American family. He surveys more than seventy-five years of songs and reveals that the “modern American Christmas” has carried a complex and sometimes contradictory set of meanings. Interpreting tunes against the backdrop of the eras in which they were first released, he identifies the repeated themes of nostalgia, commerce, holiday blues, carnival, and travesty that underscore so much beloved music. This first full-length analysis of the lyrics, images, and commercial forces inextricably linked to Yuletide music hits the heart of what many Americans think Christmas is--or should be.
If there ever was a melody that instantly identified the holiday season, this is it! Each year the sounds of Sleigh Ride surround us in recorded format and in live sound in almost every venue and on almost every concert program. Michael Story has scored this timeless work for the younger or less experienced ensemble and has successfully kept the original flavor and structure. This is a meaningful holiday work arranged for your band. (2: 27)
Snow has settled into her new life in the magical Whispering Willows. But now that Snow and her “Prince Charming” have found each other, they must still face obstacles to their happiness together. With the help of a new dwarf friend...who may have secrets of his own, Snow must battle the witch and uncover the mysteries of the magic mirror in the mine. ‘Mirror, Mirror’ is the third book in the Whispering Willows series.
A week before Christmas, city girl Hope McKinnon finds herself snowbound with rugged rancher and all round do-gooder Blake Nelson. What is it about this handsome, generous man that has her blood boiling and her pulse racing? Blake knows his ranch is the last place that Hope wants to be, but somehow her presence feels so right! Hope is the first woman guarded Blake has wanted to be around for a long time. Her visit may be temporary, but he has one more night to convince her to stay….
THIS WINTER, STEAL AWAY WITH THE REIGNING QUEENS OF REGENCY ROMANCE . . . plus one or two dukes, one heiress, and one headstrong beauty—to a surprise snowstorm, the comfort of a blazing fire, and the heat of a lover’s kisses . . . A CHRISTMAS ABDUCTION by Madeline Hunter Caroline Dunham has a bone to pick with notorious rake Baron Thornhill—and a creative plan to insure his undivided attention. Yet once in close quarters, she finds herself beholden to their smoldering connection . . . A PERFECT MATCH by Sabrina Jeffries Whisked away from a wintry ball by the officer she knew only through letters, Cassandra Isles struggles with her feelings for the commanding Colonel Lord Heywood. For he, secretly a fortune-hunter, must marry for money to save his estate—and Cass, secretly an heiress, will accept nothing less than love . . . ONE WICKED WINTER NIGHT by Mary Jo Putney Dressed as a veiled princess, Lady Diana Lawrence is shocked to discover that the mysterious corsair who tempts her away from the costume ball is the duke she once loved and lost. Now snowed in with Castleton at a remote lodge, will she surrender to the passion still burning hotly between them? “The passion is hot enough to melt a snowbank. This fanciful Regency anthology will keep readers warm all winter.” —Publishers Weekly “It's clear that these historical romance dynamos know their craft and can make any dubious reader believe in a happily-ever-after. . . . A solid and varied collection for readers who adore a holiday setting.” —Kirkus Reviews
As settlement for her father's debts, Caitlyn Hosier is forced into a marriage with the village recluse—a man no one has seen all the years he's lived in the manor house. A man surrounded by rumors. A man with a vicious temper. A man said to be a monster. A man who hates Christmas.Hayden Shade hides his scars behind a mask, but the past never ceases to haunt him. A new life and a new start seem too much to hope for. Does he even deserve one? Surely not with a woman so wholly beautiful as Caitlyn. He longs to build a life-long relationship, but he daren't allow her to see the real him until he knows for sure she loves him.Desperate to find happiness with the man she's fated to marry, Caitlyn determines to uncover the real Hayden Shade. There must be something good behind the mask. But what if there's nothing more to him than the monster she could never love?
