Traditional – O Come O Come Emmanuel (Flute & Piano)

In this arrangement the exploration of register and alternative harmonies, together with the sustain pedal, creates an image of sound reverberation in open spaces. The piano's open fifths in the middle of the piece gives an eastern feel. Rebecca Faith has added a new original theme alongside the main melody that gives a fresh unique quality – this theme immediately sets the atmosphere in the piano introduction and is later heard more powerfully on the flute, returning at the close of the piece in the high register of the piano creating a music box like feel. All of Rebecca's Christmas Carol arrangements are fresh, exciting and uniquely crafted, and are very much for the concert platform rather than a sing-along or play-along at home with Dad playing the piano part. These beautiful arrangements require work on the part of both flautist and pianist, as with a demanding accompaniment they are very much a duo. The majority are for the advanced flautist, minimum grade 6-7 standard, as there are some complicated rhythms, flutter tonguing and technically challenging jazzy-style passages. Highly recommended and well received by audiences there is nothing else available like them, and so these challenging yet thoroughly enjoyable arrangements fill a gap in the market and are an effective and welcome addition to the repertoire, providing some festive music with a rather different flavour, away from the usual standard melody with accompaniment. The collection of 10 Christmas Carols was written for the flute and piano duo Tranquillo, who recorded them as their debut album Tranquillo Christmas in 2010, a CD that has attracted some excellent reviews and can be purchased for £10 (plus P&P) from www.tranquilloduo.com

Review: "O Come O Come Emmanuel is a hauntingly beautiful arrangement by Rebecca Faith. It begins with a solo flute opening before the piano joins with a repeated quaver pattern that features throughout the piece. The melody is shared between the flute and both the treble and bass in the piano part, this being a key feature of Rebecca's writing. Though one of the longer arrangements, it grips the listener from beginning to end with its intensity and passion, and is highly recommended for a Christmas performance." – Sarah Waycott & Hannah Mitchell of Tranquillo Duo, July 2013

Review: "Lovely arrangement of this beautiful Carol. Begins simply with the flute and repeated up the octave with mainly arpeggios in the accompaniment but not too demanding and fairly easy to get together. It covers all three octaves of the flute and would suit a student of around grade 5 upwards for a school Christmas concert or a professional looking for a Christmas-themed piece on their programme or as an encore during the festive season." – Rachel Smith, October 2013

Review: “Don't you just love Christmas music? It is always wonderful to hear and play, I don't think we ever get sick of it, but sometimes it is good to have new arrangements and this is what we've got here. If you are Grade 5 standard and above, I'm sure you will enjoy exploring these excellent arrangements by Rebecca Faith. Each title is a separate edition, very well presented. The arrangements are varied in style and the piano parts not too difficult. If you have a performance coming up this Christmas, one of these will go down extremely well with the audience. They aren't just the tune with the piano accompaniment, but skilful arrangements with imaginative harmonies and key changes. Highly recommended.” – Liz Goodwin on www.flutewise.com October 2013

Biography

Faith, Rebecca

Rebecca Faith was born in Aberdare, South Wales. She was brought up surrounded by music and was taught to play the piano from the age of two. Rebecca went on to study music at Cardiff University, graduating in 2007 with a BMus degree and obtaining a Masters degree in Music Composition the following year.Rebecca is now a freelance composer. Her passion is to write music that crosses the boundaries between genres and appeals to classical and non classical music lovers alike. In 2010 Rebecca was commissioned by the piano and flute duo Tranquillo to compose and arrange their debut album. The music attracted reviews from the British Flute Society and The Musicians Union. In 2012 Rebecca's music was performed at St David's Hall Cardiff as part of the Welsh BBC proms and also at the London Trafalgar Square St Martin in the Fields concert series. Rebecca also gives piano tuition and teaches music theory at Hebron Piano School. Being keen to combine both her teaching and composition skills she writes new contemporary educational piano music. She was commissioned by Alfred Music Publishing to arrange a collection of 60 national anthems in celebration of the London 2012 Olympics.