Christmas Carols for Today: Piano Book

Tornquist's settings transform these beloved carols into pieces that sound genuinely contemporary without abandoning their melodic heart. The jazz harmonies and rhythmic surprises make these arrangements feel surprising and alive in worship settings, and the included performance times eliminate the guesswork from service planning. Church pianists will find arrangements that serve the liturgy while giving them something genuinely rewarding to play.

These arrangements wrap traditional carol melodies in surprising harmonic colors: unexpected jazz chords, strategic key shifts, and rhythmic freshness that make even the most familiar tunes feel rediscovered. The piano writing remains lyrical and pianistic without unnecessary technical flourish, creating arrangements that feel both accessible and sophisticated.

Church pianists seeking fresh arrangements for Christmas services, from those who read comfortably at the late intermediate level through early advanced pianists looking for material with harmonic depth. Pianists in blended or contemporary worship settings will find these especially useful for seasonal programming.

• Voice the jazz chords clearly by allowing the richest voicings to ring through; don't rush the harmony changes or they'll muddy together.
• Lean into the unexpected rhythmic treatments by practicing them separately from the melody so the syncopations feel intentional rather than accidental.
• Let the modulations breathe by taking a small pause before shifting into a new key, which allows the harmonic shift to register with listeners.
• Balance the familiar melodies by keeping them prominent while the accompaniment colors provide texture, not competition.

Select individual pieces for preludes, offertories, or postludes throughout the Christmas season; the provided performance times help you fill specific liturgical slots. You might program several consecutive carols from this collection around a particular Sunday's theme, or weave them throughout December services to provide harmonic and rhythmic variety alongside more traditional settings.

• Voice leading in jazz and contemporary harmonic contexts
• Interpreting unexpected modulations and key relationships
• Managing syncopated and non-traditional rhythmic patterns
• Balancing melodic prominence with complex harmonic accompaniment
• Sight-reading contemporary piano arrangements at the early advanced level