What Child Is This - Piano Solo
This modern arrangement of “What Child Is This” explores the carol through a combination of refreshing jazzy sounds and dramatic piano writing. At the early advanced level, the piece begins with a mysterious, quiet introduction, which transitions into a syncopated rhythm that accompanies the first entrance of the melody, played by the right hand in expressive sixths. Throughout the arrangement, the melody undergoes a series of variations, with sixteenth-note decorations eventually spilling into a faster and pianistic section, which then leads toward a powerful climax with glorious octaves in the melody, rich bass notes, and triumphant inner voices. The music then fades away as quietly as it began—creating a musical journey that begins and ends with the hushed anticipation of the brilliant joys of the Christmas miracle to come.
This modern arrangement of “What Child Is This” explores the carol through a combination of refreshing jazzy sounds and dramatic piano writing. At the early advanced level, the piece begins with a mysterious, quiet introduction, which transitions into a syncopated rhythm that accompanies the first entrance of the melody, played by the right hand in expressive sixths. Throughout the arrangement, the melody undergoes a series of variations, with sixteenth-note decorations eventually spilling into a faster and pianistic section, which then leads toward a powerful climax with glorious octaves in the melody, rich bass notes, and triumphant inner voices. The music then fades away as quietly as it began—creating a musical journey that begins and ends with the hushed anticipation of the brilliant joys of the Christmas miracle to come.