By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Lee Niska. 20th Century, Classical, Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #643512. Published by Niska Music Publishing

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1073968 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #678234. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1073968). The most Impressionistic of Opus 3, the cathedral in this instance is the forest rather than the sunken one from Debussy’s prelude. The canopy of the trees is the vaulted ceiling and the trunks serve as the columns. As one walks down the colonnade, the spaces between the trees serve as windows onto the magnificence of nature. From a musical standpoint, the thick, rich chords of the right hand create a feeling of majesty and awe broken by the melismatic figures of the wind through the boughs. Once again, it is of great importance to balance the chords to bring forth the melody.

By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Lee Niska. Classical, Romantic Period. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #643480. Published by Niska Music Publishing

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1378676 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #963337. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1378676).

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1376865 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #961431. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1376865).

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1038549 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Lee Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #643518. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1038549). These are not the winds of a beautiful autumn day, full of sunlight and colored leaves gently wafting to the ground. These breezes have a bite as though they are a precursor to a gathering storm. There is a relentless feeling behind the music, and the player must be keenly aware of the melodic voices in both hands and bring them out amidst the swirling triplets.

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1073979 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #678245. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1073979). There is a Chopinesque quality to this piece, but with a haunting, unsettled aspect more reminiscent of Scriabin as it searches for an ever-elusive rest. It is a walk through the woods at the end of Autumn, when the leaves are all but gone and the ghostly branches reach their skeletal fingers toward the moonlit sky. The clouds float across the sky, blotting out the light of the moon as you find yourself descending deeper into an almost hypnotic trance. There is the tolling of a bell off in the distance. It does not waver, hanging on to a single note as the harmonies change beneath in the left hand while the opening melody returns. There is a change in mood as the music becomes more chromatic while shifting between two chords until it finally resolves and the opening melody returns. As it comes to a close, there is no sense of resolution…rather it ends with a question.

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1048631 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #653037. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1048631). There is an elegant simplicity to this gentle lullaby. You can hear a variety of birds twittering, trilling, warbling and chirping as they call to one another and get ready to settle in for the night. The sun is sinking in the west and there is not much time to return to the nest and await the morning. For the pianist, there are ample opportunities to practice trills, both long and short, but always keeping in mind the direction and flow of the melody.

By Michael Swedberg. By John Francis Wade. Arranged by Terrence Niska. Christmas,Contemporary,Holiday . Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #726517. Published by Niska Music Publishing

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1077064 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary,Romantic Period. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #681206. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1077064). There are few things more majestic than an eagle in flight against an azure sky…the broad stroke of its wings as it rises and falls on currents of air. It is with an undeniable sense of grace and elegance that it soars through the firmament. From a pianistic standpoint, the left hand provides the imagery of the winds on which the melody, representing the eagle, floats. In fact, once the piece begins it does not stop until the very end. The melody of the right hand is almost piano concerto-like in its approach. At the beginning it is very chordal, stately and grand. But as the piece progresses there are moments of flourish which capture the eagle’s delight as it swoops through the sky, ascending and descending at will…the master of all that it sees.

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1048634 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #653043. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1048634). From the opening tremolo in the right hand, there is a sense of forlornness that permeates this prelude. The left hand stubbornly repeats the same four notes as the melody begins to weave its way above, searching for a place to rest that seems only all too elusive. The melody repeats, but is now joined by another voice which only adds to the feeling of despondency as it snakes around creating a melancholy harmony. The title refers to a house that has been forgotten to time and is slowly being covered by the encroaching forest. With no one around to witness the end of a home that once knew laughter, but now knows only sadness and decay, the piece ends with the sighing of the wind through the branches of the trees.

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1414465 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #996186. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1414465).

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1414517 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 19th Century,21st Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #996292. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1414517).

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1125814 By Michael Swedberg. By Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn. Arranged by Terrence Niska. Christmas,Contemporary,Holiday. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #726554. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1125814). Once again the influence of George Winston and Mannheim Steamroller can be heard as this prelude begins with a burst of joy and energy that does not subside, but only grows with each verse. The changing meters make this piece a challenge to play and requires a strong technique to handle some of the scale passages. This arrangement is a far cry from the original music of Mendelssohn, but the lyrics inspired me to create something full of vibrancy and passion to match the glorious news that the angels came to deliver! The first verse establishes the 5/4 meter heard throughout the prelude and is filled with the pealing of church bells in the right hand as they send forth the melody in octaves! Meanwhile, the left hand continues the broken chord pattern established in the opening. In the next verse, the left hand is now rising and falling, while the right is still playing the melody in octaves. Only now it is filling the spaces with eighth notes to match the left hand…essentially combining the two hands of the previous verse. For the final verse, the left hand takes on the orchestral role of brass and percussion with thunderous chords punctuating the rhythm of the melody in the right hand. There are moments of fireworks as the hands break free of the 5/4 meter for some wonderful, albeit brief, scales which increase the growing excitement. The piece concludes with a return of the rhythmic material from the opening as the hands work their way down the piano in arpeggiated fashion only to race back up the keyboard for a final flourish before a resounding Amen: Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Glory to the new-born King!

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1125770 By Michael Swedberg. By Traditional French Carol. Arranged by Terrence Niska. Christmas,Contemporary,Holiday. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #726510. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1125770). This song has a long history with me. I first wrote a five-part vocal to be sung by the group Five By Design (of which I was a member) back in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Unfortunately, it never found its way in to our repertoire. It sat on my computer for quite a few years before I revised it to be sung as a trio with my brother, Kurt, and his wife, Lorie. I had written a vocal arrangement of the carol for us to sing at some Christmas concerts and a few years later, when putting this album together, I returned to the first chart and adapted it for piano solo. The meter of the song moves back and forth between 3/4 and 2/4 and conveys the joy and hopefulness of the opening lyrics: “He is born, the Divine Child, Play the oboe, resound the bagpipes. He is born, the Divine Child, Let us all sing of his arrival.� It is this combination of instruments that I tried to emulate in the introduction, with the bagpipes in the left hand and the oboes in the right. When the tune proper begins, there is a definite rhythmic vitality that is maintained throughout the prelude as it celebrates the long-awaited birth of Jesus as foretold by the prophets over 4,000 years ago. From start to finish, the influence of both George Winston and Mannheim Steamroller can be heard in the music.