Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1048638 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary,Romantic Period. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #653047. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1048638). While this prelude bears a German title, there is the definite influence of Rachmaninoff to be found in its sweeping melody, like something to be found in a piano concerto. There is a feeling of constant motion, like the rushing of a river, created by the constant flow of sixteenth notes in the left hand. Meanwhile, the right hand melody soars majestically above. There are moments when the water is rushing along placidly in a stream and others where the triplet figures create images of water tumbling over stones in small waterfalls, creating whirlpools and eddies in the current. In the end, the winding comes to a restful close…the journey is over.

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: A0.1077071 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #681213. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1077071). While most of these Naturszenen present images of the waking world, this one is set in the world of dreams. From the very beginning of the intro there is a feeling of an almost trance-like state as the right hand plays a simple, yet haunting figure with very little motion under a sustained, sighing melody. When the main theme begins, the left hand takes up the pulsating figure and the right begins its melancholic rise and fall. The chromatic nature of the piece lends an aura of wandering through the world of sleep, looking with fascination at the unusual sights conjured up by the unconscious mind. Is there a hidden meaning to what we see or simply our imagination taking us on a journey to a fantastic world of untold wonders?

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.

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 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.950910 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #6361443. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.950910). Driven by an unrelenting sense of anger and urgency, this prelude shoots out of the gate and does not let up until the very end. It is essentially a study in octaves as both hands move up and down the keyboard with the melody in the right hand surrounded and supported by the constant flow of 16th notes moving ever forward.

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1038540 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Lee Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #643505. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1038540). From the first notes to the last beat this piece captures the constant activity of the bees as they gather nectar throughout the day. The right hand buzzes about in a constant stream of eighth notes, rising and falling, twisting and turning, while the left hand moves along in quarter notes to create the harmonic underpinnings that never really settle until the final chord. It is one one the shortest of the nature scenes, but requires a light touch and strong technique.

Guitar,Piano,Vocal,Voice - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1373238 By Michael Swedberg. By Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Baroque,Classical,New Age. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #957583. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1373238). This has long been one of my favorite pieces by J.S. Bach, so it came as no great surprise that I would come up with my own arrangement of the work. There is an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility (and a hint of melancholy) to the original movement from his Orchestral Suite No. 3 which explains its popularity over the years. It has become more well-known in August Wilhelmj's arrangement as the Air on the G String, but in writing my own version I went back to the score and to the original key of D major.

Piano Solo - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1276116 By Michael Swedberg. By Johann Pachelbel. Arranged by Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,New Age,Pop. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #867876. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1276116). One of the earliest CDs I bought was a CBS Great Performances disc entitled “Pachelbel’s Canon: Baroque Favorites.� I can recall listening to it over and over. Among my favorites were Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,� Mouret’s “Rondeau,� Albinoni’s “Adagio for Strings and Organ in G minor (which I later discovered was actually written by Remo Giazotto in 1958), and, of course, Pachelbel’s Canon in D.The Canon has been a source of musical inspiration to a great number of artists over the years including Maroon 5’s “Memories� in 2019 and George Winston’s “Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelebel� from his 1982 album December.My arrangement is a series of variations starting with a simple statement of the chord progression and gradually making use of the themes as the piece progresses. In this respect, it is more of a chaconne than a true canon. (A chaconne being a type of musical composition which uses a repeated short harmonic progression as a vehicle for variations and melodic invention). It eventually works its way to a section of forte chords based on the rhythm of the second theme before gradually returning to a simpler use of the chords and bass line from the opening.

Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1414486 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #996260. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1414486).

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 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: A0.1378686 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #963347. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1378686).

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1048637 By Michael Swedberg. By Terrence Niska. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary. Score. 4 pages. Niska Music Publishing #653046. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1048637). The winds howl, hurling the snow through the air with a vengeance. It is near impossible to see your hand before your face as the storm rages on and the Icy Breath of Winter threatens to freeze the very blood in your veins. This prelude requires the pianist to have a keen understanding of the multiple voices needed to be brought out between the hands. There is a great deal of arpeggio work in the left hand and the quick tempo of the piece demands a strong technique and lightness of touch.

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.