Customer Reviews

Jane Austen's World: Evocative Music from the Classic Feature Films Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma, and Persuasion - For Piano

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2 star:		(1)
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I bought this book and several others that have not arrived yet. It is a lovely book and I'm so happy to have it in my collection. It includes:
From EMMA by Rachel Portman:
Frank Churchill Arrives
End Titles

From SENSE & SENSIBILITY by Patrick Doyle
My Father's Favorite
Devonshire
ALl the Better for Her
Excellent Notion
The Dreame

From PRIDE & PREJUDICE by Carl Davis
Theme
Canon Collins
The Gardiners
Summary

From PERSUASION by Jeremy Sams
Theme
Tristesse
Italian Aria

I purchased this book without really knowing which music was included, but I definitely wanted the Sense & Sensibility pieces. I really enjoy all of them, especially the pieces from Persuasion. Funny, but that soundtrack never stood out to me when I watched this film. I really wouldn't have thought those pieces would be my favorite. Italian Aria, though, is gorgeous and, though simple, even my 11 year old son came over to the piano when I was playing and exclaimed how pretty the music was! The pieces range from cheerful and upbeat to haunting and sad. Additionally, some sound as if they were written during the baroque period, and some sound as if they were written during the Romantic period. A real variety of music is presented here.

I am thoroughly enjoying this book. The transcriptions are really for beginners to intermediate level players. The easier pieces, though, are not "EASY PIANO". It's just easier because the tempo is simple and there are only a couple of sharps or flats at one time. There is nothing too difficult here, but they still sound wonderful.

After purchasing this I was checking the different tunes to the music clips from the soundtracks. The book doesn't say anything about which versions of the Jane Austen movies these are from.

The Emma songs (Frank Churchill Arrives and End Titles) are from the 1996 Miramax motion picture with Gwyneth Paltrow.

The Sense and Sensibility songs (My Father's Favourite, Devonshire, All the Better for Her, Excellent Notion, and The Dreame) are from the 1995 movie with Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, and Kate Winslet. Too bad it doesn't include I Weep You No More Sad Fountains.

The Pride and Prejudice songs (Theme, Cannon Collins, The Gardiners, Summary) are from the 1996 A&E Special Presentation with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Still popular to many Jane Austen fans, but not from the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley.

I couldn't track down where the Persuasion songs (Theme, Tristesse, and Italian Aria) were from. (Read the comments, one of them did!)

The music is beautiful, I just wish I could have been a bit more informed about the music before buying it.

This music was a bit easier than I had expected, but was still very well put together. The music from Emma sounds almost the same as from the movie, and the other songs are very similar. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would like to quickly learn and play beautiful music from Jane Austen's movies!

Not all Austen adaptations are created equal. This collection is from the best:

"EMMA" (1996 version with Kate Beckinsale, NOT Gwynneth Paltrow) composed by Rachel Portman: Frank Churchill Arrives; End Titles

"SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" (1995 version with Emma Thompson) composed by Patrick Doyle: My Father's Favourite; Devonshire; All The Better For Her; Excellent Notion; The Dreame

"PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" (1995 mini-series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) composed by Carl Davis: Pride & Prejudice - Theme; Canon Collins; The Gardiners; Summary

"PERSUASION" (1995 version with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds) composed by Jeremy Sams: Persuasion - Main Theme; Tristesse; Italian Aria;

If you are a Jane Austen fan and play the piano, even if only a very little, you will enjoy learning this set of songs. I was just given this book from a dear friend (who also adores Austen's literary works as well as plays the piano) and could not wait to begin playing these familiar songs today, taking me back to the piano after too many years' absence! `Tis truly a perfect gift!
Kerri Bennett Williamson, Author

I was very pleased with this collection of songs. The songs range from easy to more complicated ("My Father's Favorite" is a beginner piece, whereas the "Theme from Pride and Prejudice" is for a more advanced pianist). All are arranged beautifully. I purchased the book specifically for "My Father's Favorite", and it is a beautiful piece, which impresses all who hear it played. This collection DOES indeed include a version of "Weep You No More Sad Fountains", but under the title "All the Better for Her". I have both this book of music and the Patrick Doyle version of The Dreame and Weep you No More Sad Fountains (2 piece collection) and found that the Jane Austen's World versions were somewhat simplified. I appreciated both versions.

The bottom line is....if you are a fan of this genre of films, you will not be disappointed with this collection of songs. I am so grateful to have it in my piano bench (though it doesn't stay there long). While they may not challenge the most experienced pianists, sitting at the piano to play these arrangements will take you back to your favorite Jane Austen films. The arrangements capture the spirit of the songs and the movies. This is absolutely a must-have for lovers of Jane Austen films.

So you started learning piano in your 40's, you got about half way through the third (of three) Alfred's books and it takes 40 or 50 repetitions to learn a new piece of music. Your wife is a Jane Austen afficionada. This book is a great choice. Challenging pieces for the beginner and nice tunes.

A nice collection of different pieces from Jane Austen movies. I found the music to sound very much like the music in the movies, and have loved playing it! I highly recommend it if you have enjoyed the music from Jane Austen movies, particularly "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility."

If you love Jane Austen movies and play the piano then this is the book for you. The selections are from various movie adaptations of Jane Austen's beloved stories. You are sure to recognize many of them and re-viewing the movies again will remind you of others. The pieces in this selection are fairly easy; I've been playing for 3 years. My teenage daughter plays form the book almost every day.

The songs in the book are from Emma (Mirmax), Sense and Sensiblity (1995), Pride and Prejudice (1995), and Persuasion (1995). Songs are for all level of players. It also includes the 'Italian Aria' theme from Persuasion sung by the Italian singer and 'My father's favorite' from Sense and Sensibility.