Past charm that still brings a smile.
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For anyone who is a fan of Flanders & Swann and wishes to attempt to recreate their performances then this is the book for you. It is far from a complete collection with many pieces that are ommitted, however this is the best sellection for the best price that I have come across.
A high musical ability is needed (grade 5 piano minimum for most of the easier pieces), some pieces are very simple and will take minutes to play while others will take longer.
The biggest problem that I found with the book was that the sheer size of it made it hard to play from as it would readily fall onto the keys from the piano as I played. Also the pages flick back easily so the book may turn the page itself in the middle of the piece.
I would suggest removing the pages from the book and placing all the pages in a folder as i have to make it easier to keep the right page infront of you.
Anyone of any age can enjoy these pieces and it is surprising how little has changed since they were all originally written.
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Excellent music, shame about the book
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As others have said, the music printed in this songbook is brilliant, and hasn't (as so much else has) been mutilated so that the piano line follows the vocal... the vast majority of it sounds exactly as it does on the record, which is great! The reason I only gave it 4* rather than 5 is because the printing of the book is awful... the pages are barely secured in, so when you bend the book in order to keep it open at a particular page, pages often fall out, which is mildly irritating and requires a bit of cellotape repair work. Otherwise great, and highly recommended.
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Music to laugh with!
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If ever there was a book which contained so much laughter, I have never met it! After hearing some of Michael Flanders beautifully crafted asides and Donald Swann's superb piano accompaniments, there was only one book for me to have in my music collection.
Performing these items in concerts and for friends is such a joy as the arrangements are simply glorious. The joy on peoples faces when hearing these songs again just go so deep that you want to sing them all over again!!
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An excellent reminder
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This book includes all the best of their songs with easy to read music and words. If you just want to remember, or if you want to try and recreate their performances, this is the book for you. It is great just to sit at the keyboard and bash out the basics with everyone joining in around!! Well worth the price.
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A Near Perfect Collection of the Music of Flanders and Swann
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A superb and beautifully printed reissue of many of the wonderful songs from the revues 'At the drop of a hat' and 'At the drop of another hat' as well as numerous others. The piano-writing varies in difficulty with songs to suit every level of ability (the words are printed alongside and separately from the musical notation): several are printed exactly as they were performed. All in all a quite wonderful collection of the duo's songs: unmissable.
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