Christmas Piano Music

If you thought there was a dearth of festive piano music, this potpourri of rarities proves otherwise. Finnish composer Selim Palmgren’s “Snowflakes”—a delicate, wintry scene against the backdrop of pealing bells—sets the tone before Ferruccio Busoni’s and Sergei Lyapunov’s takes on Christmas Eve. And Arnold Bax’s variations on the English folk carol “O Dame Get Up and Bake Your Pies” is pure yuletide fun. Whether it be Gustav Helsted’s warming “Pastorale” or Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann’s reflective “Juletrøst”, Froundjian’s recital album is a beautiful oasis amid the Christmas chaos.