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Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, written by the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin, is one of the most beautiful, beloved, and frequently performed pieces of classical music. Written in the Romantic era in the early 1830s, this solo piano piece displays Chopin's mastery of melancholic expression.
Träumerei, Op. 15, No. 7 is a solo piano piece, composed by German composer Robert Schumann. It is the most renowned and best-known movement of his Scene of Childhood, which is a set of eight pieces grouped into two sets of four, composed in 1838. Origin and Release Träumerei is a part of Schumann's Scene from Childhood, which was his first ...
Reverie is a solo piano piece, composed by Claude Debussy in 1890. It features a range of subtle, dreamy emotions, and is often considered a symbol of the Impressionism musical movement. Originally published as the fifth movement of his Suite Bergamasque, the piece went on to become one of Debussy's best known works.
- Beethoven – ‘Moonlight’ Sonata
- Clara Schumann – Piano Concerto
- Debussy – Clair de Lune
- Chopin – Nocturne in E Flat Major
- Rebecca Clarke – Piano Trio
- Robert Schumann – Scenes from Childhood
- J.S. Bach – The Well-Tempered Clavier
- J.S. Bach – Goldberg Variations
- Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’
- Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
The heart-stoppingly beautiful first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata is the most famous from his work, and was described by composer Hector Berlioz as a ‘lamentation’. But it couldn’t be more different from the third movement, an epic technical work-out for the fingers... Read more: The 25 best piano players of all time
Clara Schumann was one of the best known pianists of her time, but sadly she moved away from composing, saying "I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose – there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?". This beautiful piano concerto gives us an i...
Curiously, ‘Clair de Lune’ also means ‘Moonlight’ – but there’s a stark contrast between Beethoven’s Romantic classicism and Debussy’s Impressionism. Don’t be fooled by the initial simplicity of ‘Clair de Lune’: it took Debussy 15 years to write the third movement of the Suite Bergamasque, and the result is a work that sounds simple, but demands th...
Chopin composed his most well-known nocturne at the tender age of 20, which perhaps accounts for its youthful passion. The build-up from the main theme and waltz-like accompaniment to the dramatic trill-filled finale makes the Nocturnein E-flat Major a strong contender for the most beautiful piano work ever written.
Rebecca Clarkewas a 20th-century British composer, who trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London before crossing the pond and spending the rest of her life in America. Her music is always thrilling, experimental and enormously powerful. Her Viola Sonata is considered one of the greatest pieces ever written for the i...
Schumann’s Kinderszenenare a bittersweet collection of piano miniatures covering themes like games of chase, night-time terrors, bedtime stories and sleep. The most famous, ‘Traumerei’ paints a peaceful musical picture of a child’s dreams. It’s tender and beautifully nostalgic.
The Well-Tempered Clavier was completely innovative for its day, and it paved the way for composers writing for keyboard instruments for the next few hundred years. Bachwrote the first of the two books that make up his work in 1722, making this one of the earliest pieces on our list. Each of the two books contain 24 Preludes and Fugues (the whole w...
Bach’s 30 variations on a theme were originally written to help a Russian count overcome his insomnia – and they are named after a keyboard player called Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the very musician who played the Variations to help the count drift off to sleep. The work opens with a simple statement of the theme (the ‘aria’) and t...
The last of Beethoven’s great piano concertos, the ‘Emperor’ has a strong claim to be the greatest piece ever written for the instrument. The nickname wasn’t given to the piece by the composer himself but apparently by one of Napoleon’s officers who declared it was ‘an emperor of a concerto’. After the colossal first movement, the second movement f...
‘Rhapsody in Blue’ wasn’t entirely positively received by 1920s critics, yet its melange of classical and jazz style grounded Gershwin’s reputation as a serious composer – and its jazz influences are what gives the landmark piece its sultry and indulgent character.
- Requiem. Mozart’s Requiem is possibly the greatest ever example of the power of music. After receiving a commission from an anonymous source, Mozart embarked on one of the most soul-searching musical journeys of his life.
- Horn Concerto No.4. A cheery horn melody, coupled with playful strings, is enough to put anyone in a good mood. Mozart wrote it in 1786 for his friend Joseph Leutgeb, a virtuoso horn player.
- The Marriage of Figaro. Mischievous scurrying strings, interrupted by grandiose wind and brass fanfares, Mozart manages to tell more or less the whole story of his opera in its overture’s first eight bars!
- Piano Concerto No.21, ‘Elvira Madigan’ Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21 has received much of its popularity from its use in themes, and it’s also one of his greatest works.
Nov 10, 2023 · 3. Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889. Photograph: Courtesy CC/Flickr/Wally Gobetz. Vincent Van Gogh’s most popular painting, The Starry Night was created by Van Gogh at the asylum in ...
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Aug 19, 2021 · It’s because they are arguably his boldest, most beautiful works; because even though they were made to hang together, they have not been physically united since the 16th century and because the ...
