20 Classical Piano Pieces You’ve Heard But Don’t Know the Name
Have you heard these amazing classical piano pieces at some point in your life? I believe most people have certainly come across these famous classical piano songs, you will be amazed at the beauty and effect these beautiful compositions have on our feelings. They are really wonderful works recommended for people of all ages. So here are twenty of the best and most famous piano pieces ever written, enjoy!
How about enjoying some of these famous piano songs? Here you will find many incredible things, true masterpieces that have stood the test of time and still have much history to tell and many generations to enchant and thrill with their wonderful and mysterious melodies.
Famous classical piano songs that you have heard, but don’t know the name of
Below you can enjoy this beautiful list containing famous classical piano pieces and a brief description of each of these wonderful compositions. I hope you enjoy it.
Choosing these famous classical piano songs was not a really easy task. The initial idea was to choose only 10 piano pieces, however, with the large amount of classical piano compositions that the great composers have left us as their incredible legacy made this task a bit complicated. However, we decided to choose 20 famous piano songs for you and all lovers of this incredible musical instrument.
1. Beethoven – Für Elise
The little Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor for solo piano better known as “Für Elise” (Pour Elise), is one of Beethoven’s most popular compositions, its score would have been four years after the composer’s death.
Für Elise must be one of the best-known piano pieces in the history of music. According to the legend contained in the mysteries surrounding Beethoven’s life. The famous genius of classical music was in love with the daughter of an Italian doctor and would have composed a play for her, but her father did not like Beethoven. It is also known that at that time he had a student to whom he had dedicated a famous piano work. There are still many other theories surrounding this unique song.
2. Debussy – Clair de Lune
The Wonderful Lune is the song over De De, this wonderful song over De, this is composed of a whole piece tone scale and a piano full of famous whole pieces with a full piano pentatonic scale full of so smooth music expression and a piece filled with classical piano pieces that is difficult to explain is truly an enchanted song.
To learn more about this composition, read: Why is Clair de Lune a masterpiece?
3. Mozart – Rondo Alla Turca (Turkish March)
One of the piano students’ favorite pieces of this music is the last movement of Mozart’s Sonata K. 331 in A major, named in the score as Rondo (alla turca) and popularly known here as “Turkish March”. She is a joyful and very adorable song, often appearing in the repertoire of many classical pianists.
The music of the classical period, also known as Classicism (1750-1790) is a musical and artistic movement in which Mozart is recognized as one of its main names. His work is considered perfect and great, here I speak specifically related to his piano compositions that contain chords and notes played with speed and precision, but also with great simplicity, the “Turkish March” is a music of very joyful feeling and deep and beautiful softness. Well, Mozart is unmistakable, and I hope you enjoy his music which has the power to relax, soothe and improve your thoughts.
Discover other compositions by Mozart at: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Music, Facts And Amazing Things
4. Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 n.º 2, in C minor, “Quasi una fantasia”, is one of Beethoven’s most famous works and an incredible classical piano piece that was composed in the period when Beethoven was already partially deaf, this explains the characteristic introspective view of the work demonstrating that the brilliant artist was going through difficult times in his personal life.
It was named the Moonlight Sonata when critic Ludwif Rellstab compared the dramatic smoothness of its first movement to a moonlit night over Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
Above all, the moonlight sonata has the ability to create a sensation that conveys many feelings of peace, tranquility, comfort and an inspiration that leads us to reflect on our own life.
5. Chopin – Nocturne in E Flat Major (Op. 9 No. 2)
This is the best-known piano piece by Polish composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin. This nocturne is one of the most beautiful and romantic piano pieces in the history of music, simply a true masterpiece that enchants all those who listen to it. Chopin was only 20 years old when he composed this song.
6. Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Well friend here is one of the most difficult piano pieces for even the most experienced pianists. Playing Liszt’s music requires a lot of skill and technique to use all the keys on the piano. The inspiration for this magnificent piano work is the Hungarian gypsy folk culture of Liszt’s time. It is a unique piece of music, totally original and very creative, demonstrating all the virtuosity and versatility of the pianist.
You can learn more about Liszt’s biography here: Franz Liszt Biography – Facts, & Compositions
7. Satie – Gymnopédie No. 1
A beautiful piano song that presents us with a beautiful and very minimalist sound. It is also a song that represents the impressionist movement well with its modern sound that has few notes but with a surprising melodic sensibility and a mysterious atmosphere in its harmony.
The Gymnopédies form a set of three piano compositions written by French composer Erik Satie beginning in 1888 in Paris. You will find a lot of softness in these solo piano pieces that are called the forerunners of ambient music. The French composer’s music was marked by the simplicity of form and the absence of complicated arrangements. He believed that his style of music served to complement the environment, and in this way he exerted a great influence on other French composers of the time such as Debussy and Ravel. We can still find many elements in his sound that are used in today’s modern music such as jazz, pop, and gospel.
8. Liszt – Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream)
The beautiful classical piano piece Liebestraum, also called “Love Dream“, is the last of the three eponymous pieces composed by Liszt. It is an amazing and very romantic piano piece that seems to elevate the feelings of love and passion with the fabulous piano playing. According to historians, Liszt was in agreement with historians when he wrote this music because he was in love with Princess Carolyne of Sayn-Wittgenstein and had just lost his great friend Frédéric Chopin.
9. Johann Sebastian Bach – Prelude in C Major
This classical piano piece is part of the great songbook known as The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Prelude in C Major is one of the most famous piano compositions and music history. There is a wonderful musical structure here with the use of chords and overlapping notes creating a simple and ingenious harmony.
This prelude was also a source of inspiration for the French composer Charles Gounod to compose the famous “Ave Maria de Bach-Gounod”.
10. Chopin – Prelude in E minor (Op. 28 No. 4)
Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 is a beautiful and relatively easy piano songs that is perfect for beginners and intermediate players alike. The piece is written in the key of E minor and features a simple yet haunting melody that is both expressive and emotional.
A music that finds beauty in Chopin’s sad soul. I hope you like this beautiful composition.
11. Minuet in G Major – Bach (Petzold)
Here we have Bach’s most famous minuet, a small piano piece that is part of the renowned collection entitled Little Book of Anna Magdalena Bach that is present in the musical repertoire of early studies of classical piano students.
The minuet is actually a style of dance, composed in ternary time (like the waltzes), and characterized by the elegance and delicacy of the movements.
The minuet dance was widely performed in the Middle Ages and spread across Europe in the following centuries; it was the most popular dance among the European aristocracy. The minuet can be composed as an isolated piece or belong to larger works, mainly suites and symphonies.
Among the composers who excelled in writing minuets were Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Paderewski, and Jean-Baptiste Lully.
12. Bach – Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
The famous composition Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is a grand and imposing piece, one of those church organ pieces that were created from the sound originating from the pipes of these fabulous musical instruments. However, that does not prevent this amazing piece by Bach from being played on a piano or even using organ tones recorded on an electronic keyboard.
13. Chopin – Marche Funèbre (Funeral March)
The Funeral March is one of Chopin’s best-known songs. This majestic piano piece is actually the third movement of the magnificent Sonata nº 2 in B Flat Minor. A slow and extremely reflective movement that doesn’t require great technique like the other movements in this Chopin sonata. Everything demands the purest sensitivity in the interpretation and that’s why we don’t find many pianists who perform their original version.
For a deeper look at his music also enjoy: Chopin Nocturnes
14. Debussy – Arabesque No. 1
Here we have another impressionist piano piece by Debussy. The music seeks to convey the beauty, contained in the environment, creating a sound dimension, where the pianist’s hand slides with great fluidity and lightness through the interesting keyboard of the piano, a really interesting song.
15. Dvorak – Humoresque No.7 in G flat
The famous Humoresque No.7 by Czech composer Antonín Dvorák is a beautiful and simple piano piece that shows us a contagious and very charismatic melody, created during the period he was in the United States. He is recognized as one of the most important composers of classical music and a great cultural representative of his origin.
16. Rimsky Korsakov – Flight of the Bumblebee
The Flight of the Bumblebee is an interlude written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan and is one of the best known works in the classical repertoire. The piece is inspired by the flight of a bee and nowadays has become a favorite piece of music for piano performances.
17. Beethoven Sonata No. 8 Op. 13 (Pathetique)
Beethoven wrote the incredible Pathétique piano sonata in 1798, when he was only 27 years old. Dedicated to his friend Prince Karl Lichnowsky, this imposing and revolutionary piano sonata is structured in three movements.
18. Chopin Grande Valse Brillante Op. 18
The Great Bright Waltz or Waltz in E flat major Opus 18, often used in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry. It is a very fun intermediate level piano piece to play. This piece was composed in 1833 and published the following year. It was one of Chopin’s first waltzes, check here the performance by the amazing pianist Valentina Lisitsa.
19. Schumann – Träumerei, “Kinderszenen” No. 7, Scenes from Childhood
Here we have a very simple and extremely beautiful little piano piece. It is Traumerei (Reverie) from the collection of piano compositions Kinderszenen Op. 15 (scenes from childhood) by the German composer Robert Schumann. Listen to Horowitz’s piano performance below.
20. Johannes Brahms – Wiegenlied Op. 49 No. 4 (Lullaby)
The Wiegenlied (Lullaby), Opus 49 No. 4, is one of the most famous pieces of music by the German composer Johannes Brahms. Published in 1868 and dedicated to his friend Bertha Faber as a gift to celebrate the birth of her son.
Conclusion on famous classical piano songs
This was our list of 20 classical piano pieces that you know, but don’t know the name of. It was very difficult to choose and we had to leave out so many others. I hope that these songs will give you a brief moment of peace and joy, how about recommending this content to your friends and family? It can be fun and we would love to know what your favorite piano song is. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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