I did some searches for this forum but mostly found results for classical. I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to list some of their favorite piano music and composers. I'm talking songs that are strictly piano, not with the orchestra and stuff like that.
To give you an idea of what I'm into and looking for, here are some of my favorites:
Philip Glass: 'The Hours', 'Metamorphosis' (pt. 5), 'Glassworks'.
'Besaid Island' from the FFX Piano Collection. I actually like most of what's on that collection, including 'The Three Trails', 'Attack', and 'Memories of Light and Waves'.
'Moonlight Sonata' by Beethoven is pretty cool.
Piano Music
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Piano Music
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Simplicius
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Another good Joplin piece is "Bethena" a lively-yet-melancholy concert waltz. Can't go wrong with ragtime, in my opinion.
Chopin's Ballade No. 1 was used to good effect in The Pianist, so I'm rather fond of it now.
A fair number of well-known pieces exist in orchestrated as well as piano-only versions - Dvorak's Slavonic Dances and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue are two examples off the top of my head.
Chopin's Ballade No. 1 was used to good effect in The Pianist, so I'm rather fond of it now.
A fair number of well-known pieces exist in orchestrated as well as piano-only versions - Dvorak's Slavonic Dances and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue are two examples off the top of my head.
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The Acta Diurna: My blog on politics, history, theatre tech, music, and more!
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"Sakura Kiss for Piano" - 桜蘭高校ホスト部
Rachmaninov's ... anything.
"The Piano Duet" - Corpse Bride Soundtrack
Rachmaninov's ... anything.
"The Piano Duet" - Corpse Bride Soundtrack
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Erik Satie - "Gymnopedie No. 1"
Shiro Sagisu - "Yume no Sukima" ("Opening of Dream"). It's the last song that plays in The End of Evangelion, a slow gentle piece of bleak hope.
Shiro Sagisu - "Yume no Sukima" ("Opening of Dream"). It's the last song that plays in The End of Evangelion, a slow gentle piece of bleak hope.
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Oh man. You really shouldn't get me started...
Everything by Chopin is wonderful. My personal favorite is the Fantaisie-Impromptu, but a couple of the Etudes are particularly brilliant, especially Opus 25, No. 11 in A minor. The Ballades are longer and don't have the condensed excitement of the Etudes, but they're beautiful nonetheless, and they feel more complete than the Etudes somehow. My favorite is the one in G minor. Then there are the Nocturnes... you know what? I think I'll shut up about Chopin.
It's hard to go wrong with Rachmaninoff too. I have to admit I'm not as familiar with him as I am with Chopin, but my favorite piece of his is the Concerto in C Minor (I don't know what number it is). That's got orchestral backing, though. For purely piano pieces, I like his Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, even though it's overplayed.
As for Beethoven, there are three really fantastic sonatas. The others are nice too, but the Appassionata, the Moonlight and the Pathetique are the three best. I'm also fond of the third movement of the Tempest.
With a few people mentioning Joplin, I'm shocked nobody's mentioned the Maple Leaf Rag, which is his best rag in my opinion. That one always makes me think of eighth grade, because in eighth grade I could play that piece like nobody's business. That was fun as hell.
There's a somewhat lesser-known 20th century Russian composer named Aram Khatchaturian (I think I spelled it correctly) that wrote a piece simply called Toccata, which has basically nothing to do with Bach's version of toccatas, but damn if it isn't one of the most fun pieces I've ever played.
Gershwin wrote three piano preludes that are really fun to play and to listen to. They're always played together.
I could go on if you like, but I think I've given you a lot already.
Everything by Chopin is wonderful. My personal favorite is the Fantaisie-Impromptu, but a couple of the Etudes are particularly brilliant, especially Opus 25, No. 11 in A minor. The Ballades are longer and don't have the condensed excitement of the Etudes, but they're beautiful nonetheless, and they feel more complete than the Etudes somehow. My favorite is the one in G minor. Then there are the Nocturnes... you know what? I think I'll shut up about Chopin.
It's hard to go wrong with Rachmaninoff too. I have to admit I'm not as familiar with him as I am with Chopin, but my favorite piece of his is the Concerto in C Minor (I don't know what number it is). That's got orchestral backing, though. For purely piano pieces, I like his Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, even though it's overplayed.
As for Beethoven, there are three really fantastic sonatas. The others are nice too, but the Appassionata, the Moonlight and the Pathetique are the three best. I'm also fond of the third movement of the Tempest.
With a few people mentioning Joplin, I'm shocked nobody's mentioned the Maple Leaf Rag, which is his best rag in my opinion. That one always makes me think of eighth grade, because in eighth grade I could play that piece like nobody's business. That was fun as hell.
There's a somewhat lesser-known 20th century Russian composer named Aram Khatchaturian (I think I spelled it correctly) that wrote a piece simply called Toccata, which has basically nothing to do with Bach's version of toccatas, but damn if it isn't one of the most fun pieces I've ever played.
Gershwin wrote three piano preludes that are really fun to play and to listen to. They're always played together.
I could go on if you like, but I think I've given you a lot already.
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