15 Most Famous Classical Piano Pieces You Should Know About

15 Most Famous Classical Piano Pieces You Should Know About

The piano has got to be the sweetest musical instrument to ever have been invented. It produces an amazing sound and when played professionally and artfully, you will never really tire of it. There are so many famous classical piano pieces that have graced the music scene for a very long time. Rightfully so because these are some of the most beautiful, talented, and unique pieces to ever have been played. Let’s take a look at some of the most famous piano pieces you should definitely be knowing about.

1. Moonlight Sonata- Beethoven

This piece is simply beautiful. It starts at a slow pace that just makes you absorb its beauty, melody, and the emotions it portrays. As it slowly picks up, this is the kind of piece that leaves you wondering how something can be so beautiful by the time it comes to an end. This piece is one of the most famous works of Beethoven and has been played so many times by other pianists who take Beethoven as their role model in this field.

2. Nocturnes, op.9; No.2 in E-flat major- Chopin

This piano piece was composed by Chopin when he was only 20 years old and it became the most famous and known works of his. It is a very beautiful and well-written song that brings so much to mind when you listen to it. You can hear a lot of passion in it and it’s probably because he attuned this melody to express his youthful passions. The build-up it has makes it all the more beautiful. The way it also picks up dramatically is something you also don’t see coming based on how it starts so slowly and smoothly. Simply put, it is ranked one of the most beautiful piano work to ever have been composed and written.

3. Rhapsody of a theme of Paganini- Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei was a Russian composer who did amazing work with this specific classical piano piece. He managed to compose this piece with 24 variations that can be played for a piano solo and an orchestra. The different emotions it evokes in someone as you listen to it is what makes it so beautiful. It remains to be one of the most played and famous Rachmaninoff piano pieces. It never grows old and every time it is played, we are reminded of this icon

4. Scenes from Childhood- Robert Schumann

One of the most calm and beautiful classical piano pieces you can come across. It is a bittersweet collection of piano miniatures that covers different themes like bedtime stories, calm sleep, storytelling, and many others. It starts off so calmly then slowly picks up, making it perfect for playful children’s storytelling sessions. It is also one of the most famous works of Schumann and remains to be so. It is quite nostalgic and magical.

5. Goldberg Variations- J.S Bach

This piano piece was originally written with the sole purpose of helping a Russian count deal with his insomnia by being able to fall asleep. It is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, the musician who played the variations found in this piano piece so that he could assist the count to be able to fall asleep. It has 30 different variations and it is quite somber, playful, nostalgic, and euphoric all at the same time. One actually understands why it is believed it would help cure insomnia. The way it is so calm and soft is something that would for sure calm your mind.

6. Piano Concerto no 5, ‘Emperor’- Beethoven

As noted earlier, Beethoven is one of the most gifted and talented musical composers to ever have existed alongside Mozart. It is no wonder that most of his piano pieces are ranked the most famous. This one right here is no exception. It is actually ranked as one of the greatest pieces to ever have been written for an instrument. It came to be known as ‘emperor’ because of a Napoleon officer who listened to it declared that it was indeed an ‘emperor of a concert.’ Rightfully so. This is the kind of piece that will command the attention of any room it is played in. After the soft introduction, it has, then picking up with a bang as it continues, makes it so unique and marvelous. Every pianist always wants to play this because indeed it is a masterpiece.

7. Piano Concerto No. 20- Mozart

Mozart is hands down one of the most talented musical composers to ever have existed. His works are endlessly quoted and remembered because he indeed left such a mark. To date, his works are studied and played endlessly. It is said that the first time this classical piece was played, Mozart himself took the role of a soloist and its final octave is legendary because of how it picks up on a dark and restless mood and finishes with a jolly and jubilant bang. Even Beethoven (as a young man) himself is said to have admired this work so much and it is one of the pieces that played a role in him becoming the icon he later became.

8. La Campanella- Liszt

La Campanella literally means ‘little bell’ and this is because the tune and melody of this piece sound like melodious bells being played together and also how its final movement is accompanied by a handbell. The tinkling and bell-like notes are what make it so famous and magical. It is a very beautiful piece that is magical and playful at the same time.

9. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor- Rachmaninov

The moment this piece begins playing, you feel like you are in a realm that is out of this world. That is what makes it so precious. The contrast between piano solo and orchestral themes makes it undeniably euphoric. It is quite an emotional one the later on in the middle picks up a playful melody and then again calms down. It basically gives you a rollercoaster of emotions that you do not really see coming and that is why it is such a beautiful piece.

10. Rhapsody In Blue- Gershwin

https://youtu.be/eFHdRkeEnpM

The irony with this particular classical piece is that it was not really embraced well by critics in the 1920s. However, it is quite unique. In fact, the most unique and out-of-this-world piece to ever be written because it took a different approach. This piece had mashed up jazz sounds and classical and this is what grounded Gershwin as a serious and creative composer. Why? Because quite honestly composing a typical classical piano sound that has jazz at its baseline is not an easy feat. Hence, it remains to be one of the most famous and nicely done pieces.

11. Clair De Lune- Claude Debussy

Clair De Lune means ‘moonlight.’ It may easily be confused with Beethoven’s Moonlight but when you listen to it keenly, there is a striking difference. Beethoven took a romantic classism approach while Debussy took an impressionism approach. It actually took Debussy 15 years to write it and thus it appears quite simplistic and easy to play but don’t be fooled. It demands only the best from its performers. It requires that you become totally intuned with it to bring out the best in it. When done right, it creates a lasting impression hence the simplistic yet complicated and grounded at the same time approach Debussy took.

12. The Well-tempered Clavier- J.S Bach

This particular piece is completely an innovative one. It managed to pave the way for composers who were specifically writing for keyboard instruments. This would go on for the next many hundreds of years. This piece came to be well known as Bach’s most famous and influential works. It sounds a bit simplistic but that’s the very thing that makes it so beautiful and grounded.

13. Sonata Pathetique- Beethoven

It starts with such a bang and that’s when you know that it will be such an interesting ride with it. Then again, this is Beethoven we are talking about so it really isn’t a surprise that this piece is so iconic and out of this world. The playful scales it adopts somewhere in the middle is something to also lift up your spirits and this is what makes it so tireless and recognizable everytime it starts playing. It is no wonder it remains to be one of the most iconic and celebrated works of Beethoven to date.

14. Piano Concerto- Clara Schumann

Apart from her being a woman in a period where many celebrated musical composers were men, Clara Schumann is one of the best pianists of her time. This classical piece is proof that she gave her all and the somber mood it has makes it all the more beautiful. It is quite emotional and it gives off the vibe of peace of mind. Sadly, Clara Schumann stopped composing because again as mentioned, in her era women were really supposed to just be seen. In her own words, she declared,

“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 is quite sad because as proved by this piece, she was quite a talented composer and she would have created masterpieces if she had continued.

15. Piano Trio- Rebecca Clarke

This was a more recent classical piano piece having been composed in the 20^th century. The composer, Rebecca Clarke trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London. This piece that she composed, for lack of a better word, it is quite magical and euphoric. It gives you so many emotions the moment you listen to it and it is not a surprise that this piece is considered one of the greatest pieces to ever have been written for piano, cello, and violin, hence the name, ‘piano trio.’

Piano classical will forever remain to be the kind of music that just calms your soul. Makes you feel like you are out of this world and everything you is just calm and peaceful.