Piano Repertoire
44 pieces · 19 composers · 92 editions
Ludwig van Beethoven
7 pieces
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Moonlight"
The "Moonlight" Sonata, subtitled "Sonata quasi una fantasia," opens with one of the most recognizable movements in all of classical music. ...
Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major
The finest of Beethoven's five cello sonatas and a landmark in the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1808 during the same fertile period...
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor "Pathétique"
One of Beethoven's most celebrated early sonatas, the "Pathétique" opens with a dramatic Grave introduction that returns throughout the stor...
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata"
The "Appassionata" is one of Beethoven's most powerful and technically demanding sonatas. The first movement builds from a brooding opening ...
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major "Waldstein"
Dedicated to Count Waldstein, this sonata marks the beginning of Beethoven's middle "heroic" period. The first movement's rapidly repeated c...
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major "Kreutzer"
The grandest of Beethoven's ten violin sonatas, originally dedicated to George Bridgetower. The dramatic first movement is followed by one o...
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor
Beethoven's final piano sonata, a two-movement work of cosmic scope. The turbulent first movement in C minor gives way to the Arietta, a sub...
Frédéric Chopin
7 pieces
Ballade No. 1 in G minor
The first of Chopin's four ballades, inspired by the poetry of Adam Mickiewicz. A narrative arc from the mysterious opening through lyrical ...
Étude in C major "Waterfall"
The opening étude of Chopin's Op. 10, dedicated to Franz Liszt. Wide-spanning arpeggios cascade across the keyboard, demanding extraordinary...
Étude in C minor "Revolutionary"
Reportedly composed after Chopin learned of the fall of Warsaw to Russian forces in 1831, the "Revolutionary" Étude channels political fury ...
Nocturne in E-flat major
The most famous of Chopin's twenty-one nocturnes, composed when he was just twenty years old. A singing right-hand melody floats over a gent...
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor
The most popular of Chopin's four scherzos, opening with a sotto voce question-and-answer figure that explodes into a brilliant con fuoco re...
Polonaise in A-flat major "Heroic"
The "Heroic" Polonaise is Chopin's most triumphant statement of Polish national pride. After a dramatic introduction, the famous main theme ...
Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor
Published posthumously against Chopin's wishes, the Fantaisie-Impromptu is one of the most popular piano pieces ever written. Its technical ...
Franz Schubert
5 pieces
Erlkönig
Schubert's dramatic setting of Goethe's ballad, composed at age 18. The singer portrays four characters (narrator, father, son, Erlking) whi...
Ave Maria (Ellens dritter Gesang)
Schubert's setting of Adam Storck's German translation of a passage from Walter Scott's "The Lady of the Lake." Although commonly associated...
Die Forelle (The Trout)
One of Schubert's most charming songs, depicting a trout swimming in a brook and a fisherman's treachery. The piano's sparkling figuration e...
Impromptu in G-flat major
A serenely beautiful piece built on a flowing melody over gently rocking arpeggiated figures. Its deceptive simplicity conceals the need for...
Piano Sonata in B-flat major
Schubert's last piano sonata, completed just weeks before his death in 1828. The first movement's vast, song-like expanses and mysterious ba...
Johann Sebastian Bach
3 pieces
Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major (WTC I)
The opening piece of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. The Prelude's flowing broken chords became the foundation for Gounod's Ave Maria. Th...
Goldberg Variations
A monumental set of an aria and thirty variations, originally composed for two-manual harpsichord. Every third variation is a canon at incre...
Italian Concerto in F major
Bach's brilliant imitation of an Italian orchestral concerto for solo keyboard. Written for two-manual harpsichord, the contrasts between fo...
Johannes Brahms
3 pieces
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor
Brahms's first cello sonata, composed between 1862 and 1865, is a work of grave beauty in three movements. The opening Allegro non troppo fe...
Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
Perhaps the most famous lullaby ever written, composed in 1868 for Brahms's friend Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son. The melody, ...
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Brahms's first orchestral work began life as a sonata for two pianos before being reworked into a symphony and finally a concerto. The titan...
Franz Liszt
3 pieces
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor
The most famous of Liszt's nineteen Hungarian Rhapsodies. It follows the traditional Hungarian verbunkos structure: a slow, improvisatory la...
Liebesträume No. 3 in A-flat major
The third and most famous of Liszt's three "Dreams of Love." A sweeping nocturne that builds from tender lyricism to a passionate climax wit...
Piano Sonata in B minor
One of the supreme achievements of 19th-century piano music. Cast in a single continuous movement, Liszt fuses sonata form with a four-movem...
Claude Debussy
2 pieces
Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque, III)
The third movement of Debussy's Suite bergamasque, inspired by Verlaine's poem of the same name. Its ethereal arpeggios and delicate dynamic...
Arabesque No. 1 in E major
One of Debussy's earliest and most beloved piano works. The intertwining melodic lines evoke the decorative arabesques of visual art. Though...
Robert Schumann
2 pieces
Kinderszenen, Op. 15 (Träumerei)
A cycle of thirteen short pieces depicting scenes from childhood, viewed through adult eyes. The seventh piece, "Träumerei" (Dreaming), is o...
Carnaval
Subtitled "Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes," Carnaval is a suite of twenty-one short pieces based on the musical letters A-S-C-H. Portrait...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2 pieces
Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major "Alla Turca"
Unique among Mozart's sonatas for lacking a movement in sonata form. It opens with a graceful theme and six variations, continues with a Men...
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major "Elvira Madigan"
The famous Andante second movement, used in the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan," is one of Mozart's most sublimely beautiful creations, w...
Sergei Rachmaninoff
1 piece
Gabriel Fauré
1 piece
David Popper
1 piece
Maurice Ravel
1 piece
Sergei Prokofiev
1 piece
Pablo de Sarasate
1 piece
Camille Saint-Saëns
1 piece
Fritz Kreisler
1 piece
Henryk Wieniawski
1 piece
Jules Massenet
1 piece