The Most Recognisable Piano Pieces
Certain piano pieces have been done to death. Many of them are perfectly good pieces, such as Moonlight and the Entertainer, but too much of a good thing inevitably becomes a bad thing. If you hear anyone talking endlessly about these pieces, there's a good chance he or she pretends to know a thing about music when he or she doesn't know anything at all.
Please only list pieces that are (at least partially) famous because of the piano. Examples of works that should not be listed:
-Pavane by FaurƩ - although originally for the piano, it's the orchestrated version that's famous
-Ah! Vous dirai-je, MamanĀ by Mozart - only famous because of Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars and the Alphabet Song; few people can play the variations in their heads.
Examples of works that can be listed:
-Ragtime Dance by Joplin - originally has lyrics, but that version is long forgotten
-Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov - Although many versions are known, including the original and violin arrangement, Rach's piano arrangement is one of the best-known versions
-Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Liszt - the orchestral version is famous, but not as known as the original piano version
-Toccata and Fugue by Bach - everyone's heard that on the piano, right?
Rule of thumb: Do you think someone who knows nothing about classical music has heard it played on the piano before? If the answer is yes, list it!
*Also, CONCERTOS COUNT!*- 1Ludwig van Beethoven
- 2Ludwig van Beethoven
- 3Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 4
Clair de Lune
- 5Yiruma
- 6
Flight of the Bumblebee
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninov - 7Joshua Rifkin
- 8
First Movement from Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 9
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
Johann Sebastian Bach - 10Vladimir Ashkenazy
- 11JenŠJandó
- 12
Maple Leaf Rag
- 13
GymnopƩdie No. 1
Erik Satie - 14
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
- 15
Arabesque No.1
- 16Franz Liszt
- 17Ludwig van Beethoven
- 18
Minute Waltz
- 19
Polonaise, Op. 53 A-Flat Major "Heroic"
- 20
Meditation on Prelude No. 1 of Bach, for violin or cello & piano with organ or cello ad lib. (or other instrumental arrangement)
J. S. Bach - 21
Anna Magdalena Notebook: Minuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115
- 22
Hungarian Dance #5
- 23
Piano Man
Billy Joel - 24
Piano Concerto No. 2
- 25George Gershwin