Wednesday, 7 September 2011

September

September is National Classical Music Month, and it’s also National Piano Month. Here are a dozen of my favorite classic keyboard compositions:

Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 12 Variations on Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman K.265
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata Opus 27 No. 2 “Moonlight”
Johannes Brahms - Waltz in A-Flat Major, Opus 39 No. 15
Frederic Chopin - Nocturne Opus 55 No. 1
Claude Debussy - La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin
Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No. 1
Dmitry Kabalevsky - Opus 27 No. 70 “Having Fun”
Dmitri Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major
Camille Saint-Saens - Le carnaval des animaux: "Pianistes"
George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
Scott Joplin - Solace

Notice I didn’t call them “classical” piano composers. Most aren’t. Bach is Baroque. Brahms and Chopin (and sometimes Beethoven) are romantic. Debussy and Satie are impressionists. Kabalevsky, Saint-Saens and Shostakovich are 20th century, and Gershwin and Joplin are sort of in a class by themselves.

2 comments:

  1. Could you play these for me so I could see which are my favorites?

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  2. If I played them all I'd put you to sleep. I could do the Tocatta but not the Fugue. Skip the Shostakovich and the Gershwin altogether. Maybe just half the Mozart variations. Voilà! A Mother's Day concert!

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