Poignant and beautiful! A collection of recommended piano pieces
Among the many musical instruments, the piano is one of the most familiar, and it’s a quintessential instrument that makes you admire anyone who can play it.
Melancholic melodies can draw you into their world before you know it.
In this article, we’ll introduce popular piano pieces themed around “sadness.” In addition to classic standards, we’ve gathered a rich variety of poignantly beautiful, piano-centered works featured in soundtracks for films, anime, and video games.
If you love wistful piano music, this is a must-check!
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- [Classical Piano Masterpieces] A carefully selected collection of moving pieces that will bring you to tears
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- Beautiful Melodies: A Collection of Masterpieces and Moving Piano Songs
- Today's Piano: Masterpieces and Popular Pieces Woven with Delicate Tones
- [J-POP] I want to listen to songs with impressive, beautiful piano tones! Recommended piano cover tracks
- [Masterpiece Classics] A special showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears
- It’s so cool if you can play these on the piano! A selection of irresistibly charming masterpieces.
- [For when you want to cry or feel sad] Tear-jerking masterpieces that make you cry when you listen
- [Intermediate Level] Cool Piano Pieces You Can Play [Great for Recitals Too]
Heartrending and beautiful! A selection of recommended piano pieces (81–90)
Gnossiennes No. 1 in Three PartsÉric Satie
The piano piece Gnossiennes was composed by the French composer Erik Satie, known for works such as Gymnopédies.
Satie wrote six pieces under this title, but the especially famous Nos.
1, 2, and 3 are known collectively as the Three Gnossiennes.
Of these, No.
1 is particularly striking for its melancholy atmosphere that evokes feelings of loneliness and unease.
Why not savor this piece while gazing at the falling, colored leaves and indulging in a gentle sense of wistfulness?
Amazing GraceSakkyokusha fumei
Amazing Grace is known for its deeply moving, beautiful melody.
Many people likely remember Minako Honda’s crystal-clear voice singing it.
With a title meaning “the wonderful grace of God,” the song is originally a hymn with lyrics by the English clergyman John Newton.
In the United States, it is cherished as a “second national anthem,” and in Japan it is widely used in films and television dramas.
Because it consists of a simple 16-bar melody repeated, aim to perform it expressively by varying dynamics, phrasing, and arrangement.
Maurice Ravel: Pavane for a Dead PrincessFujita Mao
Mao Fujita is one of Japan’s top-tier pianists.
He’s a phenomenal talent who won second prize at the even more demanding International Tchaikovsky Competition, surpassing even the Chopin Competition in level.
Here is one of his outstanding performances: Maurice Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte.
While the piece is at a level that even intermediate players can tackle, there are very few who can perform it with this degree of polish and expressive depth.
If you want to hear the real deal, he’s a pianist you should definitely check out.
Lyric Pieces, Book X, Op. 71 No. 2: Summer EveningEdvard Grieg
Just from the title “Summer Evening,” this piece perfectly matches the theme of this article, doesn’t it? Known also for works like “Morning” from the Peer Gynt Suite, the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote a collection of 66 piano pieces titled Lyric Pieces.
“Summer Evening,” the second piece of Op.
71 in Book 10, is a gem of lyrical beauty rendered with a delicate, subtle touch, and it even carries that faintly cool, distinctly Nordic quality.
It seems like an ideal piano piece to listen to during a hot summer.
While it may not be widely known, it’s sometimes selected for compilations of classical music recommended for summer.
It’s a hidden masterpiece for piano that I highly recommend!
SummerHisaishi Joe
A masterpiece among masterpieces by Joe Hisaishi, the composer Japan proudly presents to the world and a familiar name from Studio Ghibli films! When you think of Hisaishi, you can’t separate him from Takeshi Kitano’s works any more than from Ghibli.
“Summer” is the main theme of Kitano’s 1999 film Kikujiro.
The original “Summer” is structured with a main theme and subordinate motifs and is written as an ensemble rather than a solo piano piece.
However, Hisaishi himself often performs it as a piano piece at concerts, and it is included on his solo piano album ENCORE.
Please savor the melody—light yet tinged with longing—that conjures up distant summer landscapes, performed on piano by Hisaishi himself!
Gaspard of the Night, No. 1: OndineMaurice Ravel
If you’re well-versed in French literature, the title Gaspard de la nuit may remind you of the poetry collection by Aloysius (Louis) Bertrand, born in 19th-century France.
The work discussed here, however, is Maurice Ravel’s suite for solo piano, a piece of the same name inspired by three poems included in Bertrand’s collection.
Of the three movements, given our theme of “music to hear in the hot summer,” let’s focus on the first, Ondine.
“Ondine” is the name of the water spirit among the four classical elements; in Japanese, the form “Undine” may be more familiar.
When it comes to Ravel’s water-themed piano works, Jeux d’eau often comes to mind, but Ondine is a piece you should certainly know as well.
It portrays the story of an ondine who falls in love with a human, expressing both the spirit’s heartbreak and the image of heavy rainfall through Ravel’s characteristically sophisticated technique—an exquisite, delicate, and dramatic masterpiece.
Poignant and Beautiful! Recommended Piano Pieces (91–100)
Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15, No. 7: DreamingRobert Schumann
Scenes from Childhood by Robert Schumann—the quintessential Romantic composer born in Germany—is among his most famous piano works, and the piece featured here is the especially well-known No.
7, Träumerei.
Rather than technical virtuosity, this is a work that places greater emphasis on delicate expressiveness, and as its title suggests, it has a dreamy, gentle atmosphere.
Even on a sweltering summer night when sleep is hard to come by, listening to this piece like a lullaby might help you drift off.
As an aside, despite the title referencing children, it isn’t a work for children; rather, it portrays “scenes of childhood” from an adult perspective.
If you play the piano, you might, like Franz Liszt—who praised Scenes from Childhood—play it for your daughter; but you might also enjoy playing it for yourself as you bask in memories of your own childhood.
In conclusion
Among the many musical instruments, the piano is probably the one most familiar to us.
When you happen to hear it, the sound of the piano soothes everyone who listens.
This time, we’ve selected pieces with the theme of poignant piano music.
The sorrowful melodies—so moving they might bring you to tears just by listening—stir a wide range of emotions in listeners, regardless of generation, language, or race.
As you can see from the pieces introduced here, piano music isn’t limited to classical; there are numerous masterpieces in video game, drama, and film soundtracks as well.
Be sure to find your own favorite poignant piano piece!