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!
- Piano × Dark Pieces: Classic Masterworks to Sink Deep into Sorrow
- Masterpieces of classical piano that are too beautiful for words. A gathering of delicate tones that cleanse the soul.
- [Piano × J-POP] Tearjerker! A Selection of Moving/Touching Songs
- [Classical Piano Masterpieces] A carefully selected collection of moving pieces that will bring you to tears
- [For Adults] Recommended for Piano Recitals! A Curated Selection of Impressively Sounding Masterpieces
- [Beginner] Recommended for adult piano beginners! Beautiful & stylish piano pieces
- 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]
Painfully beautiful! A collection of recommended piano pieces (21–30)
Name of Life from Spirited AwayHisaishi Joe
Many listeners have surely been captivated by the crystalline piano tones and faintly nostalgic melody.
The theme song of Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece Spirited Away evokes a bittersweet yet warm story of searching for lost memories and one’s true self.
Its message—recalling something precious and finding one’s place—reaches us with quiet emotion.
Released in July 2001 as a single performed by Yumi Kimura, the song deepened the film’s impact.
The piece originally began as an instrumental track on the soundtrack.
Its calm, dreamlike phrasing is perfect for times when you want to focus on work or study.
Letting yourself drift on its gentle waves of sound may calm your heart and clear your mind.
The SacrificeMaikeru Naiman
There are many films themed around the piano, but the 1993 release The Piano is truly a masterpiece—both as a romance and as a piano film.
Many people vividly remember the scenes in which the lead, Holly Hunter, actually plays the piano on screen.
The soundtrack by Michael Nyman, who composed the music for this classic, received high acclaim and became a worldwide hit.
Among the pieces, I’d like to highlight The Sacrifice, which is based on The Heart Asks Pleasure First—the film’s theme, also known in Japanese as “Tanoshimi o Kineu Kokoro.” These two tracks are often confused, but personally I find the latter even more poignant.
I recommend listening to both and comparing them!
Sonatine in F-sharp minor, M. 40 — I. ModeratoMaurice Ravel
A work by Maurice Ravel in which a delicate, glass-like beauty gleams within the plaintive resonance of F-sharp minor.
Woven with rich harmonies within a classical framework, the piece achieves an exquisite balance between quiet melody and intricate ornamentation, revealing Ravel’s perfectionist side.
Officially published in November 1905, it was later choreographed as a ballet as well, allowing its fragile musical world to be expressed in various forms.
With a character that seems to console a sorrowful heart, it’s recommended for moments when you wish to gaze quietly at your innermost feelings.
You might also find it rewarding to surrender yourself to its architectural beauty.
Playing Love / 愛を奏でてEnnio Morikōne
Ennio Morricone, the master of film music born in Italy.
He composed numerous pieces so striking that one could say the films became timeless classics precisely because of his music—truly a composer worthy of the title “genius maestro.” While I highly recommend watching the documentary film Ennio to learn more about Morricone, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 91, the piece featured here is Playing Love from the soundtrack of the 1998 Italian masterpiece The Legend of 1900, for which Morricone wrote the score.
Many of you can likely picture the unforgettable scene in which the protagonist plays this piece.
Its sweetness and bittersweet sorrow resonate so perfectly with the film’s imagery that it’s startling—so by all means, check out the film itself as well!
I stopped being alone.Yano Akiko
The theme from “My Neighbors the Yamadas” is performed here in a lovely piano arrangement.
I’ve previously introduced an orchestral version, but when this gentle depiction of everyday life is rendered on piano, it becomes even more immersive, like being drawn into a world of memories.
Everyday life is something everyone has, and it’s unique to each person—not measured by anyone else’s standards.
Yet when the everyday life that must have been mine is shown as images, a quiet feeling of “this is somehow nice” arises.
This piano version touches many people’s heartstrings and will surely brighten the listeners’ everyday lives.
Suite bergamasque, No. 3: Clair de LuneKurōdo Dobyushī
Among the works of the French composer Claude Debussy, who was active from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and is said to have composed the Suite bergamasque around 1890, the third piece, Clair de lune, is particularly famous and is known for being a favorite among many pianists.
Even if you don’t know the piece, once you listen to it, you will quickly realize that Clair de lune is one of the most fitting choices for this article—combining a heartbreaking poignancy with exquisite beauty.
Aside from the section in the middle that unfolds dramatically, the music is woven almost entirely in pianissimo: a serene melody imbued with a mysterious quality, truly like moonlight itself—so sorrowful that it could bring you to tears just by listening.
It is said that Clair de lune was actually slated for use in Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia but was cut during production.
Later, a segment using Clair de lune was released as a bonus feature, so if you’re interested, be sure to check it out.
Sometimes, a tale from long ago — from Porco RossoKatō Tokiko
This is a work written and composed by Tokiko Kato herself, whose warm yet faintly bittersweet worldview evokes a deep nostalgia for days of youth gone by.
As it searches for an unseen future, it conjures scenes of passionate conversations with friends—memories many listeners will find echoing their own.
The song was included on the album “MY STORY / Toki ni wa Mukashi no Hanashi wo,” released in February 1987, and is also known as the ending theme of the 1992 film Porco Rosso.
The piano arrangement used in the film, with its striking timbre, gently lets you linger in the afterglow of the story.
With its calm melody, it’s also great to play as background music when you want to focus on work.