Piano Masterpieces: Music you’ll want to listen to and play—beloved classic works
Do you have any memorable piano pieces that make you feel healed when you listen to them, or that you’d like to play someday?
A favorite piece can soothe a mind clouded by stress or anxiety.
In this article, we’ve carefully selected world-famous piano works from among the classics that could become your go-to soothing track.
Even if you’re not very familiar with classical music, we’ve chosen only well-known pieces you’ve likely heard somewhere before, so please enjoy reading to the end!
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[Piano Masterpieces] Pieces You Want to Listen to and Play! Beloved Classical Works (31–40)
Romanian Folk Dances: ‘Romanian Polka’ and ‘Fast Dance’Bartók Béla
This is a work by the composer Béla Bartók from the Kingdom of Hungary, composed using folk songs from Transylvania, which was once part of the Kingdom of Hungary that governed the region centered on present-day Hungary.
Romanian Folk Dances consists of six pieces, but the fifth piece, Romanian Polka, and the sixth, Fast Dance—both used as background music in a famous TV program—are particularly familiar to Japanese listeners.
In a brief span of time, this piece lets you enjoy a distinctive atmosphere completely different from Japanese folk music and the like.
Three Romances, Op. 11 No. 1Clara Schumann
A piano piece that conceals profound lyricism within restrained expression.
Opening a set of three romantic miniatures, this work was written in 1839, when the composer was nineteen, imbued with feelings for her fiancé, Robert Schumann.
The theme, sung over extended arpeggios, seems to delicately reflect a love and longing kept within.
The piece also appears in the film “Geliebte Clara,” serving as a crucial key to portraying Clara Schumann’s inner world.
It is an ideal piece for a quiet, contemplative night, when you want to listen to the singing tone of the piano and take time to face your own heart.
Gnossienne No. 3Erik Satie
This piece was first introduced in a music magazine in 1893, and its most notable feature is the absence of barlines in the score.
The left hand repeats a quiet rhythm reminiscent of an ancient ritual, while the right hand weaves an elusive melody above it.
Unique directions like “Avec étonnement” (with astonishment) are left to the performer’s interpretation, revealing a different character with each listening.
It was used effectively in the film Yumeji.
The work’s meditative resonance makes it perfect for nights when you want to quietly face the emotions resting deep within your heart.
Serenade from SchwanengesangFranz Schubert
This is a piece included in Franz Schubert’s renowned song collection Schwanengesang, which he worked on from August 1828 onward.
Its sweet yet heartrending melody is striking, as if whispering hidden feelings to a beloved in the stillness of the night.
The delicate piano accompaniment captures the protagonist’s trembling heart and even the touch of the night breeze, drawing listeners into the world of the story.
It is also known for its use in the 1933 film Gently My Songs Entreat.
The wistfulness that pervades this work gently accompanies nights when one is overwhelmed by sorrow, making it a masterpiece you should listen to when you wish to indulge in sentiment.
Nocturne No. 19 in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1, “Posthumous”Frederic Chopin
Composed around 1827, this nocturne is imbued with a depth of melancholy that seems far beyond the work of a mere seventeen-year-old.
The left hand’s unceasing triplet arpeggios convey the tremors of the heart, while the simple, plaintive melody in the right hand gently voices feelings kept hidden within.
Although the piece begins in E minor, it is notable for closing quietly in a warm major key, suggesting a calm solace after tears.
It was also used in the TV drama Fringe.
It’s a piece that accompanies those moods when you want to spend a sentimental night in quiet contemplation.
Piano Masterpieces: Works You Want to Listen to and Play! Beloved Classical Pieces (41–50)
The Fir Tree, from Five Pieces (Suite of Trees)Jean Sibelius
The Spruce is a piece by the Finnish composer Sibelius.
It is the fifth piece in his unique Five Pieces for Piano, Op.
75—each piece named after a tree—and is among the most frequently performed of his piano works.
Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2Frederic Chopin
There’s a gem of a piano piece by Frédéric Chopin that will make you forget the summer heat.
Composed between 1830 and 1832, it’s included in the renowned collection Nocturnes, Op.
9, and is praised for its exquisitely sweet and wistful melody.
The singing right-hand line sparkles like stars in the night sky, gently supported by the left-hand accompaniment.
Listening to it feels purifying to the soul.
It has been memorably used in the film 127 Hours (2010) and the anime Girls’ Last Tour (2017), so many of you may already know it.
This work is a perfect choice for anyone who wants to feel a cool, tranquil mood through the beautiful tones of the piano on a quiet night.