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[Piano] Classic masterpieces you’ll want to listen to and play in winter
In winter, when the severe cold can make going out feel like a chore, why not enjoy listening to music and playing the piano in the warmth of your home?
This time, we’ve picked out classic masterpieces that evoke winter—piano pieces as well as orchestral works with beautiful piano arrangements.
The piano’s timbre is a perfect match for the crisp winter air and stunning snowy landscapes.
Relaxing at home and listening is wonderful, but we also recommend challenging yourself to actually play the piano to make your time at home even more fulfilling.
Please enjoy winter-themed classical works in whatever way feels most comfortable for you!
[Piano] Classic Masterpieces You’ll Want to Listen to and Play in Winter (1–10)
Five Pieces, ‘The Trees Suite,’ Op. 75: No. 5, ‘The Spruce’Jean Sibelius
A gentle and beautiful piece that evokes the quiet, snowy mountains lined with fir trees.
“The Spruce” by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is the fifth piece from his suite Five Pieces, Op.
75, also known as “The Trees,” which takes trees such as the rowan, poplar, and birch as its motifs.
It is often performed as an encore at recitals and concerts, and is well known as a popular work among adult piano learners.
This fleetingly beautiful piece conjures images of fir trees draped in a lovely mantle of snow—why not play each note with care and let your thoughts drift to the Nordic lands?
“Four Seasons” — 12 Character Sketches, November “Troika”Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Russian composer known for ballet music such as The Nutcracker, portrayed the seasons of the Russian year in twelve piano pieces titled The Seasons: Twelve Characteristic Pieces.
Troika, the piece for November, is the most widely beloved work in the collection.
A troika is a carriage drawn by three horses.
Although works titled “Troika” tend to be dark in character, Tchaikovsky’s Troika is striking for its cheerful, bright atmosphere.
No. 1 “March” from the ballet The NutcrackerPyotr Tchaikovsky
One of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s signature works, the ballet The Nutcracker, is a fairy-tale piece in which a girl who receives a nutcracker as a Christmas Eve present journeys through a dream world with the doll.
During the Christmas season, it is performed by ballet companies around the world.
In addition to its life on the ballet stage, it is frequently played in concert as an orchestral work, and is often performed as piano solo and piano four-hands as well.
In the cold winter months, when spirits can run low, its bright and brilliant music—beginning with No.
1, “March”—is sure to lift your mood.
Song Cycle “Winterreise” No. 7 “Linden Tree” S.561 R.246Schubert=Liszt
The fifth song from Franz Schubert’s 1827 song cycle Winterreise.
Among Schubert’s lieder, it is especially well known; some musicians have even praised it as “so beautiful it’s almost unsingable,” a work distinguished by its exquisite sweetness.
The song portrays a young man heartbroken in love, immersed in the ache of remembering, “I once dreamed sweet dreams beneath that linden tree.” Yet in the hands of the piano magician Franz Liszt, while the wistfulness remains, the piece is transformed into something dramatic.
It’s highly recommended to compare it with the original and hear the differences.
Amazing Gracesanbika
When it comes to classics to enjoy in winter or during the Christmas season, “Amazing Grace” stands out for its beautiful, moving melody.
Originally a hymn, it is now beloved in the United States as a “second national anthem,” and in Japan it is well known through performances by various singers, including Minako Honda.
The song is, of course, emotionally stirring, and its beautiful melody and harmonies pair perfectly with the piano’s clear, transparent tone.
Because it’s so famous, many sheet music editions exist at different levels and with various arrangements.
Why not find a score that suits you and enjoy playing it on the piano?
Jugend-Album (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 39: Wintertime IIRobert Schumann
Robert Schumann’s Album for the Young, composed in 1848, is an educational collection of piano pieces written for children and young people, comprising 43 pieces in total.
This particular piece from the set evokes the stillness and chill of winter while showcasing Schumann’s distinctive Romantic sensibility throughout.
Its melancholic melody in C minor is striking, drawing out the performer’s inner emotions.
It’s recommended not only for piano learners but also for anyone who wants to enjoy music in the winter season.
This is a piece in which one can feel Schumann’s warm, homely atmosphere and romantic sentiment.
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, Fourth Movement “Ode to Joy”Ludwig van Beethoven
As the year draws to a close, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No.
9 in D minor, Op.
125 is performed by a wide variety of orchestras and choirs.
In particular, the fourth movement—known as the “Ode to Joy”—is beloved across generations.
Because many piano method books include various arrangements of the fourth movement’s theme, it is also extremely popular among piano learners.
Performances of arrangements close to the original let listeners enjoy the piano’s uniquely rich sonority—often said to capture the power of an entire orchestra on a single instrument.