The Toccata in C Minor is part of the Toccatas for Keyboard, BWV 910–916, seven pieces for clavier written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Though the specific instrumentation is not given for any of the works, they are all strictly manualiter, as none of them call for pedal parts.
Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 was completed in November 1901 and published a year later. Sergei Rachmaninoff regarded the role of the piano as not just an accompaniment but equal to the cello.
Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E-Flat Major (arranged for guitar, it is usually played in D Major with a Drop D tuning), BWV 998, is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach for Lute or Harpsichord. The piece was written around 1735.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16, is a composition in eight movements by Robert Schumann for solo piano, subtitled Phantasien für das Pianoforte. It was written in only four days in April 1838 and a revised version appeared in 1850.
Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) is a series of short lyrical piano pieces by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn, written between 1829 and 1845. His sister Fanny Mendelssohn and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre.
The Prelude No 15 in D-Flat Major, nicknamed “Raindrop”, strikes one at first as an oasis of peace and calm. However, the transition from the bright key of D-Flat Major to the tenebrous C sharp minor brings dark, gloomy, disturbing sonorities.
Joseph Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto No 11 in D major (Hob. XVIII/11) was written between 1780 and 1783, and published in 1784. It was originally composed for harpsichord or fortepiano and scored for an orchestra in a relatively undeveloped galant style.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 (known as the Hammerklavier) is a piano sonata that is widely viewed as one of the most important works of the composer’s third period and among the greatest piano sonatas of all time.
La vida breve (Life is Short or The Brief Life) is an opera in two acts and four scenes by Manuel de Falla. It was written between August 1904 and March 1905, but not produced until 1913.
