The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work was written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments.
Chopin’s Waltz No 9 in A-flat major, Op. 69, No. 1, is called The Farewell Waltz or Valse de l’adieu. The waltz was originally written as a farewell piece to Maria Wodzińska, to whom Frédéric Chopin was once engaged.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83 (1942) (occasionally called the “Stalingrad”) is the second of the three “War Sonatas”. The sonata was first performed on 18 January …
Carmen Variations are a set of variations composed and performed by the Russian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz. They are based on the Gypsy Dance from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen.
The Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto, is one of the most famous works by Johann Sebastian Bach and considered among the …
Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3 in C major, Op 26, was completed in 1921. Sergei Prokofiev began his work on the concerto as early as 1913 when he wrote a theme with variations which he then set aside.
Franz Liszt‘s Transcendental Etude No. 4 in D minor, Mazeppa, is the fourth Transcendental Étude, published in 1852. This complex and virtuosic staple of the Romantic Era repertoire was inspired by Victor Hugo‘s …
Two videos of Maurizio Pollini playing Frédéric Chopin’s last and dramatic Prelude No 24 in D minor. The first video is from 2002, Pollini is 60 years old, the second seems to be around 1960.
The Turkish March is the third movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (but the Turkish March is in A minor). It is often heard on its own and is one of Mozart’s best-known piano pieces.
