Piano Essentials

Apple Music Classical

Coming onto the scene around 1700 and taking over the duties of the harpsichord, the piano has long been one of the most popular instruments used in what we now call classical music. Whether the keyboard works of Bach—which he composed largely as pedagogical exercises and chamber experiments—or those of Beethoven, which were written to advance the art of composition and form (and, of course, to sound beautiful), the piano’s versatility has been integral in humanity’s exploration of sound and space. By the 20th century, works by Debussy, Ravel and Glass would challenge our notions of what was possible in music.

I. Molto Moderato

14:38

Mélodie for Piano Solo

4:44

II. Adagio cantabile

Vladimir Ashkenazy

5:02

No. 1, Élégie

Alexandre Tharaud

5:12

I. Allegro (Live)

Sviatoslav Richter

7:23

7. Träumerei

2:19

Sheep May Safely Graze, BWV 208/9 (arr. Egon Petri)

5:15

II. Romanze (1987 Remaster)

Daniel Barenboim, English Chamber Orchestra

10:04

III. Une barque sur l'océan

Pierre-Laurent Aimard

7:32

Präludium C-Dur, BWV 846

1:48

I. Von Fremden Ländern Und Menschen

Vladimir Horowitz

1:33

No. 1 Berceuse

3:10

II. Adagio un poco mosso

New York Philharmonic, Rudolf Serkin, Leonard Bernstein

8:45

Nocturne No. 1 in E-Flat Major, H.24

Elizabeth Joy Roe

3:41

Le Tic-Toc-Choc Ou Les Maillotins (18e Ordre)

Alexandre Tharaud

2:27

Suite Bergamasque - III. Clair de Lune

Walter Gieseking

4:10

No. 2 in A-Flat Major

7:42

No. 5, Romance in F Major

3:55

No. 1, Des Abends

Adam Golka

4:35

Etude I

1:10

Allegro ma non tanto

Vladimir Horowitz, New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy

16:47

V. Le jardin féerique

Mikhail Pletnev, Martha Argerich

2:59

Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178

Krystian Zimerman

30:37

III. Fête - Dieu à Seville

Alicia de Larrocha

9:00

Russian Dance

2:39

Rhapsody In Blue

George Gershwin

14:25

Fantasia for paino in D Minor, K. 397

Maria João Pires

6:00

No. 1 in B-Flat Minor

Arthur Rubinstein

5:26

Fantasia in F Minor for Piano Four Hands, D. 940

Jacques Rouvier, David Fray

19:03

I. Los requiebros

8:11

I. Adagio sostenuto

5:16

II. Il Vecchio Castello

4:04

No. 1

3:10

I. La soirée dans Grenade

François-Joël Thiollier

5:29

Aria

1:52

I. Assez modéré

Francis Poulenc

1:13

Variation 18. Andante cantabile

Daniil Trifonov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, The Philadelphia Orchestra

2:54

No. 6 in B Minor

Emmanuel Despax

2:00

III. Rondo. Allegro

Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Leif Ove Andsnes

10:28

Andante spianato. Tranquillo - Semplice

4:38

2. Adagio (Live)

Hélène Grimaud, Radoslaw Szulc, Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio

7:40

Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18

Bruce Levingston

8:44

Ramble on the Last Love-Duet from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier (Live)

6:48

No. 5 in G Major. Moderato

Nikolai Lugansky

3:21

The Arts and the Hours

Víkingur Ólafsson

4:45

II. Adagio un poco mosso

Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Rudolf Serkin

8:58

No. 4 Mazeppa (Presto)

Daniil Trifonov

8:08

I. Allegro energico (Live)

Kenneth Broberg

6:54

III. Marche Funèbre (Lento)

Simon Trpčeski

10:17

Book I: Theme

0:28

No. 1, Reflets dans l'eau

Arta Arnicane

5:43

III. Rondo. Allegro assai (Cadenzas by Hummel and Beethoven, WoO 58 No. 2)

Vienna Philharmonic, Friedrich Gulda, Claudio Abbado

7:40

II. Andante

Maurizio Zaccaria

5:48

I. Prélude

Sviatoslav Richter

4:39

No. 10, La cathédrale engloutie

Daniel Barenboim

7:05

Liebestraum No. 3 in A-Flat Major

Leif Ove Andsnes

4:07

Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60

Maurizio Pollini

7:55

IV. April - Snowdrop

2:46

Variation I. Più vivo

0:49

III. Molto allegro

Piotr Anderszewski

5:49

Waltz No. 1 in D-Flat Major, Op. 64, "Minute Waltz"

1:53

No. 6, To Spring

3:19

Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 "Black Mass"

Vladimir Ashkenazy

8:00

II. Andante Cantabile

Alicia de Larrocha

6:05

I. Das Lebewohl (Adagio - Allegro)

Maurizio Pollini

7:12

No. 2 in E-Flat: Allegro

4:32

Presto - Sostenuto

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

11:02

Piano Sonata No. 5 in F-Sharp, Op. 53

13:06

IV. Allegretto

8:34

No. 1 Andante con moto

Menahem Pressler

5:30

Fantasia

6:10

Papillons, Op. 2

12:30

II. Andante cantabile con espressione

8:55

No. 3 in E Major "Tristesse"

Maurizio Pollini

3:40

1. Préambule

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

2:33

No. 4 in D Minor. Moderato

3:38

I. Sehr Langsam

2:38

Fantasiestück, Op. 2

João Costa Ferreira

7:32

Händel Variations, Op. 24

25:59

Tema. Vivace

0:47

No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Andante

François Chaplin

6:13

I. Prélude

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

2:45

Nocturne in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15 No. 2

Janina Fialkowska

3:46

III. Allegretto

6:08

III. Precipitato

3:24

Promenade. Allegro giusto, nel modo rustico, senza allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto - attacca

1:40

Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79, No. 2

Martha Argerich

6:32

No. 5 in A Minor "Venetianisches Gondellied"

Philippe Cassard

2:46

Truman Sleeps ("The Truman Show")

Valentina Lisitsa

2:40

Book I: Var. I

0:23

Variatio 2 a 1 Clav.

1:36

Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23

Daniel Barenboim

9:58

II. Andante

3:46

No. 2, Romance

Alexandre Tharaud, Aleksandar Madžar, Alexander Melnikov

4:34

II. Lento in A Minor

6:05

Andante and Rondo Capriccioso in E Major, Op. 14

7:03

6. Florestan

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

1:00

No. 6 in D-Flat Major, En forme de valse

Jean-Pierre de Carpentras

12:16

No. 9, Romance

Leif Ove Andsnes

3:57

Var. 33 - Tempo di Menuetto moderato (ma non tirarsi dietro)

3:31