10. Frédéric Chopin: Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54
The fourth and last of Chopin’s scherzo’s is the only one one to begin and end in a major key. Accordingly, the tone is considerably lighter then its determinedly grim predecessors.
9. Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E major
Though Hummel was a prolific pianist in his day, it is for this piece that he is remembered. It was written for trumpeter Anton Weidinger, for whom Haydn had also written a concerto.
8. Maurice Ravel: Jeux d’eux
This piece was dedicated to Ravel’s teacher at the time, Gabriel Fauré, and inspired by Liszt’s piece Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este. The epigraph, “River god laughing at the water that tickles him”, is taken from a poem by Henri de Régnier.
7. Franz Liszt: Rhapsody Espagnole, S. 254
This impressive work came about from Liszt’s tour of Spain and Portugal in 1845. It features many of the folk songs he heard while travelling, and likely began as an improvisation on these tunes. Listen to it performed below by famed polymath Stephen Hough.
6. Frédéric Chopin: Fantasie Impromptu
Another piece that was conceived as an improvisation, Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu was famously published posthumously against the composer’s wishes. In spite of the composer’s dislike for this particular piece, it is nonetheless one of his most frequently performed works.
5. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2
If Chopin disliked his Fantastie Impromptu, then Rachmaninoff hated this prelude. It became so popular that audiences would demand it as an encore at Rachmaninoff’s concerts, leading the compsoser to remark “Many, many times I wish I had never written it”. To make matters worse, Rachmaninoff only ever received a 40 rouble in publishing fees, which equated to about two months of factory wages at the time.
4. Gioachino Rossini: Finale from the William Tell Overture
This galloping piece is forever associated with The Lone Ranger, although it is merely the overture to the four-act opera William Tell. The legend of William Tell in Switzerland is as famed as Robin Hood; after failing to salute the hat of the tyrannical Albrecht Gessler, Tell – an expert marksman – was forced to shoot an apple from the top of his son’s head.
3. Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, S. 244/2
This famous piece, like the other Hungarian Rhapsodies, are a relic from Liszt’s Hungarian heritage. The friska from No. 2 is the most famous of the set, having been arranged for orchestra and used frequently in cartoon serials.
2. Edvard Grieg: Morning Mood
Grieg wrote this piece as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Morning Mood in the Desert. Nowadays, it is images of Grieg’s Scandinavian homeland that are conjured up by this piece rather than those of the desert. Grieg later included it as the first movement of the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1.
1. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27, No. 2, “Moonlight”
Like Rachmaninoff, Beethoven grew tired of this piece’s popularity in his time, remarking to his student Czerny “Surely I have written better things”. Nevertheless, the rich chords and chilling melody have continued to find favour with music lovers across the globe. (do listen to the other two movements if you haven’t already)