17 classical piano pieces you should know

[@axlhyvonen461]

My recently passed away dad love classical music and seemingly for a very good reason the Poles are proud of Chopin.

[@krjames203]

This would make a terrific album. David Bennett plays the classics.

[@TC-hh8dc]

I hear the music everytime on film, TV, radio, internet etc...Now I know the names. Thank you!

[@m3rc743]

2nd movement of Pathetique Sonata just gets me every time

[@chrishb7074]

It always surprises me that someone could have lived from Mozart to Rachmaninov, via Beethoven and Debussy, within the span of a single lifetime.

[@Natenick5]

I’ve similarly had my mind blown thinking of the lifespan of Bertrand Russell living long enough to be able to see Johannes Brahms and Jimi Hendrix

[@criggie]

History's full of weird overlaps like that. Japanese Samurai could have sent a Fax. France executed someone via guillotine after Star Wars was released. Humanity went from the Wright Brothers etc to landing on the moon in a single human lifespan.

[@johncenter4858]

Yes and they had certainly said: "The music was so much better when I was young!". And making fun of their children for listening to this Debussy's nonsense. "That's not even music!"

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

I'm glad that I'm required to pick a fave.@@johncenter4858

[@gmmgmmg]

Well, if you think my grandma was born in the roaring 20's , when Charleston music was in fashion, by the time she died Daft Punk have already disbanded.

[@marclopezgisbert6787]

Probably my top 10 piano works would be: -Goldberg Variations -Sonate op.111 beethoven -Ballade no.4 Chopin -Réminiscences of norma Liszt -Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no.3 (if that counts) -Chopin Piano Concerto no1 -Prokofiev sonate no7 -Brahms intermezzo -Gaspard de la nuit Ravel -Inpromtu no3 Schubert

[@gmfrunzik]

Nice list

[@colossusjak2]

This is a nice non surface level list. I’d maybe add Chopin piano sonata 3 somewhere there.

[@marclopezgisbert6787]

@@colossusjak2 yes! it's my favourite Chopin sonate, and I like a lot Argerich interpretation.

[@hptpbookworm]

Great job! I might add 1. Debussy Arabesque #1 2. Clementi Sonatina in C 3. Chopin Ballade #1 4. Chopin Valse No 7 in C#minor 5. Schumann Traumerei 6. Schubert Moments Musicaux 3 7. Joplin the Entertainer 8. Satie Je Te Veux 9. Paganini/Liszt La Campanella (probably too difficult to play!) 10. Chopin Nocturne #13 in C minor

[@vincentb5431]

I'm happy to finally see a video about classical music from David Bennett! As a classical musician it warmed my heart to see this video in my notifications ❤

[@jayluck8047]

I had to wait until the end to hear my favourite piece, but it was worth it.

[@IlmarcheseJacky]

It's amazing to see classical music popularized and shown outside of the usual channels. It's interesting to learn what a modern musician like you, seeing some of the tempo "liberties" you took in Chopin non-intuitive timings, the arrangement of the love dream of liszt and so on. The only detail I think is off are the arpeggios in Rachmaninov prelude, the single chords have a storyline meaning and it kinda takes out the eeriness and the nightmare-like vibe of the piece. For the rest, great job!

[@charly71]

I wish you would do some harmonic analysis of classical music the same way you do it with pop music, by gathering samples of similar harmonic progression - specially if they have that heart wrenching modulation. There's some good stuff out there on yt, but nothing comes close to the way you put it

[@Wintertalent]

Love Debussy. Excellent chill-out music.

Sometimes all I can think about is Debussy. When Debussy is young, that's when you want Debussy.

[@xChrisS41x]

@ The pianist is so good with Debussy, right? 😂

@@xChrisS41x Just make sure you finish on the Bach, not on Debussy :)

[@robertbourke7935]

Wonderful repertoire David

[@jeannemacaluso162]

Oh my! Thank you for this! I who know nothing or little about classical music now have a base from which to begin!

[@scripted44]

Love that beautiful nord grand sound

[@robbass37]

Beautiful

[@d00dieb0x]

Oh wow, Debussys Rêverie 7:53 must have been a source of inspiration for the Marble Machine Song 😂.

[@vincentb5431]

List of my top 10 pieces for solo piano: 1. Liebestraum No. 3 2. Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 3. Un Sospiro 4. Paganini Etude No. 6 5. Liszt Piano Sonata 6. Totentanz 7. Consolations No. 3 8. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 9. Gymnopedíe No. 1 10. Arabesque No. 1 I'm quite a big Lisztomaniac if that wasn't obvious 😂

[@vincentvr16]

Chopin's 4 ballades are incredible too

[@flyingmolamola]

Top 10 Liszt 🤔

[@alexroznowski9413]

Why so few Chopin?

[@rome8180]

@@alexroznowski9413 A lot of classical fans I know don't like Chopin for some reason. I think they find him cheesy. I personally love him.

[@ssaamil]

I love Liszt's pieces too, especially Mephisto Waltz

[@apriltoronto5254]

Hi David... thanks for your playing those pieces... I enjoyed listening to you very much... so thank you... By the way, you want your gum tree to improve? Then move it a bit away from the window and the "direct" sunlight... It will thank you very much... want to improve the tree even more... put a few stones on top of the soil and do not water it too much...

[@rdnaidra7280]

"Clair de Lune" is my personal favorite. the first time I heard it. I suddenly love it. love at the first Sight.

[@ReneWiersmaMusic]

Great video, and a selection I can certainly get behind. I love Satie's work. He accomplishes so much with so little. Rachmaninoffs 2nd movement of his 2nd concerto is one of my favorite piano pieces (the one that Eric Carmen used for All By Myself). Also love Beethoven's "Tempest", such a raucous piece, and Bach's more delicate pieces such as BWV 528 and 974 as played by Vikingur Olafsson.

[@RugbyLeaguePassport]

Thanks for putting names to these amazing classical pieces. I know them and like them but never know the names of them to go seek them out.

[@TotalMonsense]

I paused at 1:27 just to write a huge thank you for including the 2nd Movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13. You have no idea how in love I was with this song (also its 1984 incarnate, Billy Joel's This Night)!

[@glynnp42]

I would have included Beethoven's 8th sonata first movement rather than the second movement. So much beautiful expression and dynamics.

[@cjay2]

The one you faded the video out on was used as the 'middle eight' on (I believe) the last track of Procol Harum's first album.

[@giovannib27]

As a classical pianist myself, I definitely think there are more virtuosic pieces that I would have included, but as far as early-medium difficulty piano pieces, this list is pretty good. As far as the playing, the 3 chopin pieces need some refining and the prelude in C# minor, but sounds good for someone not classically trained. Great video.

[@oldnelson4298]

Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor is such an amazing piece of music for the piano (not to mention very difficult to play!). It's metal music for piano written 80 years before the very first metal bands!

[@ethandeister6567]

Man if you wanna hear metal piano music, there's a lot to pick from. Chopin's 16th prelude, his 4th etude, just about any coda he wrote for the Ballades or Scherzi. You've also got quite a lot of Liszt to pick from, but his "Mazeppa" etude is one of my top picks. And then off in the deep end is the "Bewegte" from Schoenberg's Drei Klavierstücke.

[@bachouvenn3563]

I would argue with the part that’s it’s hard to play, but the fact that it’s incredible music is undeniable

[@oldnelson4298]

@@bachouvenn3563 Well, I'm not a pianist, so maybe you're right. It's not a beginner's piece though. There's a version for classical guitar (my instrument) that is super hard.

[@ThatOneGuyRAR]

If you really want metal, listen to Prokofiev, especially the cadenza in the first movement of his piano concerto no 2. It’s insane

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Keith Emerson quoted it in "Azrael Revisited" on the third album by The Nice.

[@vspatmx7458]

Some of my fav piano versions whixh I often hear on Kassia YT channel. Handel. - pasacaglia Bach arr Luo ni Piz. Liber tango Pagani listz etude Carmen. - bizet

[@gianni1646]

Excellent David! Very serene. Fascinating to watch your fingers move so effortlessly while producing such beautiful sounds. Bravo! 💐💐💐 Gianni❤

[@princesspiranha]

0:50 everyone from the Netherlands: "EFTELING!" 🍄

[@MrMont-ue8kh]

Great choices and well executed - thank you!

[@EANNE1000]

A favorite of mine is Minuet in G, Opus 14, No. 1, by Ignacy Jan Paderewski

[@Sal_Sorice]

Wow David - we think alike! I've played and recorded on CD 11 of the 17 - now I have more to learn! Another beautiful piece (and accessible to most pianists) is Liszt Consolation 3 in D flat - absolutely gorgeous!

[@composer7325]

Excellent,David, thank you for the upload, Peter.

[@rubendiskobox]

Excellent!

[@vidarfe]

Great list, though I would definitely include Chopin's prelude in e minor, Opus 28 No 4.

[@mackermaldrill2656]

Beautiful!

[@fedegwagwa]

Theres no classical piano pieces list without at least one of Chopin's Ballades and his Barcarolle

[@ordinary_deepfake]

Imagine if those 17 werent locked into their time or equipment and had what we have, even more iconic pieces infinite possibilities

[@John_Fugazzi]

For future consideration: Schubert - Marche Militaire, Schumann - Traumeeii. Liszt - Liebestraum no.3. Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsodie no.4. Brahms - Hungarian Dance no.5. Dvorak - Humoresque no.7.

[@swbennett]

I'd include Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E Minor as an 18th piece. One of my favourites as it captures those feelings of loss and grief in a way that defies explanation.

[@truefilm6991]

Beautiful piano piece and not difficult to play.

[@jasperkooij1891]

That was beautiful

[@althomas6045]

thank you. please do more.

[@tunestar]

I wish they made a good movie of Bach like they did with Mozart in the 80s.

[@bobsykes]

David, we so wanted to hear you play the arpeggios in Clair DeLune! Please make a follow up video (or post recordings on any music site) of you playing these entire pieces. 🙏🙏🙏

[@danielherrera2482]

I think he may have decided not to since he did large sections of the video in single takes and he’s perhaps not confident in being able to preform technically demanding pieces

[@cheemomugdoo799]

Not to take anything away from David, but there are some really wonderful pianists on KZbin that have the technical skill to play Clair de Lune as it should be played. One of my personal favorites is Tiffany Poon. Her Liebestraum is amazing as well.

[@EjayT06]

@@cheemomugdoo799Tiffany poon is great

[@rayjayvids]

Good playing and sound with nifty pedalling. Nice vibe educational video 🫡

[@emillupu8790]

Schubert - Moment Musicaux, Impromptu, Grieg - Morning Mood, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition, Gershwin - Rhapsody In Blue

[@kitty-alicefrench1199]

Beautiful ❤️

[@stefanmartelius9552]

Nice list! For the next list, I'd add Mozart piano concerto no.21, 2nd movement ("Elvira Madigan").

[@barbelarmbroster6524]

A few days ago I got the sheet notes from Bach"s Prelude No 1. It's very nice, I want to present it to my family on Christmas eve. I'll keep on practising every day 🤗✨🎶

[@JamsODonnell100]

Great! Keep going and Happy Christmas. I hope that you all enjoy such a wonderful present 💝 🎶

[@spinospinellibass]

Amazing video, David! I especially love Chopin, my grandma loved his music and played it for me. Actually she played also the Rondo alla Turca and the Moonlight sonata... Anyway, your work is amazing, and I use it when I write bass lines. A big thanks

[@chirantanbiswas9330]

Bach's Air, Rachman's Piano concerto 2, Beethoven's 9th symphony (UEFA Champions league song XD), Mozart's symph 40, Lacrimosa, Liszt's piano version of Paganini's La Campanella, Scott Joplin's Entertainer(I don't know if it can be classified as classical or not? But everyone likes it), the fast Moonlight Sonata (Ig no. 2) Also were Johann Strauss' stuff written on piano? Also some Ravel stuff maybe?

[@cheemomugdoo799]

Well the Bach, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Mozart pieces you mentioned are not solo piano pieces. The Entertainer is ragtime, generally not considered classical, but I agree, a great piece. Also, Joplin's Solace and Bethena Waltz are great pieces as well. Strauss wrote very little piano music, most of it is infrequently played, although there is a famous transcription of his Blue Danube Waltz that is amazing. Ravel didn't write a lot of solo piano works too, and it isn't widely known by non-classical music fans, but his Gaspard de la Nuit is an astounding piece that is one of the hardest pieces in the repertoire. Pavane pour une infante défunte is probably his most famous work, and Alborado del Gracioso is often played, and sounds great on xylophone for two people.

[@Or.BenHaim]

Number 2 is from the Beatles song All You Need Is Love

[@Str0b0]

I like Beethoven’s Sonata in C Major, Opus 2, No. 3 - Adagio

[@TheRealDrJoey]

You really did a nice job on this. Nice touch on the piano, "classically trained" or not! Loved that you included Billy Joel's "This Night";-)

[@robertelessar]

Nice!

[@willosee]

Lovely stuff David.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😊

[@askbrettmanning]

I've never heard the sustain pedal used throughout Mozart's Turkish March. Totally different flavor.

[@stefanodigarbo4735]

Everybody has their own taste and top-ten list, that's obvious, but it was a bit surprising not to find an Italian composer in David's list! 😢😂

[@ZENOBlAmusic2]

Yes!

[@FredrIQ]

I remember the shock I felt the first time I heard Pathetique, because I had played Earthbound beforehand, which has a really similar song. Almost certainly was inspired by it, given the series' habit of featuring homages to classical themes.

[@GoddessPallasAthena]

Beautiful!! Love the list and it includes a lot of my favorites. I think it could definitely have included a few Handel keyboard pieces (most notably the Sarabande from Keyboard Suite in d minor, HWV 437, Passacaglia from Keyboard suite in g minor HWV 432) and Air and Variations, aka, "the Harmonious Blacksmith" from Keyboard Suite in G Major, HWV 430). Those are the most well-known, anyway. Though I'm kind of biased since I love Handel's harpsichord pieces and actually, kind of obsessed with the Sarabande in d minor. Traumerei by Robert Schumann, the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Lizst, Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte by Maurice Ravel and Franz Schubert's Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major are also quite well known, I think, and I'd love to hear him play them. Maybe one day, with enough time (and energy!!! ) David can do a top 50. 😁 I know he's not classically trained, but I enjoy listening to him play. I think it's lovely!!

[@NomeDeArte]

I miss chopin op 28 e minor, but you can't have it all.

[@TigerRogers0660]

Mr. Bennett, you sure are a very talented piano player!! When i was a little boy, i always asked my mum to play "Rondo Alla Turka" on her piano. She did a sterling job!! I was excited at all the different parts to this piece. Still stirs the emotions!!

[@Al59redux]

I love Of Foreign Lands and People, by Schumann. It makes me think of the intro to In my life

[@SanjayRay-dp4vs]

Could have considered including Dvorak's Humoresque in Gb. And perhaps Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu, and Schubert's Moment Musical

[@ericleiter6179]

Great video...glad to see you tackling classical, it's SO rewarding once you let it in. I would maybe add a few like Schumann's Traumerei (Dreaming) Brahms A major Intermezzo and Dvorak's Humoresque to get 20, but this was great!!!

[@marinastoianova5330]

My favorite song is moonlight

[@frankzelazko]

My favourite music teacher . Thank you David for your work

[@notsorandom889]

I would say Schumann’s Träumerei is also very iconic. I tried to think of more pieces from the Romantics, but I guess they are not that iconic in pop culture. I also have to add one more entry for Bach, the opening/closing aria from his Goldberg variation.

[@GizzyDillespee]

As someone else mentioned, there's that Dvorak Humoresque that inspired improvised lyrics.

[@johnward6203]

Great video, thanks for all your effort. In terms of suggestions, these are some of my favourites Chopin Prelude no 4 Debussy Arabesque no 1 Chopin Waltz C sharp minor Chopin Etude no 3 Satie Je Te Veux

[@ric8248]

I'll never understand why youtubers go "the N greatest songs of bla bla" or "IF I MISSED ONE, let me know..". I mean come on, the list is going to be totally different for everyone. Anyway my fav piano pieces so far are: -The Old Castle (Mussorgsky) -June (Tchaikovsky) -Serenade No. 7 (Schubert, arr Liszt) -Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Liszt) -Clair de Lune (Faure) -Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) -Arabesque (Debussy) -Venetian Gondola Song (Mendelssohn) -Nocturne No. 13 in Cm (Chopin)

[@NestofVipers292]

For comments, obviously

[@Daniels_Rose-3.7]

my top 7 piece is there , nice video bro

[@tuytuy212]

A very good choice, David. I love your channel because you are a very good teacher. In this video, even if you are not a classical pianist, you demonstrate your respect and love for classical music, that is great. Because without the classical composers : no pop,no rock, no jazz… I am a professional classical pianist; please allow me two advices if you want to improve your piano playing: check the written rhythms exactly ( the rests in Chopin, Debussy f.e.) and the use of the pedal. Thank you and bravo!

[@arod0524]

How do you talk while you play?!?! Amazing!!!

[@misha_voityk3569]

Your videos so exesfull and interesting! Videos, like yours are my favourite! You have a lot of information about music and his theory!

[@lxathu]

When we're talking about classical piano, we mustn't leave the works of P.D.Q. Bach unmentioned, especially his The Short-Tempered Clavier collection. But seriously, this genre that is often labeled 'serious' is great fun when it isn't that serious. It would be worth a video to analyze how it works as a source of humour and why.

[@RG-500]

Short-tempered Clavier… 😂😂😂 Thanks for that chuckle.

[@lucastorres6023]

Tchaikovski's Swan Lake is gold as well

[@marcoylinen9543]

Thank you for this very nice and very interesting video! While watching, it occured to me, what makes a composer choose a particular key? Why choose C# instead of C ? Why Eb and not D or E ? Wouldn't things be the easiest if stick to the white keys only? 🙂

[@NintendoFan214]

Actually, Chopin (at least I think it was him) considered C major one of the harder keys for piano, and B major one of the easiest. The reason for that is because the shape of the B major scale fits the shape of the fingers quite well.

[@ReneWiersmaMusic]

True. I started my piece "Don't Cry" in D minor, but decided to shift it up a half step to Eb minor, to actually make it easier to play. Other than ease of play, many composers have a certain emotion attached to a key. Bach found D minor the saddest key of all.

[@HeyBulldog-Beatles-Tribute]

Thanks David for these beautiful little pieces! Classical music has many hits and I never thought to work on it. Some seems to be accessible for my little level, I'm only a poor Beatles Fan :) Thanks for all your videos about Mode and scales, it's fantastic! Cheers from France :) Michael from Hey Bulldog 100% Beatles tribute Band

[@thesteve7397]

Nice sampling of piano literature. But PLEASE learn to clear the pedal more often so the sound doesn’t turn to mush.

[@King4taday]

Gymnopedie sounds really pretty and very familiar. Love the major 7ths. Unusual for classical of that era?

[@erikvinnes]

Two video-ideas: (1) Pop songs with complete stops in them... and (2) Pop songs without any percussion (for instance Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters is an example of a 5 min song with no percussion what so ever.. and its pretty cool, doesnt feel like it...? )

[@D_Tuned]

For all you Billy Joel fans...sing along at 1:27 This night is mine It's only you and I Tomorrow is a long time away This night can last forever Billy said in an interview that he had to forgive himself for not being Beetoven. Video reference (about 2:38) kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5CtZKeYpaiBd5Ifeature=shared

[@chuckz2934]

Thank you

[@Failchesters]

6:48 Endlessly by Muse

[@derjon4s180]

"Liebesträume is German for "Dreams of Love", although Liszt himself was Hungarian." would make a lot more sense if you included the fact that Liszt was born in the German speaking western Part of what was then the Kingdom of Hungary, wich would later become the Area called "Burgenland" in modern day Austria. Liszt's native tongue was German so it's not weird for him to give his works german titles.

[@An2oine]

That was freaking bad ass.

[@icarusi]

I can never find the titles but know the tunes. I recently tried to find a waltz I heard on an Andre Reu concert. I thought it was Strauss, but found it on a KZbin Offenbach compendium, but no track IDs present. There is a very similar Strauss waltz, with similar repeat 3 note ornament figure.

[@gri-t]

As for Chopin, I was hoping to hear his Waltz No.7. For me it's far more famous and iconic than all the nocturns.

[@danielerdos3046]

Thanks for mentioning Liszt was Hungarian 🇭🇺 lot of people don't know that and while there are a lot of not so great things about Hungary, we can be proud that one of the best composers and pianist born here 🙂 his original name is Liszt Ferenc btw 🙂

[@LargeComboPizza123]

Hungarian Rhapsody by Liszt is another good one.

[@darcyj19]

Chopin Polonaise in Ab, Opus 53. "Heroic".

[@cakemartyr5794]

Excellent. You have become the British Vinheteiro at a stroke! You just need go deadpan and point at the camera between pieces. :-) Anyway, I can only do the first one on a good day, and once had a go a Moonlight. Minor quibbles, but for Chopin, I would have preferred either the prelude op 28 in E minor or the prelude op 27 in A major

[@EgburtEgg]

Awesome!! c:

[@klaxoncow]

Red line at the bottom of the thumbnail! I was thinking "wait, it says I've watched this one, but I haven't watched this one". Then noticed that, no, it's the red from the keyboard that's just perfectly along the bottom to look like the red "watched" progress bar.

[@eeeeyuke]

Hungarian Rhapsody by Tom and Jerry!

[@timjohnson2186]

Thank you

[@elvisjaggerabduljabbar5750]

How important is the harmonic progression in a song? Is it more important than the melody? What is the most important element in music? depending on the genre? In genres like electronic music, where it is more rhythmic and percussive, with more minimalist and more linear melodies and harmonies, how important is the harmonic progression? Even if it is a genre where composing is based on sampling sounds from other songs or sounds that have nothing to do with music, is harmonic progression still important?

[@paulhaynes8045]

Just goes to show what I've always thought about 'classical' music - people generally don't like it because they like tunes - and much of that type of music doesn't have easily recognisable tunes. Ask people for their favourite pieces of classical music and they'll pick the pieces with the strongest tunes (as David does here). They'll enjoy the William Tell Overture, but not the rest of the opera, or the Hallelujah Chorus, but not the rest of the Messiah, they'll know the works of Johann Strauss, but not of Richard. Classical musicians and people brought up with classical music no doubt appreciate the 'other' parts for their musicality, structure, originality, cleverness, or something else that you need a trained ear, or educated palette to understand - but an average person will always go for music with a melody.

[@cheemomugdoo799]

I would definitely replace Satie's Gnossienne with Schumann's Traumerai. Both are great but Traumerai is more recognizable and one of the all time great pieces.

[@jeremyalam480]

Some more suggestions: Sicilienne, Op.78, Fauré Polonaise in A Major, Op.40, Chopin Kinderszenen, Op.15, Schumann Sonata No.23, Op.57, Appassionata, Beethoven Sonata in C minor, Hob XVI/20, Haydn