Favorite Solo Piano Works

[EigenUser]

Some short list, amw.

Bartók - Out of Doors; Suite; Dance Suite

YES! Out of Doors is awesome! I kind of want to orchestrate it. I used to play it on piano, but I'd have to make a 'handicap' version for the left hand in the last one. I also used to play the Dance Suite transcription (again, with handicaps for my poor piano playing). I should pull it out again sometime and try it. The op. 14 Suite is cool, too.

Shostakovich - Sonata 2; 24 Preludes Op. 34

I thought you didn't like these? I've heard a few of them. My friend was always amused at No. 15 sounds like We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

If I had to name my "favorite" work by Chopin, this might be it.

Great choice. I love the C minor Nocturne (yes, I do like Chopin, though I don't know too much). The other one I really like is the A-minor waltz "Grand Valse Brillante" (op. 34).

[amw]

I thought you didn't like these? I've heard a few of them. My friend was always amused at No. 15 sounds like We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

The 24 Preludes Op. 34 are not the 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87. Here are a few of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXz0qrg5aI Here are a few more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfA9SIiH1p8

[Madiel]

I can make it 5 by being devastatingly ruthless.

1. Beethoven - If I can only have one, I'm going to make it the Waldstein sonata just because it's such an astounding leap into a new sound.

2. Chopin - Oh hell's bells. Half a dozen of the single-movement larger works are as great as anything ever written. Today I'll go for the Barcarolle.

3. Brahms - If I have to pick one opus of the late piano music, I'll go with op.118.

4. Faure - Nocturne No.6 is probably the pinnacle of a body of work more people should know.

5. Ravel - Miroirs, Gaspard, Miroirs, Gaspard... don't make me choose! Oh hell. Miroirs just because 5 pieces of perfection is a bit longer than 3.

EDIT: Aargh. Six. I can cut it down to six by being ruthless.

6. Rachmaninov - Etudes-tableaux, op.39. Seeing as how Ashkenazy's performance is just about my favourite disc of all time I can't leave this off. Sigh.

[Lisztianwagner]

Really hard list; some of my favourites:

Beethoven Piano Sonatas.
Liszt Anées de pèlerinage, Hungarian Rhapsodies, Transcendental Etudes, Paganini Etudes, Concert Etudes.
Rachmaninov Preludes, Morceaux de fantaisie, Moments musicaux, Études-Tableaux.
Chopin Nocturnes, Mazurkas, Grand Valse Brillante, Polonaise 'heroic'.
Ravel Miroirs, Gaspard de la nuit, Le Tombeau de Couperin.
Debussy Preludes, Images, Clair de lune.
Prokofiev Visions fugitives, Piano Sonata No.5, 6 & 7.
Janacek In the mists, On an Overgrown Path.
Shostakovich Preludes and fugues.
Bach Well Tempered Clavier.
Schumann Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, Symphonic Studies, Fantasiestücke, Carnaval.
Alkan Concerto for solo piano, Grande sonate: Les quatre âges.
Satie Gnossiennes, Nocturnes, Gymnopédies.

[Karl Henning]

Here's a short list of favourites to start with

That's a short list, is it? 

[Karl Henning]

The 24 Preludes Op. 34 are not the 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87. Here are a few of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXz0qrg5aI Here are a few more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfA9SIiH1p8

I knew they are a different set of pieces ... but you do remind me that it is time I knew the Op.34 better ....

[Symphonic Addict]

Some favorites:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata Nos. 29 and 32; Variations on a waltz by Diabelli
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a theme by Händel
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21; Wanderer Fantasy; Three Pieces, D. 946
Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze; Études symphoniques; Gesänge der Frühe
Shostakovich: Preludes and Fugues, op. 87
Liszt: Piano Sonata; Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses; Années de Pèlerinage
Dvorak: Humoresques; Minuets, op. 28; Theme with variations, op. 36; Furiants, op. 42
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata Nos. 2, 6 and 7
Busoni: Fantasia contrappuntistica
Janacek: Piano Sonata
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Poulenc: Villageoises; Thème varié
Debussy: Préludes; Estampes
Rachmaninov: Preludes, op. 32; Variations on a theme by Corelli
Dukas: Piano Sonata
Langgaard: Afgrundsmusik; Gitanjali Hymns; In the Autumn Lamp's Flickering Rays
Alkan: Études dans tous les tons mineurs; Les Quatre Âges; Trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique
Stenhammar: Piano Sonata, op. 12
Villa-Lobos: Rudepoêma
Paderewski: Piano Sonata
V. Novák: Sonata Eroica
Satie: Gnossiennes

[San Antone]

Satie: Early works: Ogives; Sarabandes; Gymnopédies; Gnossiennes.
Liszt: Piano Sonata; Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses; Années de Pèlerinage.
Feldman: too many to list
Cage: too many to list
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas
Bach: all of the keyboard works, other than for organ.
Mompou: Musica Calada
Brahms: too many to list
Schumann: too many to list
Schubert: too many to list
Schoenberg: too many to list
Webern: too many to list
Berg: Piano Sonata

...

[Madiel]

I see that, in the best GMG tradition, the limit on numbers that was in the original post has been jettisoned.

[AnotherSpin]

Anything I listen to now. Yesterday it was Schubert D.959 in several performances -- Youn, Pienaar, Volodos, Brendel.

[Holden]

As a pianist and pianophile I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start. Basically, the majority of the piano works in my collection would have to be listed as favourites simply because I've got them and kept them. So I will approach this from a different perspective. What piano works do I consider to be seminal, in other words, ground breaking.

Bach WTC

Haydn piano sonatas (which lead to)

Beethoven piano sonatas

John Field (especially the Nocturnes)

Many of Chopin's works - he broke new ground in every respect but the Etudes stand out.

Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques, Fantasy Op 17 and especially Kreisleriana.

Liszt Etudes (both Transcendental and Paganini)

Rachmaninov Preludes and Etudes Tableaux

There are more but I'll stop here.

[Maestro267]

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Nos. 27 & 32
Schubert - Piano Sonata D960
Rzewski - The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
Messiaen - Vingt regards
Liszt - Piano Sonata

[DavidW]

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Nos. 27 & 32
Schubert - Piano Sonata D960

I think I'll take those three, Bach's WTC and Haydn's PS Hob XVI: 52.