Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner The greatest piano piece ever?

Yes, but he's not a normal pianist like us (who buy volumes of magnum opuses to admire on our shelves, waiting for the magical day - which never arrives - when we'll actually be able to play them..... ).

I have the marvellous CD recording by the late, great John Ogdon, which is as tiring to listen to as it is to attempt to read through the score........

I think the Diabelli Variations is my favourite work, although the Fughetta by itself is a contender.



Also Variation 20.



They make more sense in context.

My preference would be D960, but I like OP's choice.

Impossible to choose, but if you put a gun to my head, I'd probably say the Bach-Busoni Chaconne transcription.

Yeah, that’s also a good contender to me.

Hey if I do the NASA thing, I’ll go with each of Gould’s Bach Goldberg Variations recordings.

I am reading the Gould bio called Wondrous Strange and have just gotten to the point where Gould first recorded that piece.

In their consultations before the music for the gold Voyager disc was made, one of the contributors suggested sending JS Bach would be boasting.

It says a lot about JS Bach genius that talking about greatest piano piece ever so many people picks some of his works, althoug he didn't write them for piano, nor even the piano existed until he was a grown man, and even then it was still at the early stages of its development.

For me, the "greatest piano piece ever" is the Griffes Sonata. And it has the added bonus of satisfying Bosendorff's "scary" criterion, to keep the aliens at bay!

BTW: Chinese sci-fi author Cixin Liu wrote an excellent trilogy ("The Three-Body Problem") that plays on that idea where a civilization should NOT reveal itself to outsiders, because of the danger of being seen as a potential future rival -- resulting in a preemptive annihilation by the superior beings.

Would Aliens perceive music the same way we do? Overtone series is universal I guess.

Best piece: Ravel G Concerto

Yes, the middle part might also be among my top contenders, next to the Chopin's Em prelude, Bach's Cmaj prelude from WTC1 and the Bach-Busoni Chaconne. I'm tempted to also consider the Gm Ballade by Chopin. However these are all different types of compositions. The preludes are very concise, self-contained (and can I say non-contextual?) pieces, whereas the ballade, the concert and the chaconne are a bit more context-loaded pieces.

Never heard Griffes before. Listened to the sonata. Hmm, well, OK, whatever

The slow movement of Beethoven's 5th piano concerto.

And what would be the criteria for "the greatest piano piece ever"? Judging from your selection of the e minor prelude, would it be simplicity, brevity, ease of playing, satisfied listening or just one's emotional response? Chopin's a minor Mazurka, op. 17 #4 would elicit the same response in me. Gladly I would care not to categorize any piano piece in that fashion, as one's mood can fluctuate at a given time. Such is the beauty of diversity.

Actually I wanted spontaneous responses This thread is apparently not asking a serious question. As already discussed, seeking for "best", for "ranking order" isn't anything else but just an emotional time-out exercise for classical piano lovers. Which is why I just wanted to hear rather knee-jerk responses, without any particular rules or explanations, anyone is free to interpret the question of what is great in any way he deems appropriate. I will probably say the Em prelude today, tomorrow I might say a Chopin's Ballade, next week it could be a Bach's Fugue or who knows what, so even I realize it's so inconsistent... Anyway, didn't exactly work but the thread is still alive it seems

So, basically I agree with your reply and that of another person above about how one can answer differently to the same question every day. I'd be glad if people respond every day with a different answer

And BTW, I LOVE the a-minor Mazurka, yes! I will certainly consider it the "single greatest piano piece" some other day. Cheers!

Never heard that piece before, I found it interesting. Oh and I'm thinking also, to scare the aliens, someone could compose a piece based on a drastic modification of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind famous 5-note melody, let's say using tritones and minor seconds instead of the lovely major tones. Or even better, Aimard playing this Ligeti piece : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoLam2O3gtY.

Yeah, it's indeed a majestic movement! I can also add the slow movement of Mozart's 23rd concerto.

If we try to take this question objectively, the answer will be something like Beethoven's "Fur Elise," perhaps the most widely played and widely recognized piano piece ever written.

However, piano snobs will scoff at such a reasonable suggestion, so I'm going to go with a slightly different angle: I nominate "Mr. Frog Is Full Of Hops" by John W. Schaum. That little ditty is unforgettable, am I wrong? It has brought countless thousands of youngsters into the fold over the last 80 years, and by all indications it will continue to do so indefinitely.