Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner The most beautiful tunes of all time

Ave Maria and Chopin 10/3 come to mind first.

Oh, here we go again!

If it would help, narrow it down to your top three.

I'm also fond of The Sound of Music.

Actually I don't remember us doing anything like this!

I mean, lots and lots of stuff like this, but not like this.

My top 3, right now:

1. Second theme of 1st movement of Chopin B minor Sonata

Actually that's about it.

Always a good choice.

Schumann Carnaval, Chopin

Chopin Prelude No.20

Schumann Sonata No.1, 2nd Movement

Scriabin Concerto, 3rd Movement

Liszt Transcendental Etude No.12

Brahms 1st Concerto, 1st Movement

Maybe hundreds more

Two that immediately come to mind are:

The second movement of Chopin’s piano concerto #2
Liszt’s Un Sospiro

You didn't say which theme! I figure you probably mean the second theme?

Anyway, in the "did you know" category....

"Did y'all know".....that the main theme of the 2nd Concerto is such a real melody that it has WORDS?

I mean, it doesn't really, but I gave it words.
Although, while I'm pretty sure I did come up with it myself, without hearing it anywhere, I can't believe if nobody thought of it before, because it seems like such an obvious thing.
But it seems maybe nobody did, or at least not prominently; if you google for those 'words,' amazingly you get nothing.

Words to the theme of Brahms 2nd Concerto
Very simple actually:
"This is Brahms' second concerto."


Oh -- and, so as not to slight the one that Achoo mentioned, the 1st Concerto....
That has words too!

And I can't believe nobody came up with that before either. And I can't believe if nobody came up with these as a set of two, because they seem SOOOOO obvious.....

Words to first theme of Brahms 1st Concerto
THIS.....IS......THE FIRST ONE!

Well, I'll hate to say it (after I said on another thread Rachmaninoff is not the most innovative composer and indeed there's no contradiction in coming up with good tunes without being innovative) but the 2nd movement of Rach 2 😀

I can think of so many themes, ....

Mahler, adagietto 5th symphony or 4th mouvement of 9th symphony
Beethoven, violin concerto, 2nd mouvement
Ravel, piano concerto in G, 2nd mouvement
Sibelius, violin concerto
Mozart, Et Incarnatus Est, C minor mass
Nicola Porpora, Alto Giove from Polifemo
Haendel, son nata a lagrimar, Ombra Ma fu
Francesco Cavalli, Lassa che far Degg'io, from Giasone
Giovani Legrenzi, Lumi Potete piangere
Monteverdi, Si dolce el tormento
Rameau, l'entretien des muses
Pergolese, stabat matter
Purcell, When i am laid in earth, In the midst of life
Charles Mouton, Pavane

Many themes by John Barry, of which Out of Africa
The Beattles wrote fantastic tunes,
Elton John,
Barbara, ....

My knowledge of classical music is not at you guys' level, but I like Bach's Zion Hears the Watchman, I believe from Cantada 140. I also play Chopin's Etude 10/3. And I love Rachmoninoff, even if he's not the most innovative.

Also, though it's perhaps overplayed, the slow movement of Mozart's piano Concerto 21.

And The Swan, from Carnival of the Animals,when the piano is paired with a good violinist.

Beautiful tune? How about the 18th Variation in Rach's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - or Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" - or Bach's "Arioso?"

Two more: the opening movements of Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto and Rachmaninoff’s 3rd.

I could do this all day.

I'm also thinking of The Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams, UI'm a huge fan of his work.

Last movement from Beethoven's Pastoral symphony.

2nd movement from Beethoven's fifth piano concerto.

"Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" by Bach.

Here's three that come to mind for me at the moment:

Medtner - Stimmungsbilder: Prologue, op. 1 no. 1

Scriabin - Sonata no 2. (Sonata-Fantasy), first movement, the "ben marcato il canto" theme that starts at measure 45 (3:24 in this performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weXvYaR_eWM ).

Khachaturian - Adagio from Spartacus (and here's a nifty arrangement that starts it off with piano, because, why not?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81IcfKPp97M )

I literally LOL'ed at that one!...and then my wife turned and gave me a dirty look because she is in a work-from-home Zoom conference in the same room.