Composers
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61
In today’s video we’re going to be having a look at Mendelssohn’s incidental music for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, op. 61. It contains fourteen movements (including an overture and ending), and was created to be the background music to the famous Shakespeare play. Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: Backstory Mendelssohn composed the incidental music for…
Read MoreThe Music of Mendelssohn: Five Favorites
In today’s video, we’ll be looking at the music of Mendelssohn. I’ve chosen five selections that should give you a good taste of his range and style. We’ll start by talking a little about Mendelssohn’s style, and then jump right into the five different compositions, talking about each, and – as always – listening to…
Read MoreThe Hardest Piano Music Ever: Beethoven Edition
Hi friends! We’re back with another edition of “The Hardest Piano Music Ever”, which spotlights fiendishly difficult piano music. This is as complicated as it gets, the pinnacle of achievement. 99.99% of all piano players will not play this music. Some might try, but most will fail. And on that depressing note, let’s have a…
Read MoreA Brief History of Felix Mendelssohn
A Brief History of Felix Mendelssohn Felix Mendelssohn was a Romantic-era composer who lived a short but productive life. He tends to be lesser-known than giants like Chopin or Liszt, but composed some beautiful music well-worth learning as a pianist, or listening to as a music enthusiast. In the next month or two, we’ll be…
Read MoreThe Easiest Mendelssohn Pieces for Piano (Intermediate/Advanced)
Like we’ve done with so many other composers, we’re going to discuss the easiest Mendelssohn pieces today. We’re going to look at the first of his piano compositions you can get into if you’re looking to get into his music. Mendelssohn’s piano music starts at an intermediate level, so beginners might want to look elsewhere.…
Read MoreThe Easiest Grieg Pieces to Start Trying on the Piano [Guide]
Like we’ve done with so many other composers, we’re going to discuss the easiest Grieg pieces today. We’re going to look at the first of his piano compositions you can start with if you’re an intermediate student. We’ll talk about what specific pieces are the easiest – the easiest we’ll talk about today is Grade…
Read MoreA Brief History of Edvard Grieg
In today’s episode we’ll be talking about none other than Edvard Grieg. Grieg was a Romantic-era composer (the same time period as Liszt and Chopin) who has a few really important compositions, but he tends to be lesser-known, especially to non-pianists. In today’s video we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty on his life and…
Read MoreThe Best Music of Grieg [4 favorites]
In today’s video we’re going to take a look at the best music of Grieg. We’ll talk about some favorites and listen through some examples to get you started with this composer. Over the next couple of months we’ll be discussing the composer Edvard Grieg. He was a Romantic-era composer, often overlooked when compared to…
Read MoreBeethoven’s Fur Elise: The “Stairway to Heaven” of Piano
In today’s episode of PianoTV, we’re going to be talking about Bagatelle no. 25 in A minor (WoO 59) by Beethoven – but it goes by the much more common name of “Fur Elise”. This is one of Beethoven’s most famous pieces, and arguably the most famous piano piece of all time. It’s been a…
Read MoreHandel’s Water Music: A Baroque Concert Masterpiece
In today’s video, we’re going to take a closer look at Handel’s Water Music suite. We’ve looked at another composition by Handel before – the Hallelujah chorus from his oratorio Messiah, so definitely check that out if you want some more Handel.
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