Master Keyboard Series - LudwigMasters

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) composed this second (Op. 39) of two sets of piano études in 1917. The title Études-Tableaux translates as "study pictures." But while the works were inspired by some v...

The term "Nocturne" was first used in the Romantic era sense of the term by Irish composer John Field (1782-1837). This collection of EIGHTEEN (18) NOCTURNES was edited by Franz Liszt, and it includes...

With the "Tree Suite" (Op. 75) in mind, Sibelius wrote this corresponding "Flower Suite" (Op. 85). It forms a distinctive series of worthwhile pieces. Movements: No. 1. Bellis (Presto; 1917). "The Dai...

ONDULANDO, which translates to "wavy" from the Brazilian Portuguese, perfectly describes the musical contour of this work, both in terms of the larger phrases and smaller measure to measure writing fo...

Originally written in 1899 by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) for solo piano, and later orchestrated by the composer, PAVANE POUR UNE INFANTE DÉFUNTE (PAVANE FOR A DEAD PRINCESS) remains one of the enduring...

With evolving colors and quickly shifting moods, Cecile Chaminade's "Etude Humoristique" is certain to amuse audiences, as the title implies. With technically challenging passages and a folk...

Written by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) between 1904 and 1905, Miroirs (Mirrors) for solo piano came at a time of fertile creativity following Ravel's resolve to pursue his own unique style rather than b...

Transcribed and edited by Richard Dowling. First Edition. As played by George Gershwin on Welte-Mignon Piano Roll #3968, mid-1919. Includes biographical information about the composer and his relation...

Robert Nathaniel Dett was a Canadian-American Black composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor. Born and raised in Canada until the age of 11, he moved to the United States with...

Included: 1. Marche de nuit, Op. 17 (A March in the Night); 2. Berceuse, Op. 47 (Cradle Song). Reprint of the edition by William Smythe Babcock Mathews.

This beautiful work for piano by Amy Beach (1867-1944) was composed in 1922.

Amy Beach (1867-1944) wrote Les Rêves de Colombine (Columbine's Dreams), a "Suite Française" for piano, in 1907 and premiered them herself at a recital on April 17, 1907, at Boston's Hotel Tuileries....

Following a seven-year creative hiatus, Arnold Schönberg turned from his exploration of free atonality to develop a strict twelve-tone method, in which he built an entire piece or movement with a sequ...

The only piano work of Alban Berg (1885-1935) to include an opus number, Sonate for Piano, Op. 1, represents the first fruition of his compositional studies under Arnold Schönberg. Likely completed in...

Completed in March 1920, Francis Poulenc's (1899-1963) Suite pour Piano, FP 19, is characteristic of his early piano style. Displaying a marked influence from Stravinsky, it deftly combines the sensit...

Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók (1881-1945) wrote this collection of "five fairly difficult piano pieces" in 1926, his 'piano year.' Although often referred to as a suite...

When Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) won the Prix de Rome in 1922, he was asked to send back musical fruits of his residency. As a result, he devised a three-movement musical voyage, Escales (Ports of Call)...

Written by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) in 1926, the Piano Concerto No. 1 was among several piano works to be composed following a three-year compositional dry spell. The work premiered on July 1, 1927, wi...

Originally composed for piano duet in a series of two books, Dvorak's SLAVONIC DANCES are among his most famous works. They were written at the suggestion of Fritz Simrock of the Simrock publishing ho...

Following a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1885-86, Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composed THE CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS (LE CARNAVAL DES ANIMAUX)...

Dedicated to the composer's niece, "Summer Dreams" is a suite of six pieces for piano four hands featuring poetic quotations at the head of each piece.

This suite of five miniature piano pieces expresses the composer's hard, brittle, percussive sound and his lyricism and beauty. Demonstrating Prokofiev's harmonic experimentation, they make extensive...

Though alternately titled "Premier Nocturne" this work for solo piano in D major is actually Georges Bizet's 2nd NOCTURNE, the first having been written more than a decade earlier, and in the key of F...

A collection 13 accessible piano works by Smetana, compiled and edited by pianist and educator Vaclav Stepan.

Written in 1840 shortly after Clara Schumann's (1819-1896) marriage to Robert Schumann, Quatre pièces fugitives (Four Fugitive Pieces) are short character works, each with its own distinct mood. Calle...