What's the sweetest piano piece you know?

One to beguile your friends (and foes) with, rather than impress them with your undoubted prowess and facility (though there's a time and a place for that too...).

One favorite of mine is Reger's Maria Wiegenlied, a song that's been transcribed by the composer for piano solo. I regret to say that I once played it to woo someone who thought it was my own composition (because before that, I'd played her another piece that I wrote, which she didn't much like....), and I didn't have the heart to tell her the truth, until much, much later......

I can't find a piano performance on YouTube, but here is a very saccharine vocal version: http://youtu.be/7dAKz6E7U-8

These things are more than just "sweet" but they're my nominees:

Love this one. I think it charms some and confuses others, which is fine by me

Schumann : "Des Abends" from Fantasiestücke, Op 12 :



This is Brendel, by the way.

Regards,

Another favorite sweetmeat of mine is the slow movement of Barber's Piano Concerto, which is derived from his Canzone for flute and piano: http://youtu.be/e5LZWodwxXM

And this is how it sounds in the concerto: http://youtu.be/7JHZQlOQ0CY

This Shostakovich lullaby is very charming. Very poetical.



One of my late discovery. An excerpt from Villa-Lobos' Guia Pràtico :



It's already in my favorites pieces, but I'm a great fan of Villa-Lobos.

Well I would say this:

Thanks everyone so far, for sharing your favourite confectionary. Some lovely pieces I've never heard before.

Here's another little sweet, this time by Paderewski: http://youtu.be/WsolZt7KYH4

Jason, the Hofmann is a complete delight.

One of my favorites was composed by Hofmann's pupil Shura Cherkassky at the age of 11, his Prélude pathétique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyGtwJu3PA8

The middle section is so beautiful, and the 3rd section is great fun to play.


Another favorite is Elgar's Salut d'amour, played by Aldo Ciccolini:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fzavgbuaOI

I much prefer his slower tempo.


And for sheer loveliness there's Vaja Azarashvili's Nocturne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFxEbYr_Mzw


Mel

bennevis, you're always so much fun on this board. I have resisted starting a new topic because I don't think many would care, but this is really outstanding. Argerich videos tend to have a short half-life on YT -they get pulled- but have you ever seen piano playing like this?

Thanks for your compliment .

Argerich is always good value - I think she might well have the best preserved technique of any 71-year-old pianist who's ever lived. Most pianists at this age aren't quite as polished as in their earlier years, but she's defied the odds and is still as dazzling as ever.....

Back to more chocolate - this is really sticky sweet, especially if you listen to the original song from the animated movie 'The Snowman', or the famous version sung by a young Aled Jones (well known to the British public, but maybe not to Americans).
Howard Blake incorporated his piano version into his suite 'Lifecycle' for solo piano: http://youtu.be/YnZGPPRJKO8

If you really must hear young Aled (don't say I didn't warn you!).... http://youtu.be/-bpezye4xq0

Wow.

Not very trendy for a 30 year old to like Elgar -a young old fart I am, better to be mesmerized by Mahler, not Colonel Blimp- but Elgar's music stubbornly refuses to fit the mold.

I could never imagine my life without that man's gorgeously written music.

Any time. Wish that I could meet you over drinks and talk about what we love.

Here's more patriotic music to entice you back to these shores, and the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire.... - Elgar's own transcription of Nimrod:
http://youtu.be/gMZ30EMK8JQ

Oops! Wrong topic!

In all seriousness...

Here's proof that even avant-garde composers have a tune in them:

Peter Maxwell Davies's Farewell to Stromness. http://youtu.be/fBGX9xd8z9A

(Stromness is the capital of the Orkney Islands, a wind-swept group of Scottish islands north of the northern tip of mainland Britain).

If you like the hint of bagpipe drones in that piece, check out Max's An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise, which uses real bagpipes.

I'm not sure how you are defining 'sweet', but this is the most literally romantic sounding bit of music I've ever heard:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BseUi3Qs5p8#t=5m13s

The whole piece, yes of course, but particularly the time segment that I linked you. The two left hand turns with the right hand chords. That spot is one of the most beautiful moments in music to me. And what follows isn't so bad either.

EDIT:

I'd like to point out that I think it helps that Dang Thai Son doesn't RUSH this piece like so many pianist do IMO.

He takes it at a calmer tempo and I think that makes all the difference.

Sweetness is in the taste of the beholder .

Apart from getting to know more repertoire - maybe of the more off-beat variety - of this sort (for wooing purposes, among others.... just like good chocolate), I was also interested to see how people defined 'sweetness'. And slow, romantic music seems to be the consensus, including Chopin nocturnes. A nice tune and luscious harmonies always helps.

Even Debussy gets in on the act... http://youtu.be/v0CLYpYKHNY

Hitting very close to home here, I have sent you a PM.

I could never imagine my life without that man's gorgeously written music.

A bon bon wrapped in snow:

2 more...


Love this one!



0-3:24
Not a fan of this performance, but I do like this movement a lot. It always make me think of Franonard's The Swing when I play it, which is probably why I like it bit slower than this.

There are certainly some lovely miniatures from Nordic composers, including not just Grieg, Palmgren and Merikanto, but even from giants like Sibelius, whose piano music is very different from his symphonies and tone poems, and most definitely not 'hewn from granite'....

A little bite-sized chocolate-coated truffle which I discovered recently (though apparently, it's well-known by many intermediate pianists) is Alexander Ilynsky's Berceuse: http://youtu.be/VWG01POxZAo

The two left hand turns with the right hand chords.

A beautiful melody, interesting harmonies and a sprinkle of glitter here and there, Czerny's exquisite Romance in E, listed as Op.755 No.13, but in my score it's No.16:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s767JvrAyEc

From Martin Jones' Complete Czerny Sonatas, Vol.3.


Mel