# Favorite Romantic masterpieces for solo piano?



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

List some post-Beethoven/Schubert piano solo works of the Romantic era that you believe are particularly great.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Liszt B minor sonata. Schumann Fantasy in C major. Scriabin 5th piano sonata. Lately I really like Rachmaninov’s 2nd piano sonata


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

My top ten:
1. Schumann Fantasie in C
2. Schumann Carnaval
3. Reger Bach Variations
4. Brahms Paganini Variations
5. Schumann Symphonic Etudes
6. Liszt Reminiscences de Don Juan
7. Busoni Fantasia Contrappuntistica
8. Scriabin 1st Piano Sonata
9. Alkan Trois Grandes Etudes
10. Brahms Handel Variations

Making a top ten proved far harder than I originally imagined so here are some more to preserve my sanity:

-Schumann Sonata in F Minor
-Liszt Dante Sonata
-Liszt B minor Sonata
-Granados Goyescas
-Schumann Kinderszenen
-Godowsky Java Suite
-Alkan Grande Sonata
-Franck Prelude Chorale and Fugue


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Could have named a lot more Schumann too. And how could I have forgotten Chopin’s B minor sonata? Also his Barcarolle, Berceuse, Ballades, etc...


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> Could have named a lot more Schumann too. And how could I have forgotten Chopin's B minor sonata? Also his Barcarolle, Berceuse, Ballades, etc...


I ended up not naming any Chopin because I personally feel that his greatest successes were in his collections of shorter works...Chopin's sonatas are fine works but his Études are something else entirely.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Basically all of Chopin (especially his b minor sonata, op 25 etudes, op 28 preludes, all his ballades but especially op 23, the berceuse, the barcarolle, the fantasy impromptu, the polonaises especially op 44 and the polonaise fantasy, the scherzi, and many nocturnes, waltzes and mazurkas)
Alkan's solo works (especially the concerto and the trois morceaux)
Brahms late piano pieces (opp 76, 79, 116-119)
Liszt b minor and Dante sonatas -- and many of his miscellaneous pieces (GGC, Liebestraume, valse oubliee, gnomenreigen, campanella--his chopin homages like his second polonaise are excellent too)
Franck Chorale prelude et fugue
Mussorgsky pictures at an exhibition
Rach preludes and etudes
Scriabin op 8 etudes and 3rd sonata (I like later Scriabin better than earlier, but he's post-Romantic after the 4th or 5th sonata or so)
If Medtner counts, his Sonata Reminiscenza

I love Schumann's lieder but I don't find his solo piano music very interesting.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

^ Great post, it includes many (sets of) pieces that I would mention as well.
As for Liszt I would add Années de pèlerinage and Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude.
And for (early) Scriabin I'd add Sonata No. 2, Fantasie Op. 28 and Preludes Op. 11.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Liszt's Transcendental Etudes. Grieg's Lyric Pieces. Schumann's Canonic Studies.


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## FleshRobot (Jan 27, 2014)

Pictures at an Exibition might just be my favorite piano work from the Romantic period.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

Brahms - Opus 116, 117, 118 and 119 will repay the listener many times over!


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## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

A word for Schumann's delightful Papillons from me they're just the kind of works I adore.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Thanks for these lists. I realized that this is an area I've been pretty much ignoring.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Schumann: Etudes Symphoniques
Glazunov: Piano Sonata no. I, Three Etudes, & Theme et Variations
Blumenfeld: Twenty-four Preludes & Sonata Fantasie
Rubinstein: Melody in F and Deux Morceaux
Rachmaninoff: Twenty-four Preludes, Sonata II, & Etudes Tableaux
Medtner: Forgotten Melodies
Scriabin: Sonata III
Rebikov: Esclavage et Liberté
Arensky: Twelve Preludes
Paderewski: Piano Sonata
Franck: Grande Caprice
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons
Lyapunov: Piano Sonata and Nocturne
Melartin: Six Pieces op. 7, The Melancholy Gardens, Lyric Pieces
Chopin: Etudes
Bortkiewicz: Ten Preludes, Lamentations and Consolations, Ballade in C-sharp
Catoire: Morceaux, op. 10 & Caprice
Liszt: Dante Sonata
Lyadov: Two Pieces, op. 24
Alkan: Twelve Etudes and Esquisses
Balakirev: Sonata in b-flat (1856)
Gottschalk: The Banjo


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

C deckhand dcmj ceinture


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

All of Brahms piano music except the piano sonatas.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

tdc said:


> All of Brahms piano music except the piano sonatas.


I love Sonata #1: the young Brahms, full of energy!


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Strange Magic said:


> I love Sonata #1: the young Brahms, full of energy!


Actually I do like the piano sonatas, but haven't gotten into them enough yet to call them 'favorites'. They will probably grow on me.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

I don't believe that either Chopin or Brahms are at their best composing sonatas. Their sonatas are very good but some other works are even better.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

chu42 said:


> I don't believe that either Chopin or Brahms are at their best composing sonatas. Their sonatas are very good but some other works are even better.


Agree for Brahms but definitely not with Chopin--his third sonata is one of his greatest works, and the second is very good as well.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

howlingfantods said:


> Agree for Brahms but definitely not with Chopin--his third sonata is one of his greatest works, and the second is very good as well.


Chopin's sonatas are fantastic but nothing beats his Etudes in my opinion.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

One of my favorite little known piano sonata andantes: Anton Rubinstein sonata #1 circa 1846:


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