During his Weimar period, Johann Sebastian Bach composed a wealth of works. Among them are the 22 solo keyboard transcriptions of concertos by his Italian and German contemporaries: six for organ (BWV 592–596) and 16 for single-manual keyboard (BWV 972–987). The latter includes many famous baroque concertos by for example Vivaldi, Marcello and Telemann. This collection of 16 works is […]

What Scarlatti is most prominently remembered for are the 555 short keyboard sonatas originally labelled Essercizi (Exercises). When he died in Madrid, Scarlatti left this treasury of manuscripts, which were largely unplayed beyond Spain and Portugal until pianist Carl Czerny published a selection of the sonatas in 1839. 34 of the most popular sonatas have been added to Piano Street’s […]

Each of the two volumes of Bach‘s Well-tempered Clavier contains one prelude and one fugue in every major and minor key. Often called “the 48”, or the “Old Testament” of piano music (the new being Beethoven’s sonatas) it is perhaps the most important keyboard work of all time. The preludes are very varied in style and often deal with a […]

The sheet music of Burgmüller’s opus 109, 18 Characteristic Studies, has been published as Piano Street Editions together with recordings by Henrik Sandback. This collection may be used as a sequel to the studies opus 100. Each study challenges the player with a specific technical problem, inseparable from the main idea of the composition. Like the earlier pieces, the Characteristic […]

Pictures at an Exhibition, one of Modest Mussorgsky’s most famous work, is a set of ten pieces originally composed for the piano. The work is also well known in various arrangements with Ravel’s orchestration being the most recorded and performed. Sheet music of the piano version is now available in urtext edition in the Piano Street sheet music library. The […]

This incomplete masterpiece was Bach’s last and greatest effort in the area of fugue writing and musical transformation. In contrast with the earlier Well Tempered Clavier, this collection of fugues and canons all share not only the same key but also the same subject. Recent handwriting and watermark studies have shown that The Art of the Fugue was composed about […]

Wanderer Fantasy Considered being his most technically demanding piano composition Schubert himself said “the devil may play it” about his Wanderer Fantasy, opus 15. It was composed in 1822 and dedicated to Emanuel Karl Edler von Liebenberg, who was a student of Hummel. Schubert’s Diabelli Variation Schubert wrote one variation on the well known Waltz by Diabelli, which Beethoven based […]

John Field is generally regarded as the father and inventor of the Nocturne, and influenced several of the later romantics, most notably Chopin. Rather simple in form, these pieces are mainly concerned with setting up a mood – usually rather melancholy – and a continuous flow of beautiful melody, with plenty of virtuosic embellishments. Both Field and Chopin were in […]

Even though Isaac Albéniz actually never composed any music for guitar much of his piano music is part of the standard guitar repertoire. Asturias (Leyenda), the fifth movement from Suite Española, opus 47, is one example. He sometimes retitled movements and reused them in later works and this piece is also the first movement (“Prelude”) of his collection ”Cantos de […]

Among the most famous and popular works by Edvard Grieg are the two Peer Gynt Suites and the piano suite From Holberg’s Time. From Holberg’s Time, opus 40 Ludwig Holberg (1684-1754) was a key figure in early Danish literature, but was born in Norway, in Grieg’s native city Bergen. Grieg composed two works for the celebrations of 1884, 200 years […]

Two piano pieces, one organ transcription and 14 harmonium pieces by César Franck are now available for download as Piano Street Editions and recordings: Slow Dance (piano piece) Dolly’s Complaint (piano piece) Prelude to Ave Maris Stella (originally for organ) 14 Harmonium pieces In César Franck’s keyboard music he clearly indicated in the scores for which specific instrument the music […]

Gabriel Fauré is considered one of the most influential and gifted French composers of the late romantic and early 20th century period. His early compositions, influenced by Chopin and his teacher Saint-Saënt, are of very romantic character while he later developed a more personal and harmonically complex musical style. The Nocturnes for example were composed over a range of 45 […]