Piece that makes you happy?

[fhertzbe]

I've seen discussions of sad pieces /  music that makes you cry but what about merry pieces, or pieces that make you bristle with joy / full of bliss ? The perhaps ultimate example for me is Mozart's sonata in d major for two pianos 1. (Allegro con spirito), esp. Perahia-Lupu.

[emilye]

Beethoven - Sonata C major op. 2 ( 1 mvt)
                  Sonata C major op. 53
Chopin - Barcarole in F sharp major, Op. 60
            etude op. 25 no. 9
            etude op. 10 no. 1
            etiude op. 10 no. 8
Haydn - Sonata in C XVI: 48
Rachmaninov - Prelude in B
Ravel!! - Piano concerto in G

I know many, many pieces ;-)

[scottmcc]

a number of good choices from emilye above.  I'd add

Beethoven - a number of works, but a few that spring to mind are Pastoral Sonata (op 28), Sonata op 101, Sonata op 111, Symphony #6 (Pastoral), Symphony #9 (Choral)

Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, a number of pieces from the Well Tempered Clavier, a few examples could be Bk 1 C maj, D maj, E flat Maj (this is by no means exhaustive)

Schubert - C Maj Fantasy (Wanderer)

Chopin - Etude op 25 #4, Polonaise op 53 (Heroic)

of course, there's far more music I could list here, but this is a good place to start. 

[emilye]

a number of good choices from emilye above.  I'd add

Beethoven - a number of works, but a few that spring to mind are Pastoral Sonata (op 28), Sonata op 101, Sonata op 111, Symphony #6 (Pastoral), Symphony #9 (Choral)

Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, a number of pieces from the Well Tempered Clavier, a few examples could be Bk 1 C maj, D maj, E flat Maj (this is by no means exhaustive)

Schubert - C Maj Fantasy (Wanderer)

Chopin - Etude op 25 #4, Polonaise op 53 (Heroic)


of course, there's far more music I could list here, but this is a good place to start. 

I can't agree about sonata op. 111, I suppose that you think about sonata op. 110 ;-)
oh yeah, polonaise op. 53 make me and many people happy. Good choice ;-)

[scottmcc]

how can this fail to make you happy? 

op 110 is also beautiful, but I left it out because of the exceptionally sorrowful Klagender Gesang.

[pianowolfi]

The saddest pieces make me really happy. If it's a real deep sadness, profundity, tragedy. And not just negativity. 

[redbaron]

Bach - Sheep May Safely Graze
Brahms - Intermezzo in C, Op 119, No 3
Chopin -  Butterfly Etude
Chopin - Nocturne in Ab, Op, 32 no 2
Debussy - La fille aux cheveux de lin
Grieg - Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Mussorgsky - The Great Gate of Kiev from Pictures
Rachmaninov - Paganini Rhapsody 18th variation
Rimsky-Korsakov - Fandango Asturiana from Capriccio Espagnol
Schumann - Eintritt from Waldszenen
Sibelius - Finlandia

[mnmleung]

Great selections, thanks.

I'd like to add:

Haydn sonata no 35 in C Major, 1st movement
Chabrier - Pièces pittoresques - Idylle
Couperin Le tic toc choc (especially played by Sokolov)
Bach Book 1 fugue in C# major; Book 2 fugue in B minor; Partita no 1 in B flat
Robert Schumann: the happy farmer; the final movement of Symphonic Studies
Clara Schumann: An einem lichten Morgen
Medtner Fairy Tales Opus 51 No 3 (especially played by Horowitz)

[fhertzbe]

The saddest pieces make me really happy. If it's a real deep sadness, profundity, tragedy. And not just negativity.  

This would seem to fit in with some of Schumann's music, which in the midst of sorrow turns into bliss and extacy

[starlady]

The saddest pieces make me really happy. If it's a real deep sadness, profundity, tragedy. And not just negativity. 

This would seem to fit in with some of Schumann's music, which in the midst of sorrow turns into bliss and extacy

That's EXACTLY what the Bach D Minor Chaconne does to me.

-s.

[phil2]

Valse-Impromptu by liszt without fail.

[alessandro]

Funny how words (fail to) describe certain feelings depending on the language you use.  In this case, "happy" is for me a less overwhelming feeling than "joy".   In my language (dutch) there are really a lot of words to describe "pleasant feeling".   A typical other example would be the word "smakelijk", which is one word for saying something like "savour you meal" or "enjoy your meal".  There is not even a even powerful word in French for "smakelijk"...  Whatever, on topic ; "piece that make (made) me happy", just heard one on you tube : Le Tic-Toc-Choc from Couperin.

Kind greetings to everyone.

[pianomadkat]

  It is Soiree Polka by Foster - it's such a fun piece. I'm actually Grade 8 and this is fairly easy for me but I wanted a jolly kind of piece to play. I'd never heard it before until my teacher sent me this recording to see if I liked it https://bit.ly/foNtuD
Hope you like it too.

[aintgotnorhythm]

Heller Op 47 No 25

[john11inc]

I don't think any music makes me "happy", but something that amuses me:

[thinkgreenlovepiano]

Bartok' s Three Rondos on Slovak Folk Tunes, Chopin's Nocturne 9/3 and 32/2, Haydn Sonata in D major XVI:33 (first movement)...

Playing too many "happy" pieces makes me feel depressed though... And when I'm feeling sad, playing pieces that are "happy" can just drain whatever happiness I have left inside of me. I need a good balance (:

[argerichfan]

There are a number of pieces which bring on a smile.  In piano, I could mention the scherzo from Beethoven's Op 31/3, Liszt's Grand Galop, Debussy's Golliwog's Cakewalk, the finale of Prokofiev's 4th sonata, Moszkowski's delicious piano concerto.

Non-piano, there's always the last movement of Schubert's Octet, Sullivan's Overture di Ballo, 'Joie du sang des étoiles' from Messiaen's Turangalila, I'm sure I'll think of many more. 

Elgar's Serenade certainly wasn't meant to be any exercise in humour, but the sheer mastery of the writing, his sense of atmosphere, that peculiarly Elgarian pathos and yearning, yes, a smile though a few tears.

[ted]

Unconditionally and immediately happy ? I too was going to answer that none exist but then I found today there is at least one: "Aunt Dinah has blowed de horn" from the second act of Treemonisha.

[cheesypencil]

Liszt Totentanz and beethoven symphony number 7 huahua

[sordel]

I don't tend to go to piano music for "happy" but the A major fugue from the Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues springs to mind, as does a lot of the dance music from the Bach suites.

[pianisten1989]

But first, we need to define what you mean by Happy.

[drkilroy]

Schumann's Carnaval.

Best regards, Dr

[sordel]

But first, we need to define what you mean by Happy.

No need to define puerile at least. See what you can do with tedious.

[ahinton]

No need to define puerile at least. See what you can do with tedious.

Oh, mon Dieu! - don't encourage this!...

Best,

Alistair

[cheesypencil]

also op 111 and op 109

[pianisten1989]

Oh, mon Dieu! - don't encourage this!...

I actually wasn't, until you wrote this...


However, back to topic, I tend to be (sorry ahinton, you might not understand this part) happy if it's well played.

[pianoplayjl]

Chopin Heroic polonaise
winterwind etude
Rachmaninoff concerto 3
Chopin etude no 1
Beethoven Hammerklavier

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

A full listing of mine might be a tad tiresome to read, but some that come to mind right now are:

-Schumann's 'Toccata' Op.7 (more than enough to wake me up and the 'Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins' from 'Carnaval'.
-Weber's Overture from 'Euryanthe'
-Beethoven's 4th movement from his 5th Symphony
-Bach's Fugue III from the Well-Tempered Clavier, First Book
-Mozart's Harp and Flute Concerto K.299
-Schubert's 'Die schöne Müllerin'
-Liszt's 'Spanish Rhapsody'

Best,
Musikalischer Wirbelwind

[pianoplayjl]

Here's a COMPLETE list of pieces making me happy:
Liszt Mazeppa
devotion
Chopin etude op 10 no 1,3,5,11
etude op 25:1,4,5,11,12
Beethoven: hammerklavier, op 14 no 1, op 22, op 26, waldstein, les adiuex,
Petrushka
Rachmaninoff conerto 2 1st mvt
Rachmaninoff concerto 3 3rd movement.