J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is, by some distance, the most instantly recognisable work for organ. It’s arresting ‘da-da-da’ opening, followed by florid runs, dramatic pauses and a bunch of chunky chords has something deliciously gothic about it. Small wonder our many arrangements of it here on 8notes are so popular with our members.
No matter how well you think you know this piece, however, some things about it may come as a surprise…
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The march is one of the most ancient of musical forms, its origins going back deep into antiquity. In the time of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, music was used to accompany ceremonial and military movements, with drums, horns and pipes being used to coordinate the steps of soldiers and to inspire morale. Music was also important on the battlefield, with trumpet and horn-like instruments used to signal actions such as charge and retreat.
Whilst these uses didn’t form any kind of distinct musical repertoire that has survived, they set basic functions for the the march—for coordination, ceremony and motivation.
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If you want human emotion laid bare, opera is your art form - despair, longing, joy, love, it’s all there. And within an opera the purest expression of this is the aria, where a singer will reflect upon or drive forward the drama in a solo song.
In the hands of a great composer an aria is a perfect marriage of text and music, often producing music of the profoundest beauty. Great arias tend to be the most celebrated part of any opera, so much so that musicians often choose to perform them as stand-alone concert pieces.
Here is our choice of the most beautiful of these magnificent works. Follow the links to find sheet music for your instrument and to practise with our exclusive backing tracks.
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Whilst learning any instrument is not easy, the piano does sometimes seem to have more than its fair share of technical challenges. If only there were some pieces by great composers that were not so hard to play but made you sound like an absolute pro…
The fact is, there are!
For those in the know, there are some works that sound absolutely brilliant, are played by even the most eminent concert pianists and yet they are surprisingly easy to master. Many early years pianists know this and use this secret knowledge to dazzle (and maybe intimidate) their fellow learners. We feel that this knowledge should be shared!
Here, then, is our picks of some of the best of these works. Prepare to dazzle your fellow musicians (without frazzling your fingers).
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When listening to music it’s often easy to feel that it is painting pictures or telling a story, even where a piece is entirely ‘abstract’. Abstract pieces are intended to be enjoyed for the sake of the sound itself—even though they may invoke a mood, or have a specific purpose, such as for dancing.
Sometimes, however, composers intentionally write ‘programmatic’ music, where the music evokes a specific image, story or idea. Such pieces are normally purely instrumental, with the music alone conveying the narrative, unlike, for example in an opera where there is also a sung text, set design and lighting.
Here are some of the very best of these most colourful works. Be sure to check out our sheet music—just follow the links—so you too can enjoy playing the best tunes from them.
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There have been many great opera composers down the centuries, but none has surpassed the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), whose instinct for drama was only bested by his ability to clothe it in the most divine music imaginable.
Mozart wrote 22 music dramas, some of which were small scale occasional pieces or pastiche pieces written when he was very young. Even these works contain much to be admired. Here, however, we rank to his mature masterpieces, the works for which he is truly remembered.
We also pick out our favourite music from these works—follow the links so you too can enjoy playing these iconic melodies!
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Beloved by brides and grooms everywhere, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is probably the most well-known, well-loved and frequently played wedding march in the repertoire, and that’s in the face of some pretty stiff competition from the likes of Wagner, Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke and others.
But there’s much more to this piece than meets, the eye. Far from being a one-off work intended for nuptial events, it actually is taken from a much larger piece, a set of incidental music for Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
The story of how this came to be written is a fascinating one, starting when the composer was starry-eyed 17-year old and ending just a few years before his death…
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These days, thankfully, composing is much less of a ‘boys only’ occupation than it used to be. Some of the greatest recent and living composers have been and are women, including figures such as Kaaija Saariaho, Judith Weir, Helen Grime, Errollyn Wallen, Olga Neuwirth, Unsuk Chin and Rebecca Saunders. There are many, many others….
It was not always this way. Though women were never officially banned from composing, the traditional view of women as mothers and home-makers meant that there was not much encouragement either. These attitudes often meant that those who did compose were limited to writing in more ‘lady-like’ forms such as art songs and characteristic piano pieces. Longer forms and especially works for orchestra were not considered appropriate for women.
Despite all this, and often with considerable courage and determination, some women were able to forge a path as composers. Here are some, but by no means all, of the greatest.
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It sold more than a million copies on its release in 1962, becoming one of Elvis Presley’s greatest hits—the piece he reserved for the final climax of live concerts. And it remains popular to this day, a survey in 2020, for example, finding I Can't Help Falling in Love to be one of the most frequently used pieces for the first dance of newly married couples.
Despite its association with The King of Rock and Roll, however, its composition dates back to the 18th century and a little known composer named Jean-Paul-Égide Martini…
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Any attempt to pick a definitive list of the best ever symphonies is, let’s face it, doomed to failure. Debate is inevitably dominated by taste, with some people simply preferring the sound of Mozart to Mahler; Beethoven to Brahms; Schubert to Shostakovich.
So though making this list might be controversial, it is fun and not totally without merit—we might not have got it totally right, but all the works included are certainly brilliant.
We have also highlighted the best melodies from them, with links to our exclusive arrangements of these tunes, so you can experience and play these pieces yourself.
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