The most beautiful piece? It should be asked as the most beautiful pieces, as there are so many brilliant pieces from so many different genres.

For the Baroque era, my favorite keyboard work would have to be J.S. Bach`s fourth and fifth English Suites. The first time I heard the Prelude to the Fifth English Suite, with its agitated running sixteenth notes and striking subject, the first thing I thought was, "This is too Romantic to be Bach!" The Gigue to the Fourth English Suite is almost the complete opposite in mood, which makes it one of my favorite Baroque pieces as well.

In the Classic period, the final movement of the Waldstein Sonata contains what could arguably be the most blissful melody in Beethoven`s piano repertoire.

As for the Romantic period, the second movement of Schumann`s Kreisleriana and Chopin`s Fourth Ballade have hauntingly beautiful melodies. I lump in Variation 18 of Rachmaninov`s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with these two beautiful melodies.

I like the spritefulness and fire of Prokofiev`s Third Piano Concerto. I`m not fond of the "modern" repertoire myself, so Prokofiev is pretty much the only one on this list.

My Favourites at the moment are Chopins Nocturne no.19 and The main theme from Meet Joe Black (Thomas Newman).

I agree this music is brilliant, very moving, with the contrasting minor/major sequence-life/death I interpret it as, I learned it by ear on piano, it is wrote by james horner not thomas newman. James horner is one of my favourite film composers, he did Titanic, beautiful mind: a personal favourite of mine, braveheart and many others.

You can see on amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000DHZU/102-5426294-5090545?v=glance) I always remember because American Beauty and Shawshank Redemption are his too and are thematically similar, imo.

The full name of the Nocturne is something like Nocturne no 19 in e minor op.72 no.1

It is Thomas Newman, here is a link to the score. http://www.cerulean-pictures.com/meetjoe.html

currently, my favorite piano song is by Frederic Chopin, and is titled "Ballade No. 1 in G Minor". Be warned though.. It is extremely difficult!! the first couple of pages are somewhat intermediate, but then the rest is just HARD! But, the song has many emotions to it, and my favorite part is at the PRESTO CON FUOCO section (translated into: FAST WITH FIRE) Its awesome ... you can find the sheet music at: http://sheetmusicarchive.net/compositions_b/ballad23.pdf

have fun !!

ive always loved clair de lune.

im trying to find a recording of these rachmaninoff pieces you are discussing, because i have not yet been priveliged enough to hear them. on a smaller note, i actually find it in distaste to listen to a piece that combines the piano with an orchestra-like-accompaniment (or whatever you would like to call it.) totally kills it for me most of the time.

oh and a little quote-

"dont play whats there, play whats not there" -- miles davis

tom, i guess we have our opinions n all but lemmie state mine. The orchestra accompaniment in any concerto is so grand and can really manifest a story or interpretation way better than a solo instrument. Also as a source of communicating, picture a big room filled with people conversating. Does everyone have to be the same race, or gender? no of course. people vary, as well as instruements. Not everyone in the world is a man or European, or all Asian, etc. Same with music. You need contrast and variation. Not to mention the diversity of tone produced by the instruments. If anyone would like to politely disagree with me, I will be glad to back up my point. And trust me, since you havent heard much of Rachmaninov`s piano concertos. They are unbelievable no matter how many times i play the second one. It just doesnt seem like a human can compose such a piece. oh and tyler, not being rude, but these are pieces not songs. Just a lil comment. No biggie, thats a well thought out piece by the way

well, Alex, please accept my apology for not being perfect! I beg of you! spare me!
well, now, I think the most beautiful "piece" I`ve heard so far, is Tchaikovsky`s PAS DE DEUX for the Nutcracker (Op. 71, #14a)
It has beautiful cello solos, as well as really good "layering" of instrumentation. And the harp solos are what really make the piece great.

Well in my opinion i would really think that Franz Lizst's

Liebenstraum ( i dont really know how to spell it as i dont have the music with me)

Or

Valse (op. something or other)

Well in my opinion i would really think that Franz Lizst's

Liebenstraum ( i dont really know how to spell it as i dont have the music with me)

Or

Valse (op. something or other)by Chopin

I totally agree, definitely "Liebestraum" I love that piece!

When my piano teacher gave me a cd with some opera and piano music for me to study from, there was one song that I was amazed by, and it was Prelude in G Minor Opus 23 No. 5 by Rachmaninoff. It's an extremely difficult piece... I fortunately have the big hands to play it, but the music is so hard and fingerings are so difficult that I'm taking a while just to play the first page.
What I love about it is that it starts out strong, like a march and the goes into an emotional, beatifully sad part, and then ends with the march and fades off. Anyways, it's a great piece, and I recommend you to listen to it sometime.