Piano Whizz

Piano music from my childhood

—

by

pianowhizz
in

I believe so much in the beauty, the construction, the architecture invisible, the importance for all generations, for young people to come that it will help their minds, develop their attitudes, and give them values.

— Van Cliburn, 1958

Just the same as with literature, one’s music preferences are a very personal thing. No two people experience exactly the same emotions from listening the one piece of music. Our brains are programmed with sounds from our environment, and during this process we develop our taste for some melodies and not others.

Here are 50 pieces that had a positive impact on my passion for the piano as a child:

  1. Greensleeves (England, 1580) – played by Mr Whippy icecream vans in Australia. Despite common belief, there exists no evidence linking Greensleeves to King King VIII – indeed King Henry VIII died more than 30 years before the first references to this music.
  2. Auld lang syne (Scotland)
  3. God save the king (England) – my National Anthem until I was five years old.
  4. There’s a hole in my bucket (Germany, 17th century)
  5. Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D (Germany, 17th century, PWC 37) / modern arrangement
  6. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons – Spring (Italy, 1725)
  7. John Stafford Smith: To Anacreon in heaven / Star-spangled banner (England, 1780)
  8. W. A. Mozart: Piano Concerto 21 (Austria, 1785, K. 467) – especially the first movement (I cry happy tears every time I hear this)
  9. W. A. Mozart: The marriage of Figaro – overture (Austria, 1786, K. 492)
  10. W. A. Mozart: Symphony 40 (Austria, 1788, K. 550)
  11. Jacques Offenbach: Galup Infernal (France, 1858)
  12. Pop goes the weasel (USA, 1858)
  13. Euphemia Allen: The celebrated chop waltz (UK, 1877)
  14. Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Dance of the sugar plum fairy (Russia, 1892)
  15. Christina Macpherson: Waltzing Matilda (Australia, 1895) – Australia’s unofficial national anthem
  16. Leslie Stuart: Lily of Laguna (England, 1898) – anthem of the Carlton Football Club
  17. Julius Fučík: Entry of the gladiators (Czech Republic, 1899)
  18. Scott Joplin: The entertainer (USA, 1902)
  19. John Bratton: Teddy bears’ picnic (USA, 1907)
  20. The quartermaster’s store (England, 1914)
  21. Sergei Prokofiev: Peter and the wolf (Russia, 1936)
  22. Hoagy Carmichael: Heart and soul (USA, 1938)
  23. Harold Arlen: Over the rainbow (USA, 1938)
  24. Solomon Linda: Mbube / The lion sleeps tonight (Africa, 1939)
  25. Leigh Harline: When you wish upon a star (USA, 1939)
  26. Sherman brothers: It’s a small world (USA, 1962)
  27. Peter Yarrow: Puff the magic dragon (USA, 1963)
  28. Henri Mancini: The pink panther theme (USA, 1963)
  29. Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick: Under the boardwalk (USA, 1964)
  30. Bob Thiele: What a wonderful world (USA, 1967)
  31. Procol Harem: A whiter shade of pale (UK, 1967)
  32. Johnny Pearson: Piano parchment (UK, 1968)
  33. Joseph Raposo: Sesame Street theme (USA, 1969)
  34. Gershon Kingsley: Popcorn (USA, 1969)
  35. Peter Sarstedt: Where do you go to? (UK, 1969)
  36. B.J. Thomas: Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head (USA, 1969)
  37. Paul de Senneville: Ballade pour Adeline (France, 1976)
  38. Samuel Pottle: The Muppet Show theme (USA, 1976)
  39. John Williams: Star Wars theme (USA, 1977)
  40. Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher: Rainbow connection (USA, 1978)
  41. Elton John: Song for Guy (UK, 1978)
  42. Vangelis: Chariots of fire (Greece, 1981)
  43. John Williams: Indiana Jones theme (USA, 1981)
  44. Taco Ockerse: Puttin’ on the ritz (Germany, 1981)
  45. Shuki Levy and Ryuji Sasai: Mysterious cities of gold theme (France and Japan, 1982) – more theme music
  46. Shuki Levy: Inspector Gadget theme (USA, 1983)
  47. Howard Goodall: Red Dwarf theme (UK, 1987)
  48. Enya: Caribbean blue (Ireland, 1990)
  49. Enya: Book of days (Ireland, 1991)
  50. Enya: Lothlorien (Ireland, 1991)

Christmas pieces that were popular in Australia:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *