The Symphony No. 2 in C minor by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection Symphony, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. This symphony was one of Mahler's most popular and successful works during his lifetime. It was his first major work that established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection. In this large work, the composer further developed the creativity of "sound of the distance" and creating a "world of its own", aspects already seen in his First Symphony. The work has a duration of 80 to 90 minutes, and is conventionally labelled as being in the key of C minor; the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians labels the work's tonality as C minor–E♭ major. It was voted the fifth-greatest symphony of all time in a survey of conductors carried out by the BBC Music Magazine.
The Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 / 300i, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a piano sonata in three movements.
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was the only concerto for violin composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Composed in 1878, it is one of the best-known violin concertos.
Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40, in Paris in 1924-25, during what he called "nine months of frenzied toil". He characterized this symphony as a work of "iron and steel".
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period. Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven's previous piano sonatas in its scope, the Waldstein is a key early work of Beethoven's "Heroic" decade (1803–1812) and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner.
Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100, in Soviet Russia in one month in the summer of 1944.
The Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68, commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata, is one of the late piano sonatas composed by Alexander Scriabin. The work was written around 1912–1913. Although its nickname was not invented by Scriabin, he approved of it.
The Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66, by Alexander Scriabin, was composed between 1912 and 1913. As one of Scriabin's late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata features non-tertian harmony, though is arguably less dissonant than some of his other late works. Like Scriabin's other late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata reflects the composer's mystical interests. Scriabin saw some parts of this sonata, which, like the sixth sonata, he never performed in public, as "the most tragic episode of my creative work".
The Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70, was written by Alexander Scriabin in 1913. It was his final work in this form. The piece is highly chromatic and tonally ambiguous like Scriabin's other late works, although arguably less dissonant than most of his late works. It is characterized by frequent trills and tremolos. It is sometimes called his "Insect Sonata", referring to his words:
Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor, took five years for him to write. It was finally published in 1898, at the urging of his publisher. The piece is in two movements, with a style combining Chopin-like Romanticism with an impressionistic touch. The piece is widely appreciated and is one of Scriabin's most popular pieces.
Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immediately after his death, he is now becoming recognized as one of the most significant Russian composers for the piano.
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26 in E♭ major, Op. 81a, known as Les Adieux, was written during the years 1809 and 1810. This sonata was influenced by Jan Ladislav Dussek's sonata with the same nickname.
The Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp minor, Op. 23, by Alexander Scriabin was composed between 1897 and 1898. The sonata consists of four movements, typically spanning 18 minutes in performance.
Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1, "Quasi una fantasia", is a sonata composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800–1801.
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the third-to-last of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character. It is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Beethoven's long-standing friend Antonie Brentano, for whom Beethoven had already composed the short Piano Trio in B♭ major WoO 39 in 1812. Musically, the work is characterised by a free and original approach to the traditional sonata form. Its focus is the third movement, a set of variations that interpret its theme in a wide variety of individual ways.
Johannes Brahms's Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 is the last of his violin sonatas, composed between 1886 and 1888. Unlike the two previous violin sonatas, it is in four movements. The sonata is dedicated to Brahms' friend and colleague Hans von Bülow and was premiered in Budapest in 1888, with Jenő Hubay on violin and the composer at the piano.
The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major, Op. 50 by Russian composer Dmitri Kabalevsky is one of three concertos written for and dedicated to young performers within the Soviet Union in 1952, and is sometimes performed as a student's first piano concerto. This sunny and tuneful piece manages to combine effective apparent pianistic pyrotechnics whilst keeping it within the range of ability of a keen student.
The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54, is a symphonic poem by Russian composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin written between 1905 and 1908, when Scriabin was actively involved with the Theosophical Society. The 20-minute work premiered on 10 December 1908 in New York.
Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 134 in the autumn of 1968 in Moscow, completing it on October 23. It is set in three movements and lasts approximately 31 minutes. It is dedicated to the violinist David Oistrakh, who premiered the work on May 3, 1969 in the Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
