Relaxing piano music recommendations?

[Violinist]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I don't really get how any of the jazz piano greats are "relaxing." It's tough for me to concentrate on anything but the music when I listen to Evans, Peterson, Hancock, Corea, etc.

yea that's kind of the point.

 

[Mr. Checks]

Could not study with Bill Evans on, especially that one.

 

[Earthmover]

Originally Posted by Mr. Checks

Can't study to the Gould because : (1) too compelling, and (2) he was a grunter and a mouth-breather, and you'd keep looking around to see who else is in the room with you.

I see your point on that -- I've listened to it so many times actively and passively that my brain ignores all the breathing/muttering/grunting in my head and don't really think about it. But yes, when I first listen to it, it was slightly disconcerting, like ghosts in the machine or something.

 

[lithium180]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I don't really get how any of the jazz piano greats are "relaxing." It's tough for me to concentrate on anything but the music when I listen to Evans, Peterson, Hancock, Corea, etc.

Well you could always throw on "kind of blue"\t

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by crease

I'd also recommend:
- the Beethoven piano sonatas (No. 7, Appassionata, Hammerklavier etc.)
....

And depending on the type of studying, check out Liszt's Transcendental Etudes.

Relaxing?!?

 

[Manton]

Chopin, Nocturnes, Artur Rubenstein.

 

[Connemara]

Cziffra is really relaxing.

 

[WorkingTitle]

Don't know if it's been posted yet but Eluvium Thank me later. Beautiful music. Spectacular.

 

[lithium180]

Originally Posted by WorkingTitle

Don't know if it's been posted yet but

Eluvium

Thank me later. Beautiful music. Spectacular.

Any album or piece in particular?

 

[WorkingTitle]

Get the album Copia, it's my personal favorite.

 

[landho]

+1 on Erik Satie (Ciccolini, preferably), Chopin Nocturnes (Rubenstein), Eno Music for Airports, and Bill Evans Waltz for Debbie.

Also consider:

--Bach, Art of Fugue performed by Charles Rosen
--Debussy, Preludes performed by Zimerman
--Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Boy Named Charlie Brown
--Thelonious Monk, Monk's Dream

and for the more adventurous (contains some dissonance, but I find them beautiful and relaxing nonetheless):
--Alban Berg, Piano Sonata No. 1, performed by Uchida
--Olivier Messiaen, Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus by Austbo

But FYI, I found the very best music to study to to be Bach, especially The Goldberg Variations as performed by Glenn Gould and The Art of Fugue as performed the Keller Quintet. The latter is not piano music (arranged for a string quartet), but some of my most fecund moments in school and otherwise were spent listening to that album. It sounds otherworldly to me, as if it is coming deep from some vacuum.

 

[lithium180]

Originally Posted by landho

--Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Guaraldi is great!

Ditto Satie

If we're also talking about ambient music, I thought of some more albums that I like to listen to when I study:

Brian Eno and Harold Budd - Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place

Explosions in the Sky - Friday Night Lights OST

Sometimes I go more electronic:

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92

John Digweed Global Underground Hong Kong

The last is good for all night paper writing sessions.

 

[landho]

Another album that's great to do work to (if you can find it) is E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching. Very rhythmic, minimalism, and repetitive, although with subtle dynamics so that your mind doesn't shut off. Also Neu!'s first album. Neither of these is "piano music," though.