Listening Focus

by John M. Zeigler, Ph.D.
Rio Rancho, NM USA

istening Focus is a regular feature on PEP. It is intended to introduce students and teachers to piano music they may not have heard or considered as repertoire for lessons. Each group of music files is chosen to illustrate a musical form (fantasia, etude, etc.), highlight a particular composer's works (e.g. Chopin nocturnes, illuminate how a given form has changed over time or in the hands of various composers, show how various composers handle a given theme (e.g. falling rain), or compare how various performers interpret a famous work (e.g. Debussy's prelude, The Engulfed Cathedral). Listening Focus changes with each upgrade of the site, so there is usually something new to hear and consider.

You can download any of the files below to your own computer to play at your leisure. These files are for your personal, non-commercial use. Please acknowledge the authors of the sequences and their composers, just as we have done, when you use them.  If you're having trouble hearing the music, read Getting the Most from The Piano Education Page. For more extensive collections of MIDI music files of all kinds, check out the The Classical MIDI Resource.

MIDI Music | WAV Sounds | Listening List and Composer Resource | Piano Education Home

To download a music file to your computer for later playing,  just right click on the work you want to download, choose Save As.. or Save Target As... from the resulting pop-up menu, pick a directory from the resulting dialogue, and click OK to save the file to your hard disk. Most should be able to play the files offline by opening the Windows Explorer, finding the stored file and then double-clicking on the file name.