Khachaturian: Keyboard Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Keyboard compositions by Khachaturian. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
2 Stucke, for piano

This is a list of compositions for cello and piano. It includes sonatas as well as other pieces for cello and piano.

Children's Album

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 6 June [O.S. 24 May] 1903 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Soviet composers. Born and raised in Tbilisi (now the capital of Georgia), he moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Without prior music training, he enrolled in the Gnessin Musical Institute, and subsequently studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. His first major work, the Piano Concerto (1936), popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the Violin Concerto (1940) and the Cello Concerto (1946). His other significant compositions include the Masquerade Suite (1941), the Anthem of the Armenian SSR (1944), three symphonies (1935, 1943, 1947), and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music: Gayane (1942) and Spartacus (1954). His most popular piece, the "Sabre Dance" from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and has been performed by a number of musicians worldwide. His style is "characterized by colorful harmonies, captivating rhythms, virtuosity, improvisations, and sensuous melodies". During most of his career, Khachaturian was approved by the Soviet government and held several high posts in the Union of Soviet Composers from the late 1930s, although he joined the Communist Party only in 1943. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a "formalist" and his music dubbed "anti-people" in 1948 but was restored later that year. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and turned to conducting. He traveled to Europe, Latin America, and the United States with concerts of his own works. In 1957 Khachaturian became the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a position he held until his death. Khachaturian composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. He is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century. While following the established musical traditions of Russia, he broadly incorporated Armenian and, to a lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern and Central European, and Middle Eastern peoples' folk music into his works. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a "national treasure".

Nocturne

Masquerade (Russian: Маскарад) was written by Aram Khachaturian in 1941 as incidental music for a production of Mikhail Lermontov's play of the same name. He turned it into a suite with five movements for an orchestra in 1944. It is best known for the Waltz, widely considered one of Khachaturian's finest and most popular pieces, second in popularity only to "Sabre Dance" from the ballet Gayane.

Piano Sonata in E flat major

D-flat major is a major scale based on D♭, consisting of the pitches D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭ and C. Its key signature has five flats. The D-flat major scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D-flat harmonic major and melodic major scales are: Its relative minor is B-flat minor. Its parallel minor, D-flat minor, is usually replaced by C-sharp minor, since D-flat minor features a B (B-double-flat) in its key signature making it less convenient to use. C-sharp major, the enharmonic equivalent to D-flat major, has seven sharps, whereas D-flat major only has five flats; thus D-flat major is often used as the parallel major for C-sharp minor. (The same enharmonic situation occurs with the keys of A-flat major and G-sharp minor, and to some extent, with the keys of G-flat major and F-sharp minor). For example, in his Prelude No. 15 in D-flat major ("Raindrop"), Frédéric Chopin switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor for the middle section in the parallel minor, while in his Fantaisie-Impromptu and Scherzo No. 3, primarily in C-sharp minor, he switches to D-flat major for the middle section for the opposite reason. Claude Debussy likewise switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor in the significant section in his famous "Clair de lune" for a few measures. Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony also switches to C-sharp minor for a while for the significant section in the slow movement. In music for the harp, D-flat major is preferred enharmonically not only because harp strings are more resonant in the flat position and the key has fewer accidentals, but also because modulation to the dominant key is easier (by putting the G pedal in the natural position, whereas there is no double-sharp position in which to put the F pedal for G-sharp major).

Suite for 2 pianos

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 6 June [O.S. 24 May] 1903 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Soviet composers. Born and raised in Tbilisi (now the capital of Georgia), he moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Without prior music training, he enrolled in the Gnessin Musical Institute, and subsequently studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. His first major work, the Piano Concerto (1936), popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the Violin Concerto (1940) and the Cello Concerto (1946). His other significant compositions include the Masquerade Suite (1941), the Anthem of the Armenian SSR (1944), three symphonies (1935, 1943, 1947), and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music: Gayane (1942) and Spartacus (1954). His most popular piece, the "Sabre Dance" from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and has been performed by a number of musicians worldwide. His style is "characterized by colorful harmonies, captivating rhythms, virtuosity, improvisations, and sensuous melodies". During most of his career, Khachaturian was approved by the Soviet government and held several high posts in the Union of Soviet Composers from the late 1930s, although he joined the Communist Party only in 1943. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a "formalist" and his music dubbed "anti-people" in 1948 but was restored later that year. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and turned to conducting. He traveled to Europe, Latin America, and the United States with concerts of his own works. In 1957 Khachaturian became the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a position he held until his death. Khachaturian composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. He is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century. While following the established musical traditions of Russia, he broadly incorporated Armenian and, to a lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern and Central European, and Middle Eastern peoples' folk music into his works. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a "national treasure".

Toccata in E flat minor, op. 11

Toccata is a type of virtuoso instrumental musical composition. Toccata may also refer to: Toccata (Khachaturian), a 1932 piece in E-flat minor for solo piano by Aram Khachaturian Toccata (Prokofiev), a 1912 piece in D minor for solo piano, Op. 11 by Sergei Prokofiev Toccata (Schumann), an 1830 sonata-allegro piece in C major, Op. 7 by Robert Schumann "Toccata" (song), a 1973 arrangement by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer Toccata (film), a 1969 Dutch film directed by Herman van der Horst Toccata Classics, a British music label