More easy listening, non-classical piano music?

December 10, 2014 1:43 AM

I like this album, especially tracks 1, 4, and 11. Which other composers or pieces should I look into? I have a very limited knowledge of music outside of classical piano, and it's hard to know where to start or what reference to use. I know of Philip Glass, and Yann Tiersen, and would like to learn about the broader spectrum that includes these styles.
posted by polymodus to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

Possibly Nils Frahm or Girma Yifrashewa or some of Georgs Pelecis or Zbigniew Preisner.
posted by misteraitch at 2:59 AM on December 10, 2014

I fell across Yiruma on Spotify - wikipedia describes his music as similar to contemporary classical, but with structures that are more similar to popular music.

Here's a Youtube playlist that starts with his most well-known piece.

The Spotify list I found him on was Ambient Piano: Focus and Study. It might yield some further ideas (it does include Nils Frahm, Yann Tiersen) so maybe it is on the right track?
posted by AnnaRat at 3:03 AM on December 10, 2014

Michael Nyman is perhaps best known for his scores for movies like 'The Piano' and his numerous collaborations with Peter Greenaway but he has many, many other pieces which are just beautiful.
posted by h00py at 4:25 AM on December 10, 2014

You might enjoy some jazz pianists like Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and Art Tatum.
posted by stinkfoot at 4:37 AM on December 10, 2014

You might enjoy Ludovico Einaudi.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:32 AM on December 10, 2014

You may like some of the following:
Gonzales
George Winston
Max Richter
Christopher O'Riley, his Radiohead covers
Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert
posted by FreezBoy at 5:49 AM on December 10, 2014

Brad Mehldau's solo stuff is pretty amazing.

Also, this might seem weird because he's so mainstream and on the end-caps at Target, but I find Jim Brickman pushes the same buttons for me. Also, +1 for George Winston. And Vince Guaraldi.
posted by jbickers at 6:06 AM on December 10, 2014

Pianissimo by Suzanne Ciani springs to mind.
posted by kindall at 6:27 AM on December 10, 2014

Have you tried Keiko Matsui?
posted by starbreaker at 6:36 AM on December 10, 2014

I really enjoy Sunny Choi.
posted by Jacen Solo at 6:47 AM on December 10, 2014

Wim Mertens, for instance this from this album. Some of his work is not solo piano, though.
posted by bleston hamilton station at 9:18 AM on December 10, 2014

This music is lovely. I put this in the category most famously headed up by Erik Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes. He also used the term "furniture music" for this, as in music that serves the same decorative function as furniture without calling attention to itself.

The Streliski link you posted immediately reminded me of Evgeny Grinko. That post has links to a few other related musics.

For explicitly non-classical, Brian Eno's Music for Airports may be of interest. Cage's Suites for Prepared Piano is explicitly classical, albeit modern classical, and also fills this role for me.
posted by Nelson at 9:29 AM on December 10, 2014

Otto A Totland
posted by swoopstake at 10:33 AM on December 10, 2014

An Accidental Memory in The Case of Death by Eluvium.
posted by freya_lamb at 2:49 PM on December 10, 2014

Response by poster: I just want to thank everyone for all the suggestions! I shall look into each of these.
posted by polymodus at 6:34 PM on December 10, 2014