Famous from films

The classics you know from the cinema, ready to play at home. 13 pieces, easiest first.

You have heard these at the movies, maybe without knowing their names. Each one comes with a line on the film that made it famous, so the next time it plays you can lean over and say, "I can play that."

Beginner Levels 1 to 3

The Blue Danube (Easy) New0:41Johann Strauss II
The waltz that floats through space in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Ode to Joy (Easy) New0:44Ludwig van BeethovenAlso at Levels 3 and 5
From Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, heard all through A Clockwork Orange (1971).
Gymnopédie No. 1 (Easy) New0:57Erik SatieAlso at Levels 5 and 8
A favourite of film and television soundtracks for its gentle, floating calm.
Canon in D (Easy) New0:47Johann Pachelbel
The quiet heart of Ordinary People (1980), and of a thousand weddings since.
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Easy) New0:26Edvard GriegAlso at Levels 6 and 10
Driven to a frenzy in the rowing race of The Social Network (2010).

Intermediate Levels 4 to 6

The Entertainer (Easy) New0:27Scott JoplinAlso at Levels 3 and 9
The theme of The Sting (1973).
Joyful, Joyful (Ode to Joy) New0:33Ludwig van BeethovenAlso at Levels 1 and 3
The hymn that brings the house down in Sister Act 2 (1993).

Advanced Levels 7 to 10

Gymnopédie No. 1 New2:21Erik SatieAlso at Levels 1 and 5
A favourite of film and television soundtracks for its gentle, floating calm.
The Entertainer New4:13Scott JoplinAlso at Levels 3 and 4
The theme of The Sting (1973).
In the Hall of the Mountain King, from Peer Gynt, Op. 23 New2:25Edvard GriegAlso at Levels 3 and 6
Driven to a frenzy in the rowing race of The Social Network (2010).
Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque) New5:23Claude Debussy
Plays over the fountains at the end of Ocean's Eleven (2001).
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 New11:35Frédéric Chopin
What Szpilman plays for a German officer in The Pianist (2002).
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S. 244/2 New8:46Franz Liszt
Tom plays it, and Jerry wrecks it, in The Cat Concerto (1947).

Picture credits

Johann Strauss II. Fritz Luckhardt, 1899. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Ludwig van Beethoven with the score of the Missa solemnis. Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Erik Satie. Suzanne Valadon, 1893. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
The oldest surviving copy of Pachelbel's Canon. Unknown copyist, undated manuscript copy, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Henrik Klausen as Peer Gynt, 1876. Ernst Emil Aubert, 1876, Oslo Museum. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0.
The Entertainer, first edition cover. Unknown cover artist, 1902. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Claude Debussy. Atelier Nadar, c. 1908. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Frédéric Chopin. Eugène Delacroix, 1838. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Franz Liszt. Henri Lehmann, 1839, Musée Carnavalet, Paris. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0.