As a piano teacher I am always on the lookout for new repertoire for my students. I always love new music showcases and appreciate any presentations or resources that highlight “hidden gems.” The Piano Repertoire Explorer database aims to do just that.
From the explanation on the website: “The Piano Repertoire Explorer documents the piano music that was actually published and circulated in nine national/linguistic markets between 1820 and 1910…It is built to counter a concert-hall historiography that remembers a handful of masterpieces and forgets the vast domestic repertoire.” I love this! The database amasses 260,000 piano works based on evidence of its publication, giving us a glimpse into music that presumably was actually played by the general public throughout the 19th century, not just the music that was performed in concerts (although the developer makes it clear that the evidence weight itself is based on publication, not sales or playing). So cool! What a fun way to discover potential repertoire for our own playing enjoyment and our piano students. The site is also linked to Claude via a customized prompt that gives you access to asking questions and sifting more in-depth through the content.
A companion website by the same developer, José Bowen, is Women at the Keys.
If you’re looking for 19th century piano music by women, this is your treasure trove! I love the search options on this site and the direct links to music scores on the IMSLP website, though it seems like there is still more developing to do with this element of the site. For example, I typed in G Major for the “Filter by key” option and it returned only one result: Theme and Variations in G Major by Louise Farrenc. The link took me to this pdf of a hand-notated manuscript, which is great if you want to do some deciphering with the hopes of discovering a lesser known gem, but not so useful if you’re just trying to do a quick search to find a new piece of piano repertoire for a student.
Thirdly, a site designed with the average piano student and teacher in mind, the Piano Music Database is a continually growing collection of mostly modern music that is searchable by many criteria (some only with a paid subscription). Account holders and/or composers submit their own selections for inclusion in the database and assign tags with extensive information, from level to key signature to time signature to student ages and types to teaching tips, and more.
The site has a clean layout and is easy to navigate and utilize in the search for specific piano music for your students. You have the best searchable access with a subscription (either $5/month or $50/year), but you can see all the information for each piece with a free account as well. It will be exciting to see this database continue to grow as more teachers and composers contribute submissions. I’m very grateful for all the effort being invested in promoting and sharing the wealth of music that is available to us as pianists. Let me know if you are aware of any other helpful piano music databases!
[Thanks to Gerald Klickstein and his Fall 2026 Musician’s Way Newsletter for the links and information about the first two databases!]
Leave a Reply