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The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) in A minor, opus 43, is a concertante work (20 to 25 minutes in length), written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is written for solo piano and symphony orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto. The work was written at Villa Senar, according to the score, from July 3 to August 18, 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted interpreter of his own works, played the solo piano part at the piece’s premiere at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 7, 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

Frédéric Chopin composed his Scherzo No.4 in E major, Op. 54, the 4th and the last of his scherzos, in 1842.

The Scherzo No. 3 by Frédéric Chopin begins in the key of C-sharp minor, then moves to D-flat major, and returns to C-sharp minor, concluding in C-sharp major. It was completed in 1839.

The Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31 is Frédéric Chopin’s most famous scherzo. The work was composed and published in 1837, and was dedicated to Countess Adele Fürstensein.
The scherzo is in sonata form. The beginning is marked Presto and opens in B flat minor. However, most of the work is written in D flat major and A major. The opening to the piece consists of two arpeggiated pianissimo chords, and after a moments pause,goes into a set of fortissimo chords,an unmistakable use of contrast, then returning to the quiet arpeggiated chords.

The Scherzo No. 1 begins with two repititions of 4 notes, followed by two chords in fortissimo, an impassioned outburst in B minor follows, unlike anything he had previously written. In the central section where the key changes to B major, Chopin quotes from an old Polish Christmas song, and this forms a calm contrast to the restless outer section. The work is technically very demanding.