Favorite Works for Two Pianos

[B. Goren.]

Having already held a discussion about our favorite works for solo piano, It's time to find out what are your favorite pieces written for two pianos, or one piano with 4 hands?

I'll start with 3 pieces:

1. Mother Goose (Ma mère l'oye), Maurice Ravel‏.

2. Cinderella Suite, Prokofiev.

3. The 4 hands version of "The Right of Spring", Igor Stravinsky.

[John Tapscott]

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of this one:

I know that's not what you had in mind, but it's still one of my favorites!

[B. Goren.]

  On 1/18/2012 at 7:44 PM, John Tapscott said:

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of this one:

I know that's not what you had in mind, but it's still one of my favorites!

I can't blame you and I appreciate your good taste.

[7/4]

  On 1/18/2012 at 7:40 PM, B. Goren. said:

3. The 4 hands version of "The Right of Spring", Igor Stravinsky.

There's a whole bunch of piano reductions by the composer of Stravinsky's music. I love 'em all! There's even a special version of The Firebird for soloist.

[Rooster_Ties]

Assuming arrangements are OK, I'm really fond of these piano four-hand arrangements of two Mahler symphonies...

Mahler 6, arranged by Alexander von Zemlinsky

Mahler 7, arranged by Alfredo Casella

And I since I file this in with my classical CD's (and feel it's right at home in that section), I'll also mention...

Anthony Braxton, Opus 95 for two pianos (Arista, 1980 - from the recent Mosaic)

There's also a TON of Brahms arrangements for piano four-hands (done by Brahms himself), of all his symphonies, both piano concerti, and maybe a dozen other multi-movement chamber works. I have about half of them on various Naxos CD's, and they're lots of fun (particulary for the works with themes I really know by heart).

Liszt also did solo-piano arrangements of all of Beethoven's symphonies, except the ninth - which is for two pianos, and lots of fun.

[DTMX]

Really liked a piece I heard on the radio this morning:

Lance Hulme: Manic Music (“for two maniacal pianists”) (1995) performed by Quattro Mani.

[Spontooneous]

We mention Stravinsky's reductions, but we don't mention his original work for the medium. The Concerto for Two Pianos (no orchestra) is one of his best things from the period.

Would Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion count?

[B. Goren.]

  On 1/18/2012 at 11:45 PM, Spontooneous said:

Would Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion count?

Definitely!

Edited January 19, 2012 by B. Goren.

[Rooster_Ties]

How about Ives' piece(s?) for two pianos, tuned one quarter-tone apart?

There's also a similar piece I remember by John Corigliano, where the conclusion ends with the the famous "doxology" theme, with each fragment of the famous melody stated in segments that go up in quarter-tone increments. Hard to explain in words, but imagine this (where each "^" means the tonality of the melody goes up one quarter tone)...

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow" (

^

"...blessings flow").

^

"Praise Him, all creatures here below" (...

^

"here below")

^

"Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host" (...

^

"ye heav'nly host")

^

"Praise Father, Son,

^

and Holy Ghost"

...or something like that. The whole thing speeds up too, so it sounds like a tape recording going faster and faster and faster.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Rooster_Ties

[Spontooneous]

Shouldn't forget Debussy's "En blanc et noir." \

Or Messiaen's "Visions de l'Amen."

[B. Goren.]

I'll add one more work to this list:

Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances op. 45, version for 2 pianos.

Edited January 27, 2012 by B. Goren.

[Chuck Nessa]

Bizet - Jeux d'enfants and Milhaud - Scaramouche are fun.

[StarThrower]

Poulenc-Sonata For Two Pianos