21. Four Hands are Better Than Two
from The Concert - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Hosted by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Schubert: Variations on an Original Theme, for piano, four hands, in A-flat Major, D. 813, Op. 35 (February 18, 2007) Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17 (February 18, 2007) If you’ve ever taken a beginner piano lesson, you’re probably familiar with music for one piano and four hands—or two people. That’s what the first piece on our program today is: two pianists on just one piano bench, in this case a husband-and-wife team. But, the repertoire that really took off among modern composers is that for two players and two pianos, as in our second piece this week. With two instruments at his disposal, Rachmaninoff’s sound in this piece is much bigger than the Schubert. And, liberated from the shared piano bench, the pianists can exhibit much more virtuosity, given full range over the entire keyboard.
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