2 piano repertoire

[catherinezng]

Hey guys!

Do you guys know any nice two piano repertoire? Thanks in advance

***Sorry! Due to replies, I have narrowed my request down more:

We will be playing two two piano pieces for a state piano competition. I'm looking for difficult literature that sound great and are fun to play.  For example, I love the Rachmaninoff suite no.2. The two pieces should also be contrasting.

[j_menz]

There is a vast amount of it. Could you narrow down the question (at least to style/general difficulty)?

[franz_]

I agree. I have a pianduo so know more or less the repertoire.

[naturlaut]

I love 2P repertoire!
Just received the score of Tailleferre's Deux Valses.  It's a very nice work.  Can't wait to try it out with friends! 

[catherinezng]

I will narrow it down.

We will be playing two two piano pieces for a state piano competition. I'm looking for difficult literature that sound great and are fun to play. The two pieces should be contrasting. For example, I love the rachmaninoff suite no.2.

Sorry I should have specified in my first post:) Thanks for the replies so far!

[cmg]

Arensky Suites.  Unbeatable!

Milhaud "Scaramouche".  Brings the house down.

If it doesn't, than do his "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" Op. 58a  They'll be screaming.

Also, "Jamaican Rhumba."  Composer's name eludes me, but it's a wonderful encore.  You can find his name anywhere.  The rhumba is very famous.

[49410enrique]

hmm, a great two piano piece, difficult with contrast?
check.

this looks like it is from a competition. they start playing arond 1:35ish takes em a bit to prepare

but you may have to do some digging, as i believe you need to furnish original scores for competitions? maybe rules are different but normally i see that in the small print/legal speak.

still here's a preview score

[49410enrique]

are you limited to music only from a certain period?
this is a fantastic ["modern"] piece (by chronology not style), i just bought this score not too long ago and am actually looking to learn it in 2013 (2nd half, assuming i can find a good accompanist/2nd piano),
neo-classical composer 'Zektbach' (he -Tomosuke Funaki- uses a pseudonym for his neoclassical works)

this is from a collection of pieces (he composed as 'program music' which later had a plot/story built and supporting media created to further support it)

alt recording (i posted a live event/conert one but here is the album link  

 

) there's another pretty good live version out on yt just couldn't find it again this am.

[naturlaut]

I find the 3 Abram Chasins' 2P concert transcription of Strauss waltzes quite difficult but very effective and fun: Blue Danube, Fledermaus, and Kunstlerleben.  It's like Godowsky for 2 pianos.

[catherinezng]

Thank you all for your replies! These suggestions were extremely helpful and I will take them into consideration! There's so many cool pieces and I wish we could simply play them all

[andreslr6]

In that case:

Lutowslaski's Paganini variations

Scriabin's Fantasy (short and not hard, and my favorite 2 piano piece I've played)

the Scaramouche as mentioned, can be used as good contrast as well since it's all tropical and stuff

Poulenc sonata for 2 pianos. (the first bars are the hardest to play together, but if you do, you'll impress a lot of people)

The Rach suite, it's a good option but depending on your skill and time you have to prepare yourself. The 2nd and 4th can take a while to get to tempo; and the 1st, if you're not used to Rach's style, can be tricky. You can also try the 1st suite in any case.

Or, if you want to go Hardcore, Bartok's sonata for 2 pianos and percussion.

[daro]

I saw these two play this several years ago; great fun and extremely difficult:

&feature=plcp

[j_menz]

There is a two piano version of Tausig's Ride of the Valkyries transcription (by Tausig). If it's as good as the solo one, it should be a great crowd pleaser (and very flashy to boot).

[catherinezng]

andreslr6, your piece suggestions were brilliant! There were among the top of the list. This was  such a hard decision, but we've managed to decide on Beethoven sonata op.6 and (I absolutely LOVE this piece) Polonaise op.77 by saint saens.
Thanks again for all the help guys!

[werq34ac]

Surprised no one mentioned the Mozart...

Piano Sonata in D major for 2 pianos if you're interested.


La Valse maybe?

[thesixthsensemusic]

Wouldn't it be an option to play a 2-piano reduction of a concerto? I believe Brahms no.2 is a very interesting piece for the orchestra and therefore for piano #2 too, but don't know wether that would be the thing you're looking for.

[catherinezng]

werq34ac- Yes! The Mozart Piano Sonata in D major is a great piece! I played the 3rd movement with a friend before and it was a lot of fun

thesixthsensemusic- Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to play 2 piano concertos:( Brahms 2 is totally fantastic though!

[thesixthsensemusic]

https://imslp.org/wiki/Sonata_for_2_Pianos,_Op.34b_%28Brahms,_Johannes%29

how about Brahms' Sonata for 2 pianos then?

Yeah I am totally in favour of that.... how fat is this work, seriously?

[catherinezng]

thesixthsensemusic, you're the best.

[kujiraya]

My favourite composition for 2 pianos is Messiaen's Visions de l'Amen. Here are 2 youtube videos of the 7th movement (Amen de la Consommation):

and