Virtuosic (or almost-virtuosic) piano duets

[chopinrabbitthing]

Hey,

My friend and I might be playing a piano duet next year. We're both in our mid-teens, he's really good. He's hoping for us to go to competitions.

He asked me for ideas, because we have no definite idea on what to play. Off the top of my head I suggested Liszt's Grand Galop Chromatique: I saw a Liszt's duet version of it, but can't seem to find the score anywhere.

I suppose if we're going to competitions we'll have to pick pieces which will show off our respectively qualities the most. My friend is more of a technique-over-music type of person, while I'm the opposite. I suppose he's by far the more technicallly-advanced, while I'm the more musically-mature.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

[awesom_o]

If you want something REALLY virtuoso, why not play a Symphony?
https://vimeo.com/87404535
I play quite a few Symphonies in duet version: Tchaikovsky 5th, Mozart 40th, Mozart 41st, Rachmaninoff 2nd.

If that is too much, try something shorter. This is one of my favorite pieces, and the duet version really is quite something:

https://vimeo.com/84802548

Also very good is The Moldau by Smetana.

[visitor]

[g_s_223]

Ravel's Ma mère l'oye isn't crazy hard, but is musically one of the finest works in the duet repertoire (IMO). A duo who could capture and project its uniquely touching evocation of childhood would get my vote.

[codeacon]

A few of my favorites:

Rachmaninoff Russian Rhapsody
Rachmaninoff Suite no.2 (esp mov 4)
Schubert Fantasy in f minor
Mozart Sonata in D major

All of the scores are on imslp.

[liszt1022]

Just play Liszt's Galop with each player taking one hand!
I did that with La Campanella in high school.

[chopinrabbitthing]

Just play Liszt's Galop with each player taking one hand!
I did that with La Campanella in high school.

No, sorry...we could do that ourselves haha

[chopinrabbitthing]

If you want something REALLY virtuoso, why not play a Symphony?
https://vimeo.com/87404535
I play quite a few Symphonies in duet version: Tchaikovsky 5th, Mozart 40th, Mozart 41st, Rachmaninoff 2nd.

If that is too much, try something shorter. This is one of my favorite pieces, and the duet version really is quite something:

https://vimeo.com/84802548

Also very good is The Moldau by Smetana.

I think all the competitions we can enter have time limits of something like 10 mins. I love the Smetana, it's beautiful! The Hebrides looks quite attractive

[chopinrabbitthing]

Sounds nice. I was browsing through their videos and found a cover of Billie Jean, which is unbelievable

[chopinrabbitthing]

Ravel's Ma mère l'oye isn't crazy hard, but is musically one of the finest works in the duet repertoire (IMO). A duo who could capture and project its uniquely touching evocation of childhood would get my vote.

I like Ma Mere L'oye, but I don't think my partner will like it

[chopinrabbitthing]

A few of my favorites:

Rachmaninoff Russian Rhapsody
Rachmaninoff Suite no.2 (esp mov 4)
Schubert Fantasy in f minor
Mozart Sonata in D major

All of the scores are on imslp.

The Schubert is lovely, but a bit long IMO.
I love the Mozart
I'll listen to the Rachmaninoff when I have time...

[ahinton]

Messiaen: Visions de l'Amen
Debussy: En blanc et noir
Reger: Introduction Passacaglia and Fugue
Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica (althoughthe solo piano vesion's better than that for 2 pianos)
Stockhausen: Mantra

That should keep you gong for a while!

Best,

Alistair

[awesom_o]

I think all the competitions we can enter have time limits of something like 10 mins. I love the Smetana, it's beautiful! The Hebrides looks quite attractive

Hebrides should fit in 10 minutes. It would be one of the most impressive things that would fit into this time limit.

[awesom_o]

Ravel's Ma mère l'oye isn't crazy hard, but is musically one of the finest works in the duet repertoire (IMO). A duo who could capture and project its uniquely touching evocation of childhood would get my vote.

Honestly, it's pretty hard. Not in the 'obvious' sense, but there is just so much detail in the score, and it's particularly easy to have collisions, as the choreography of the two parts is extremely tight in places. Same with Debussy's Petite Suite!

[chopinrabbitthing]

Honestly, it's pretty hard. Not in the 'obvious' sense, but there is just so much detail in the score, and it's particularly easy to have collisions, as the choreography of the two parts is extremely tight in places. Same with Debussy's Petite Suite!

In that case, I think he still won't like it, since he's always at the flashy stuff

[awesom_o]

In that case, I think he still won't like it, since he's always at the flashy stuff

I saw Martha Argerich play it live once. It was pretty flashy!

[chopinrabbitthing]

I saw Martha Argerich play it live once. It was pretty flashy!

The Ravel? By herself?

[awesom_o]

Of course not! Not even Martha Argerich has four hands!

She was playing with Nelson Goerner.

[gvans]

A friend and I have been playing four hands, just dipping into the literature. Something you will hear in Carlisle and friend's recording that is essential: one must exercise care and play with delicacy, as four hands produces twice the volume, and one can get ear fatigue rapidly if the playing isn't done with a gentle touch. I was at a master class recently, they played  Heitor Villa Lobos' “A folia de um bloco infantil”, and, quite frankly, used way too powerful a touch. They hit all the notes, but...

Some of the better things we've played:

Mozart Sonatas for four hands. We've just skimmed the surface of the complete four hands collection, but it's all real Mozart, composed for 4 hands, crystalline and perfect. Like all Mozart, these works are transparent and, hence, difficult.

Ravel, Ma mère l'oye, mentioned above. A beautiful piece.

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (not sure who arranged it, my studio and the music is a hike from here, but it's wonderful). Plenty of riffs for both players. Runs about 30 min, though.

Saint-Saens, Le carnival des animaux, also very beautiful. Durand ed.

Faure, the Dolly Suite

Schubert: an immense literature, the F minor Fantasy mentioned above is especially nice.

Beethoven: Symphonies, we have all nine. Yes, they are a handful, but great fun to play. Really easy to play too loud with these--restraint is a must.

[j_menz]

Stockhausen: Mantra

- .... .- - / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / -.-. . .-. - .- .. -. .-.. -.-- / -.- . . .--. / - .... . / .- ..- -.. .. . -. -.-. . / --- -. / .. - .----. ... / - --- . ... .-.-.-

 

[stravinskylover]

There are always Anderson and Roe arrangements.
Mendelssohn Andante and Variations Op. 83a
Mendelssohn Allegro Brillant Op. 92
Ravel La Valse arranged by Lucien Garban

[haydnseeker]

Barber: Souvenirs

Chopin Ballade 1
Schumann ABEGG Variations
Debussy Images I (all 3)
Berg Sonata

[ale_ius]

this is virtuosic to me, albeit different than most expect. wow.

Carmen Fantasy (Rosenblatt)

[chopinrabbitthing]

We still don't know whether we're doing two pianos or one piano, but thanks for the suggestions guys, some of them are really nice!

[awesom_o]

We still don't know whether we're doing two pianos or one piano,

This is extremely important!

Duet is one piano. Two pianos is called duo.

They are very, very different things!

Tonight I am playing a concert with both types of music on the program: a Sonata for 2 Pianos by Mozart, and Smetana's The Moldau and Respighi's The Pines of Rome for four hands one piano.

Find out which you will be doing ASAP!

[chopinrabbitthing]

Haha I agree, I've done two pianos (duo) before, my then-partner and I were planning to do it for a competition but we opted last minute because of time issues (we almost had it ready to go with!).

My friend wants to do two pianos, I've decided to let him pick the repertoire, which is Brahms Hungarian Dance No 5 and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 (I know, I know....) Personally, I think I might like to fit a movement of a Beethoven Symphony into the programme, since there's a lot of time left.

[awesom_o]

My friend wants to do two pianos, I've decided to let him pick the repertoire, which is Brahms Hungarian Dance No 5 and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 (I know, I know....) Personally, I think I might like to fit a movement of a Beethoven Symphony into the programme, since there's a lot of time left.

Take a look at the 1st or 2nd movements from Beethoven's 9th Symphony arranged for 2 pianos by Liszt. They work really well if you can handle pretty extreme difficulty.

[chopinrabbitthing]

I've considered them, esp. the 2nd movement. I'll have to ask my friend if he wants to do it as well first.

[awesom_o]

The 2nd movement works the best, I would say, having played the whole symphony a few times in concert.

The 1st movement also works well. The 3rd and 4th are more problematic. Still fun, but harder to make them sound really convincing.

[thorn]

If I had the luxury of a duet partner and a second piano, I'd choose this every time.

[awesom_o]

If I had the luxury of a duet partner and a second piano, I'd choose this every time.

Every time as in, every concert, you'd play the same piece?

 

Great work-I'm hoping to play it with my partner in the future.

[nbide721]

You should consider Piazzolla's Le Grande Tango for two pianos.  I believe it was originally written for piano and cello but he did also transcribe it for piano.  It's a very virtuosic piece and a lot of fun to play.  Plus you don't ever hear anyone play it, so it'll give you an edge in competitions.

[gvans]

And here's a link to the tango:

https://www.pianostreet.com/blog/piano-news/the-creative-dance-of-imagination-tango-for-two-6953/

[j_menz]

And here's a link to the tango:

https://www.pianostreet.com/blog/piano-news/the-creative-dance-of-imagination-tango-for-two-6953/

I suppose someone should make the point about this being a case of it taking two to tango. 

I can hear your groans from here. 

[nbide721]

And here's a link to the tango:

https://www.pianostreet.com/blog/piano-news/the-creative-dance-of-imagination-tango-for-two-6953/

That's actually not the tango I had in mind, but thanks for the link!  I hadn't heard that before, and it sounds great!  This is the "Le Grand Tango" I was thinking of:

[sevencircles]

A really interesting duo for piano if you want to play new pieces. A modern fugue based on the Beverly Hills Cop theme.

Truly worth checking out. I don´t know anything about the composer.

[gvans]

That's actually not the tango I had in mind, but thanks for the link!  I hadn't heard that before, and it sounds great!  This is the "Le Grand Tango" I was thinking of:

That may well be a significant piece, but the performance is way too percussive for my taste and ear ("Who's that pounding on the pianos?"). In spite of the wild hair, I much prefer the  sensuous sensibilities of the Buniatishvili sisters. Of course, they are playing 4 Hands 1 Piano, the Grand Tango is
for 4 Hands, 2 Pianos.

[nbide721]

Oops.  My bad.  And I agree that the performance of that recording is not very good.  There aren't many recordings of the piece out there, and that was the best I could find.

[flashyfingers]

I just picked up the score to Mahler symphony 4 for 4 hands on piano!

[awesom_o]

Great! Who is your duet partner? I hope you both have monster reading skills.

My partner and I just began work on the incredible new two-piano transcription of Ravel's Daphne and Chloe by Gryaznov.

Have you ever played a Symphony for duet before?

[flashyfingers]

Great! Who is your duet partner? I hope you both have monster reading skills.

My partner and I just began work on the incredible new two-piano transcription of Ravel's Daphne and Chloe by Gryaznov.

Have you ever played a Symphony for duet before?

Haha, I have decent reading skills, but THAT is just...not right.

[throwawaynotreally]

.

[flashyfingers]

Try ebay or amazon. Skip retail.

[throwawaynotreally]

.

[awesom_o]

There is a 4 hands 1 piano version that isn't difficult to find in any music book store.

The 2 piano transcription is by a Japanese fellow and has not been published yet, so you'll have to print it off from imslp!

[throwawaynotreally]

.

[awesom_o]

When my partner and I played it, we printed it off of imslp and put the pages into plastic sheet protectors inside a 3 ring binder.

[throwawaynotreally]

.