2 piano-reportoire suggestions?

[fnork]

I was thinking about playing 2-pianostuff with a friend from my school, and I was wondering if you have any suggestions for reportoire. What famous twopiano reportoire is there?

I've heard Rachmaninovs both 2-pianosuites, and Arenskys two suites as well, and they are really beautiful. There is a romance from the second Rachmaninov suite which is one of the best things he ever made, such a beautiful melody...
Has anyone played any of these suites? I have sheet music for all of them on my computer, and they look INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT! While one of the pianos might have a simple melody, the other piano is making a lot of ornamentations, trills and other things pianissomo, and it sounds very difficult most of the time. What do you think?

If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

[fnork]

Oh, by the way... I hope it's not an unforgivable sin to cheat on really hard places... I mean, take "Polichinelle" from Arenskys 2nd suite for instance. There are virtually impossible places in that piece, where the 2nd piano is playing chords on each 16th note (or rather, a chord on the 16th-note and just one note on the next 16thnote, then chord again etc), and it seems impossible to play in that crazy tempo. What do you think? It's not like anyone would notice, since it's supposed to be pianissimo and people are listening on the first piano anyway, which has the melody.

[sharon_f]

Years ago I performed Darius Milhaud's "Scaramouche" Suite. It was wonderful to learn and delicious to play. It is not overly difficult as I remember, probably within the advanced intermediate range.

The Mozart D major Sonata K.448 is a wonderful piece that is not overly difficult. However, since it is Mozart, the timing and coordination between the two pianos must be absolutely perfect.

I am also a big fan of the Paganini Variations by Lutoslawski. It sounds difficult, but I have never seen the score. I have heard some pianists who have performed it say it is not as difficult as it sounds.

[bernhard]

How can you look at yourself in the mirror? Thinking of cheating on two pianos.

Yes, of course one can cheat (everyone does). In fact if you make a truly terrible mistake, remember to immediately look angrily at your partner.

Anyway, here are some interesting pieces  you may wish to investigate:

J. C. Bach – Sonatina in G major, Op. 15 no. 6 (Schott) – Not difficult.

W. F. Bach – Sonata in F major (International Music Co.)

Bartok  - There are a number of pieces in Mikrokosmos for two pianos: Book 2 no. 43, 44, and 55 and Book 3 no. 68.

Richard Rodney Bennett – Kandinsky variations (Novello)

Brahms – Sonata Op. 34 bis (International Music Co)

Variations on a theme by Haydn Op. 56b (Schirmer)

Busoni –Duettino concertante (After Mozart) (Breitkopf)

Chabrier – Trois valses romantiques (Enoch) – Salon style music.

Chopin – Rondo in C major Op. 73 (Schirmer) – Surprised?

Clementi – Sonata in Bb op. 12 and sonata in Bb op 46 (Schirmer) – No more difficult than Mozart sonatas.

Debussy – En Blanc et Noir (International Music Co) – 3 pieces, quite difficult.

Percy Grainger – There is quite a lot of two piano works by Grainger, mostly arrangements of folk material. Most of it is published by Schott or Schirmer – have a look in their catalogs.

Paul Hindemith – Sonata in C (Schott)

Schumann – Andante and variations op. 46 (Schirmer) – not so difficult – nice on account of the back and forth dialogue between the two pianos.

Stravinsky – Sonata (Associated music) – moderate difficulty.

Just the tip of the iceberg . (And by the way, I have not played any of these )

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[fnork]

Yes, of course one can cheat (everyone does). In fact if you make a truly terrible mistake, remember to immediately look angrily at your partner.

HAHA! Awesome idea Usually, I'm playing with my violinist friend and I can't look angrily on him when I make a mistake. But now I know what to do when I play with my pianist friend... hehe

Thanks for the tips! I'll check them out sometime. Speaking of mikrokosmos, which you mentioned - isn't it just a practice method, with little musical value? I've heard the first few pieces and there was nothing interresting at all with them.

[DarkWind]

Wait, is this only 2 piano, or can it also be 1 piano four hands? If so, I'm disappointed in Bernhard for leaving out Ravel. . If you can, you can try playing his Ma Mere L'Oye, Rapsodie Espagnole, Sites Auriculaires, or the beautiful La Valse. There are a few others too, but I forget at the moment.

[dmk]

Some others you might consider

Richard Rodney Bennett: Four-piece Suite (Novello).  Not too hard

Benjamin Britten!!: Two Lullabies (I especially like the Lullaby for a Retired Colonel), Introduction and Rondo Alla Burlesca and Mazurka Elegiaca.  Stephen Hough has a very good recording of all of Britten's piano works on EMI Classics.  They are wonderful  (I know the Lullabies are published by Faber and the other two works are published by Boosey) 

Poulenc: L'Embarquement pour Cythère,  Sonata, Elégie.  The L'Embarquement pour Cythère is actually not that difficult and is probably a good selection to start with. (Eschig and expect to pay a princely sum for them too!)

Also, check out this website  http://www.zephyrmusic.com.au/Piano.pdf.  Their catalogue has a good list of the 2 piano works.

I love two piano works!! Enjoy playing them

[abe]

I played Milhaud's Scaromouche(spelling?) about a year ago and got sick of it really quickly. Of course, i only played the first movement (Vif) w/ my brother, thankfully my teacher didn't make us do the other sections. It is relatively easy, and I guess i'ts a pretty fun peice to play, but It gets old really fast. I would recommend it because the audience (from my experience) seems to enjoy it, it is fast and fun and easy, and totally unexposed (meaning you can make mistakes and no one will know the better).

[richard w]

I've always wanted to play An American in Paris, as arranged for two pianos for the Labèque sisters. There is lots of valuable technique to be learnt therein, and it is a great piece to play. I've dabbled, but I've never got round to getting a performance going with another pianist.

I also rather fancy doing The Rite of Spring in its piano duet form. I think it is one piano and four hands, rather than two pianos. If I'm not mistaken, Stravinsky did the piano version before the full orchestration.

I've also come across and fancied playing piano duet arrangements of Beethoven's symphonies. I suspect quite a few well-known orchestral works have been arranged as such. Does anyone know if Holst's Planets have been arranged for one or two pianos?

[bernhard]

 Speaking of mikrokosmos, which you mentioned - isn't it just a practice method, with little musical value? I've heard the first few pieces and there was nothing interresting at all with them.

I agree with you. I am no big fan of Mikrokosmos myself (I find it unbearably dull), but a lot of people wax lyrical about it, and since I had no idea about your musical taste I thought I might mention it.


Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[bernhard]

Wait, is this only 2 piano, or can it also be 1 piano four hands? If so, I'm disappointed in Bernhard for leaving out Ravel. . If you can, you can try playing his Ma Mere L'Oye, Rapsodie Espagnole, Sites Auriculaires, or the beautiful La Valse. There are a few others too, but I forget at the moment.

Er… he asked for two-piano/four hands repertory.

For 1 piano/four hands repertory look here (you will see Ravel is there):

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2428.msg20981.html#msg20981

In fact, Ravel did wrote a few pieces for 2 pianos:

Fronstispiece (Salabert), but it is for five-hands, so you need at least three pianists to play it (or one pianist, and one alien ).

La Valse (the original version of the orchestral work) (Durand)

And also an early piece (for 2 pianos/four hands):

Les sites Auriculaires: Habanera & Entre Cloches (Salabert).

He also made a two piano arrangement of Debussy's Trois Nocturnes (Fromont)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[fnork]

I've heard that Frontispiece is just 15 bars long and that the pianists who premiered it played in different tempos and it wasn't a big success hehe

[DarkWind]

It's a very odd piece of no large value. I have a recording, it's a very odd piece.

[fnork]

Speaking of Ravel, is there anything of the lesser known (unpublished) compositions that are really worth hearing? LIike "La parade", or the fugues he wrote etc... I know there are a few recordings of those pieces. ANyone who knows if they are worth hearing? I guess you've heard it all, DarkWind