Gurlitt: Serenade, Finale - Eight Hands, Two Pianos

[gvans]

The final movement of Op. 96, one of the few pieces composed for two pianos, eight hands.
Gurlitt was mostly a pedagogue, composing many etudes and studies. He did write a fair amount of chamber works, much of it written under the philosophy that harder is not necessarily better.

His great-nephew, with the same name, has been in the news. He received a large number of stolen Nazi art works, held them in secret in his apartment, and tried to sell them on the international art market.

We are playing on a pair of Mason and Hamlins. Thanks for taking a listen.

[rachfan]

Hi g,

Talk about a novelty piece!  It must have been fun performing this, as it's certainly fun to hear it.  I believe your audience was enthusiastic too.  Great job!

David

[gvans]

Hi rachfan,
Yes, we had a blast sight-reading various 8 hands transcriptions/pieces and playing them.
I highly recommend it--it requires two pianos, though, of course!
Best,
gvans

[awesom_o]

Sounds like a lot of fun!

I haven't done any 8-hands yet, as it's difficult to find another good duet team.

There are quite a few arrangements of famous works for 8 hands, although not so many original pieces.

Thanks, Glenn!

[gvans]

Thanks, Carlisle. We had fun playing the Grieg Peer Gynt Suite, and a host of other pieces.
It is difficult getting to pianissimo, that was our biggest hurdle. Forte passages work best just letting everyone play mf. The audiences were enthusiastic. Hopefully we'll refine our eight hands.
Good luck finding another duet! They're out there...