SESSION SIX – NEGLECTED GENDER OF PIANO, FOUR HANDS

NEGLECTED GENRE: MUSIC FOR PIANO DUET Today we will listen to and discuss a neglected genre, piano duets, that is, music for two players at one piano, also referred to as “piano, four hands.” Compositions of this genre sound somewhat different from those in another neglected genre, two piano music, meaning two players at two pianos.

WHY THIS GENRE? With the rise of the middle class in Europe in the 1770s, there were suddenly many more people, especially women and girls, who had enough leisure time to learn to play the piano. This new musical market was served by a group of new businesses including piano manufacturers, piano tuners, piano teachers – and of course, composers who wrote music for these pianists to play.

Soon these pianists want to play for their friends. A large amount of solo piano music existed, but playing the piano was, then as now, a solitary activity. Clearly it was more social, and more fun, to play with another pianist of about the same ability. And the music made by two players at one piano sounded bigger, more impressive, than piano solos. And so, ever since the 1770’s composers have written music to be played by two players at one piano.

WHY NEGLECTED? Now, let’s jump ahead to the present. In today’s musical world, music for piano, four hands is still being written. But we seldom hear it in concerts, on CD’s or on the radio. Why should this be so?

The reasons are both practical and financial:

• First, of course, it takes two performers of similar ability to learn the music

• Once each pianist has learned his or her part, there is a rehearsal period in which the two practice synchronizing their playing so they are absolutely together and deal with the many technical problems, such as keeping out of each other’s way.

• Because much of this music was written for students and amateurs to play, it is not difficult enough to enhance the reputation or the careers of those who play it. As a result, most performances are either by students or by well- established concert pianists who have nothing to lose by performing less-than-virtuosic music.

• Finally, if listeners pay to hear this music, the proceeds have to be divided between the performers, so there is much less income for each. And if professional performers are involved, the loss of income could be considerable.

For these reasons, only a relatively few advanced pianists play this music, and this means the music is less familiar to audiences, which results in fewer sheet music and CD sales. Since these markets are smaller, fewer composers are interested in writing for this genre, and fewer concert venues are interested in presenting this music in concert.

The one exception to all these problems is when well-known concert artists voluntarily forgo the reduced income because they love the music and are willing to spend long hours learning it and performing it in public. In recent years, such famous pianists as Martha Argerich, Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, and Mitsuko Uchida have played and recorded this music in recent years.

MOZART

One of the first composers to write piano, four hands music was Mozart. As we will see, he had both a personal and a professional reason to write piano duet music.

As a child, Mozart toured the cities of Europe with his older sister, Nannerl, who was also a pianist. These tours were arranged by their father, who saw in his two talented children a chance for fame and fortune that his own talents denied him. Because young Mozart was touted as both a budding composer and a talented pianist, he was able to show off both talents by writing music for piano, four hands, and performing it with his sister. In the 1760s and 1770s he wrote four of these sonatas and, later, a sonata for two pianos and a concerto for two pianos and orchestra, all to be played with Nannerl. Both children greatly enjoyed playing these pieces. Because the sonatas for piano, four hands are of moderate difficulty, they have been popular with piano teachers and student ever since they were written.

SONATA FOR PIANO, FOUR HANDS, K. 381 Written when Mozart was 18 years old, this youthful, jolly piece is full of little jokes for the two performers – places where they get in each other’s way. This, of course, makes it lots of fun to play, as long as both performers have a good sense of humor. Otherwise, the piece is a typical, three-movement piece of contrasting moods – a fast, high-spirited first movement, a slower second movement, and a very jolly final movement that shows off the technique of the performers.

Listen to this Sonata SCHUBERT

By Schubert’s time, the middle-class market for piano duet music had expanded greatly. Schubert wrote many fine pieces for piano duet, from short, easy dances to long, complex works playable only by the most advanced pianists. A quick survey of YouTube’s offerings of Schubert Piano Duets brings up performances by eight- year-olds and by the world’s greatest concert artists.

LEBENSSTÜRME Lebensstürme is a very late composition by Schubert, perhaps intended as the first movement of a never-completed sonata for piano, four hands. It is a virtuosic, forceful piece, difficult to play and rewarding to listen to. It may remind you of some of the most dramatic of Schubert songs that we listened to in Session Three.

Listen to this work DEBUSSY

Following Schubert, all the great nineteenth century composers wrote music for piano, four hands: Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

DEBUSSY PETITE SUITE In 1889 Debussy published a group of four pieces for piano duet under the title, “Petite Suite.” Like some of Mozart’s and Schubert’s piano duets, these pieces are of moderate difficulty: easy enough for intermediate and advanced students to play, but complex enough to sound like Debussy’s solo piano music with its novel rhythms and sound effects.

Listen to the Petite Suite

POULENC

SONATA FOR PIANO, FOUR HANDS Twentieth-century composers have continued to write for this genre. There are wonderful piano duet pieces by Rachmaninoff, Arensky, and Shostakovich. Right now we’re going to listen to one of the most popular, and certainly the most fun to play, piano duet ever written – the Sonata for Piano Four Hands by Francis Poulenc. This is a 1919 composition -– energetic, carefree, jazz-influenced -- written when Poulenc was only 21 years old.

Listen to this sonata

WEB RESEARCH This week’s web research assignment is a bit more complicated than previous ones. I’m asking you to listen to several different performances of the first piece in J S Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, and to compare and contrast the performances and decide which one you prefer.