Music for Piano Four Hands

By the time Mozart was touring with his sister, Nannerle, in 1776, four-handed playing on a harpsichord had become a performer’s stunt. It becomes a serious musical form with Charles Burney’s Four Sonatas or Duets on One Pianoforte or Harpsichord (1777 – 78).

Duet-playing rapidly became a common drawing-room recreation. One of the immediate results of the popularity of four-handed playing was extending the keyboard of the piano to its modern size – four hands could exploit a wider melodic range than two, and there was more room for two players at a longer keyboard.

There is, also, much evidence that piano duets were a perfectly respectable way of courting. The performances on this recording was originally broadcast by CBC Stereo 103.3 Ottawa, on the programme, Artscape.

MUZIO CLEMENTI

1-3. Sonata in E flat Major, Op. 14, No. 3

ANTONIN DVORAK

4-9. Sonata in E flat Major, Op. 14, No. 3

EMMANUEL CHABRIER

10. Cortège Burlesque

JOHN BECKWITH

11-17. Music for Dancing