The Piano Duet Online

Publishers churned out four-hand arrangements of almost every new orchestral or operatic work. These transcriptions often outsold the original full-orchestra scores.

In the 1800s, playing four-hands was one of the few socially acceptable ways for a young man and woman to be physically close in a private, domestic setting. The Piano Duet

An interesting feature of the piano duet, specifically "piano four-hands" (two players on one instrument), is its secret history as a 19th-century "social lubricant" and the primary way people "listened" to music before the invention of the phonograph. The "Social Lubricant" of the 19th Century An interesting feature of the piano duet, specifically

A charming suite originally written for the children of close friends to capture the magic of fairy tales. Key Masterpieces to Explore Widely regarded as the

By playing these arrangements, amateur musicians developed a "musical literacy," intimately getting to know the complex structures of symphonies they might only hear once in a lifetime at a live concert. Key Masterpieces to Explore

Widely regarded as the greatest masterpiece of the repertoire , written in the final year of his life and dedicated to a former pupil he loved.