Music for three or more pianists: An historical survey and catalogue

A fascinating, albeit generally unknown area in the literature for keyboard ensemble is the evolution of a remarkably large repertoire--original and transcribed--for three or more pianists at one or more keyboards with or without other acoustic and electronic instruments and/or singers.;The history of keyboard music for three or more players was initiated c. 1730 by J. S. Bach, who transcribed two concertos for three harpsichords and one for four. As well as duet and two-fortepiano works, Mozart pioneered original team piano repertoire. The "Lodron" Concerto, K. 242, was scored for three fortepianos and orchestra. Original compositions for three or more pianists continued to be written--with Czerny, Kalkbrenner, Moscheles, Smetana, Glazunov and Rachmaninov--for particular pianists and occasions.;Louis Moreau Gottschalk, one of Berlioz's proteges, liked to use a large number of pianos and pianists for his popularly acclaimed monster concerts in the Americas, attended by assemblages of thousands. Percy Grainger not only had an important role to play in the transition of the monster concert to the prototypes of the twentieth century, but his abundant arrangements for beginner to advanced piano teams also set a pedagogical precedent for class piano instruction.;By the early twentieth century, a mass of transcriptions/arrangements had accumulated. These works were an effective way for most pianists to familiarize themselves with the rarely heard orchestral literature. Before the invention of the radio and phonograph, it was once a standard practice for publishers to issue orchestral and chamber music repertoire for four, six, eight or more hands at one or more pianos.;As the transcription tide receded original works for the medium became more important in the twentieth century with Ives, Ravel, Stravinsky, Antheil, Orff, Dallapiccola and Milhaud, among others. An astonishingly rich repertoire of original compositions for three or more pianists by other reputable composers of the twentieth century has come into existence.