Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Dolly Suite, Op.56 / 1896
The Suite is a collection of pieces for piano duet by Gabriel Fauré. It consists of six short pieces written or revised between 1893 and 1896, to mark the birthdays and other events in the life of the daughter of the composer's mistress, Emma Bardac.
1. Berceuse
2. Mi-a-ou
3. Jardin de Dolly
4. Kitty Valse
5. Tendresse
6. Pas Espagnol
Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873 -1943)
6 Moarceaux pour piano à quatre mains Op.11 / 1849 (excerpts)
No.2 Scherzo
No.4 Valse
Rachmaninoff was born into a family of the Russian aristocracy in the Russian Empire. The family had strong musical and military leaningscy in the Empire and he took up the piano at the age of four. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892, having already composed several piano and orchestral pieces. Rachmaninov completed these gorgeous set of 6 Morceaux for Piano Four Hands in April of 1894, at the ripe age of 21.
Following the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninoff and his family left Russia
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Le Carnaval des animaux / 1886
The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements. The work was written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments, and lasts around 25 minutes. There were other performances, typically for the French mid-Lent festival of Mi-Carême. All those performances were semi-private, except from one at the Société des Instruments à vent in April 1892, and "often took place with the musicians wearing masks of the heads of the various animals they represented"
The transcription for Piano Fou-Hands was done in 1922 by Lucien Garban (1877–1959)a French composer, music arranger and editor who wrote transcriptions still performed in the modern repertoire. Garban studied under Gabriel Fauré at the Conservatoire de Paris. Around 1900, Garban along with Maurice Ravel and a number of young artists, poets, critics, and musicians joined together in an informal group; they came to be known as Les Apaches.
Introduction et Marche royale du lion
Poules et coqs
Hémiones (animaux véloces)
Tortues
L’éléphant
Kangourous
Aquarium
Personnages à longues oreiles
Le coucou au fond des bois
Volière
Pianistes
Fossiles
Le cygne
Final
