Two Pianos, Two Hands

for Piano Duo

Duration: 10:00 min.

Program Notes:

The concept for Two Pianos, Two Hands came about as a result of my reflections on Michael Jackson. Although Jackson demanded a high level of performance from himself and those he worked with, I found it striking how far he went out of his way to be compassionate and hospitable to people with severe disabilities and health limitations, even having hospital rooms installed in his own movie theatre so he could host guests who normally couldn’t leave the hospital. To infuse this attribute into my piece, I created a work that will challenge professional pianists and yet also be performable by people with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. One pianist’s part is for left hand and the other pianist’s part is for right hand, so the piece may still be performed by pianists who have lost either hand. Additionally, a second simplified version of each part and a third graphic/verbal version are available so pianists at a variety of levels and with a variety of music reading levels could perform the piece. All the parts are compatible with each other so that, for example, one performer could use the most complicated version while the other could use the graphic/verbal version, for nine total permutations.

In composing a piece for one pianist using the right hand and and another pianist using the left hand, I wanted to make sure I was composing something more than a piano solo broken into the left and right hand parts. In order to accomplish this, I made use of standard and extended techniques in the two parts at the same time to provide a textural and timbral richness not achievable by one pianist alone. Additionally, the semi-improvised section at the very end requires the pianists to play rhythmic motifs of differing lengths consecutively but in a random order while maintaining a communal beat, which would be impossible (or nearly so) for a soloist.

To explore a new sonic world, I decided to create a pentatonic scale based on a major sixth instead of an octave. As a result, playing in octaves is possible if the octaves are three or six octaves apart, but in between, parallel intervals are only possible in multiples of major sixths. The intervals between tones in the scale range from a minor second to a minor third, and I found it fascinating what moods I could create by combining available harmonies in different ways.