jun 1, 1818 - Eight Variations on a French Song

Description:

Schubert's first large keyboard work to be published, written for 4-hands piano, one of the earliest and most important piano duets, making the genre matter.

Schubert's piano duets perfectly encapsulate domestic music making in all its practicalities and social aspects, including rites of courtship. Played at home with family and friends rather than performed in concert halls, four-hands compositions wer, by the end of the century, fated to declines along with intimate music making in general. The other main purpose of four-hand music was to make opera and orchestra music available for home enjoyment. Chances to hear big public works were rare, and four-hand arrangements served some of the function that recordings do in our time.

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