Klaviermusik Zu Vier Händen, also known as Four Hand Piano Music, is an outstanding album featuring the works of renowned composers Ravel, Debussy, Alfons, and Aloys Kontarsky. The album showcases the incredible talents of the Kontarsky brothers, who have been praised for their exceptional skill and musicality.
The album opens with Ravel's "Ma Mère L'Oye," a delightful suite of five pieces originally composed for children. The Kontarsky brothers bring a playful and whimsical touch to the music, capturing the innocence and wonder of childhood.
Debussy's "Petite Suite" follows, a charming and lyrical work that showcases the composer's signature impressionistic style. The Kontarsky brothers bring a delicate touch to the music, highlighting the subtle nuances and textures of Debussy's writing.
The second half of the album features works by Alfons and Aloys Kontarsky themselves, including "Variationen über ein Thema von Schumann" and "Suite für Klavier zu vier Händen." These works demonstrate the brothers' remarkable talent as both composers and performers, showcasing their unique musical voice and virtuosic technique.
Born: March 7, 1875 (Ciboure, France).
Died: December 28, 1937 (Paris, France).
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor.
He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In Ravel's piano compositions you can find harpsichord style ideas, references to the Baroque, impressionist procedures and reminiscences of romantic pianism. His music is characterized by a refined timbre and harmonic research; even if its layered and dissonant harmonic structures still remain in the tonal sphere, the traditional harmonic relationships are brought to an extreme tension (particularly in the last works). His orchestral compositions are detached from the Germanic symphonic tradition, in these works the rhythmic and timbral elements are highlighted as well as themes inspired by Spanish folklore can be found.
Ravel's entire production, from the youthful and brilliant "Quartet for strings" (1902-1903) to the "Piano Concerto for the left hand" of 1931, is a succession of precious works that are to be considered among the masterpieces of the music of twentieth century
In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
Klaviermusik Zu Vier Händen is a must-have album for fans of classical piano music. The Kontarsky brothers' exceptional skill and musicality, combined with the timeless works of Ravel and Debussy, make for a truly unforgettable listening experience.