Plays Antonin Dvorak
I like Antonin Dvorak, he's OK in my book. His Serenade for Strings OP 22. is one of my faves. Of course, being written for strings means I needed to transcribe it for piano... two of them to be exact. if you listen on headphone you will find one piano in each ear... um..., either side. I don't know if it would be playable by four hands on single piano. simply because on some of the slower sections I have the pianos trading off backings so the music moves over the sound field.
I also enjoy the Humoresques... The most famous one, being #7 ... which, I feel isn't one of the best of the set. but the melody can be a bit of an ear worm... and it had a surge in popularity in the 30 & 40s being played by Art Tatum and Glenn Miller
There were even folk lyrics put to it. A commonly know one is:
"Passengers will please refrain
from flushing toilets while the train
is standing still within the station house."
I think my mother knew that one as a kid...
Of course when a tune went folk and folk started making up lyrics... well here's another I know:
"Mary, Mary fine and able
get your big butt off the table
don't you know the quarter is for beer."
I suppose that lyric can be dated by the price of a beer. definitely not politically correct.
Of course if you want to get into unexpurgated folk lyrics you should hear some of the stuff that goes with the song "Sweet Betsy from Pike." She & Ike sure went on some wild adventures there....
But let's not digress from Dvorak or the Humoresques there are an interesting set on tunes each with a set of short, progressive themes... with repeats. Repeats are interesting because it is the same serious of nots but it is up to you to play them so they say something similar but different.
This set of songs was also fun because it was my first attempt at moving the distance of the piano within the space of the recording... nearer... farther... I wanted to get the effect of suddenly the piano was up close whispering in your ear... I don't think I quite got there, but it was fun nonetheless.
Here are a few ways for you to listen.
Add it to one of your playlists.