Charles Wuorinen's piano 4-hands version

[Larry Kart]

If you've got Spotify, check this out; it's nutty in a good sense. I found it by plugging in Wourinen; it's the first album that crops up. The album also includes Wuorinen's two-piano arrangements of Chamber Symphony No. 2 and (hold your breath) the Variations for Orchestra.

The arrangements were done for a ballet company or companies, but I'd say they are far more than work for hire.

[Spontooneous]

I'll be investigating. A four-hand or two-piano version of the Variations could overcome a lot of orchestral balance problems.

[Larry Kart]

Can't find it now, but I was reading last night that Wuorinen said that the pieces to him were about the notes more than the instrumental colors, and that recasting them for the piano or pianos made the not-to-note relationships clearer. I certainly see/hear what he means, though especially in the slower portions of the Chamber Symphony No. 1 there are some obvious losses, e.g. the magical liquid ascent (but not liquid here) that begins the central slow section. OTOH, in addition to the clarifying factor, I just found this arrangements to have a fascinating sound of their own. No other music for piano that I'm aware of sounds like this.

[Rooster_Ties]

Are any of these Wourinen (or is it spelled "Wuorinen"? arrangements available on CD? Especially Chamber Symphonony #1?

BTW, I absolutely LOVE Webern's arrangement of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 - for violin, flute, clarinet, cello and piano (the same instrumentation as Pierrot Lunaire).

BTW, You can listen to Webern's complete arrangment HERE. Check it out, it's really sublime (imho).

Edited August 10, 2012 by Rooster_Ties

[Larry Kart]

Are any of these Wourinen (or is it spelled "Wuorinen"? arrangements available on CD? Especially Chamber Symphonony #1?

BTW, I absolutely LOVE Webern's arrangement of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 - for violin, flute, clarinet, cello and piano (the same instrumentation as Pierrot Lunaire).

BTW, You can listen to Webern's complete arrangment HERE. Check it out, it's really sublime (imho).

It's "Wuorinen." The album is on the Russian Disc label, from 2011, but I can't find it on Amazon or other similar sites. It can be downleaded, though.