Cover of White and Black by Kim Bastin and Joan Pollock
Astra CD 4
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White and Black

Kim Bastin and Joan Pollock, pianos

Piano works for four hands by Ravel, Schoenberg, Debussy, Schumann.

Before the days of mechanical sound reproduction, the only way for people to hear orchestral music outside the concert hall was in the form of piano reductions that could be performed at private gatherings in the home. Many composers of the 19th and early 20th century published such reductions of their orchestral works, most often for piano four hands. Arrangements for two pianos were less common but still account for much of the existing two-piano repertoire. The substitution of piano for orchestral sound has been compared to the reproduction of a painting in black and white there is a loss of colour, but there is often a compensating gain in clarity, particularly of contrapuntal inner voices.

Running time: 60'43"

Track Listing

White and Black - Kim Bastin and Joan Pollock, pianos

Astra CD4

Maurice Ravel Frontispice (1918) 1:35
Arnold Schoenberg Chamber symphony no. 2, op. 38b (1906-1940, arr. 1942). Adagio ; Con fuoco 18:32
Claude Debussy En blanc et noir (1915) 15:56
Robert Schumann, arr. Debussy Six canonic etudes, op. 56 (1845) 15:54
Claude Debussy Prélude à l'après d'un faune (1894, arr. 1894) 8:46
Total playing time 60:43

Recorded in the Rosslyn performance space, Melbourne