New Challenges: 2 Pianos 8 Hands

I have been having so much fun writing music for ensembles lately. When I started writing duets last fall I didn't really have a clear idea of how to approach this genre, but it turns out I really enjoy it and learn so much from it (and in fact seem to be quite addicted!). Last month I finished up my first duo for 2 pianos 4 hands-- In The Hall Of The Mountain King-- and in keeping with that theme I decided to arrange another classic orchestral theme, but this time for 2 pianos 8 hands.

Writing a double duo definitely has more challenges than writing a duo, and more than once I found it difficult to keep all the parts straight (see my colour-coding system below).

The result of this work is an arrangement of Paul Dukas's symphonic poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Most people will recognize this theme from the Disney film Fantasia. I would say the level of this piece is late intermediate; it was hard to record since I was playing all the parts myself on separate tracks! See what you think
~ Jen