Brahms & Haag - Symphony 3 / Sonata in C Major (CD)

This release is the third in our series covering the complete Brahms symphonies in the composer's own versions for two pianos viz. Piano four hands. Our project is rooted in the conviction that these arrangements are not mere piano reductions or circumstantial arrangements for use in the home, but works of art in their own right, creations that fear no comparison with the originals, and which deserve to occupy their rightful place on concert stages alongside works originally written for piano duo. Thus, in the two previous albums we coupled the piano duo versions of Brahms's First and Second Symphonies with original works for piano four hands composed by his friends and contemporaries. The two works featured on this release have a reciprocal connection. Schubert's C Major Sonata D812 also called the "Grand Duo", is obviously a work for piano four hands: still, it clearly possesses orchestral characteristics. And in the case of Brahms's Third Symphony in F Major we have an orchestral work that the composer himself arranged for two pianos and thereby transformed into an autonomous piece of chamber music.