1 new of 10 responses total.

(Which just adds to my dislike of Schoenberg et al.)

I've been on another Stravinsky kick lately, listening to a lot of the
two-piano pieces he wrote.  Apparently he wrote most of his orchestral music
in arrangements for two pianos before he orchestrated it, and he also wrote
a few pieces expressly for two pianos.  My favorite part of the Rite of Spring
is the creative orchestration, but it's to his credit that it sounds almost
as good unorchestrated.
Apparently he's also got a piece called _Les Noces_ for _four_ pianos,
percussion, and voces, which I'm thinking I'm gonna have to track down one
of these days.

I think the only composer whose piano music I actively dislike is Mozart. 
The sort of writing that sounds gorgeous and virtuosic in his operas just
strikes me as hopelessly goofy and frilly in his piano music.  

A while ago, I ran across a recording of Keith Jarret playing Shostakovich's
preludes and fugues for piano.  Gorgeous stuff - Bach's forms updated with
modern harmonies and rhythms - and a lot better-suited for the piano than
Bach, IMO - which only makes sense, since Bach was writing for an entirely
different set of instruments.  

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss