"The Mozart Anthology" is a celebration of Mozart's music, offering five arrangements, fantasies, and showpieces as performed by the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo. Each work translates the spirit of Mozart's original vision to the keyboard in a highly pianistic manner, making attractive additions to any piano duo's recital repertoire.
The volume begins with the somber Chorale Prelude ("Der, welcher wandert diese Strasse voll Beschwerden") from Die Zauberflöte, arranged for two pianos in homage to the chorale preludes of Bach-Busoni. By contrast, the "Papageno!" fantasy is essentially a game of musical twister for piano duet featuring a mash-up of Papageno's felicitous arias (also from Die Zauberflöte).
Two works in this anthology originate from Mozart's opera Così fan tutte. A pair of women bid a heartfelt farewell to their lovers departing by sea in the two-piano arrangement of "Soave sia il vento," while the Grand Scherzo recasts the swirling, flirtatious events that close Act I as a four-movement sonata for piano, four-hands.
Rounding out the anthology is Anderson's irreverently off-the-wall and dizzyingly virtuosic "Ragtime alla turca" for two pianos, based on Mozart's Rondo "Alla turca," K. 331.
All five works have been newly formatted and edited. Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Arranged and adapted for two pianos and piano, four hands by Greg Anderson (b. 1981). Advanced. 74 pages. Two copies required for performance of two piano works. Published by Awkward Fermata Press.
Author Biography:
GREG ANDERSON: pianist, composer, and writer with a mission to make classical piano music a relevant and powerful force in society. Greg pursues his mission with such zeal that he has developed a multi-faceted career in the arts, and his exploits have attracted the attention of such media outlets as PBS, MTV, and the Today Show; Gramophone, Clavier Companion, Listen, and Pianist magazines; and NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, From the Top, Performance Today, and All Things Considered. Greg's hundreds of performances have elicited universal acclaim - "the highest level of artistry" (The Star-Telegram), "electrifying and riveting" (The Cyprus Mail), "astounding" (Edmond Life and Leisure), and "gripping... rapturous... thoughtful, passionate" (San Jose Mercury News). He has performed in Carnegie Hall, soloed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, released several albums, and toured in North America, Asia, and Europe. Greg has established a groundbreaking piano duo partnership with Elizabeth Joy Roe; their five critically acclaimed albums have spent dozens of weeks at the top of the Billboard Classical Charts, while their Emmy-nominated, self-produced music videos have been viewed by millions on YouTube and at international film festivals. As a composer, Greg's works are featured on the Universal, EMI, Sony, eOne, and Steinway record labels. His compositions and arrangements have been premiered at venues such as Alice Tully Hall and the Rose Bowl, and by the National Symphony Orchestra and 5 Browns, among others. He has filled in for John Williams on short notice. Greg is a Steinway Artist and a graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University.
