In 1994 I was Director of The Downs Community Choir, an 85-strong SATB choir that met every week. I wanted to do a really big piece with them so Verdi’s Requiem came to mind. One problem …. not enough space for both Orchestra AND Choir. Tricky …. So I arranged the orchestral parts to fir four hands and two grand pianos. It worked but on the night my wife said that there was an ambulance outside kin case my pleurisy took hold during the concert. I’m sorry – I have no recollection WHATSOEVER of that. But I DO remember the four pianists literally getting airborne for the opening G minor chords of the Dies Irae, and the page-turners were turning one page every 1.5 seconds ….. music examples attached below and the scores are available for hire!!
