This 2005 survey of
William Bolcom's music for two pianos covers a fairly wide period, since it ranges from the short Interlude of 1963 to arrangements made in 1994. All the same,
Bolcom's characteristic amalgamations of ragtime, popular songs and dances, avant-garde keyboard techniques, and Classical forms are apparent throughout the collection, so the chronology of these highly eclectic pieces is not a helpful indicator of style.
Bolcom's rags, parodies, and pastiches may be fun, even charming, especially to listeners who have never heard his tongue-in-cheek music before. Such pleasant and witty fare as The Serpent's Kiss and Through Eden's Gate (both 1969, arranged 1994), and the three nostalgic pieces of Recuerdos (1991) are the most direct selections and the easiest for newcomers to grasp. However, those well-acquainted with
Bolcom's accessible manner and kitschy mannerisms may turn instead to Frescoes for two pianos, harmonium, and harpsichord (1971), which is one of
Bolcom's darker meditations in the vein of Black Host and other probing works of the early '70s; or try the spiky and dense Sonata for Two Pianos in One Movement (1993), which must be regarded as a serious effort in the genre. Pianists
Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann are fluid in their execution and absolutely fluent in
Bolcom's changeable rhetoric, and their buoyant performances are technically and expressively close to the composer's own style of playing. Naxos provides its best sound quality.