Gaea for Two Pianos Left Hand, and Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Gaea for Two Pianos Left Hand and Orchestra, also simply called Concerto for Two Pianos Left Hand, is a concert piece by American composer William Bolcom
, written for Leon Fleisher
and Gary Graffman
.
The composition, which received its first performance in Baltimore in April 1996, is constructed in such a way that it can be performed in one of three ways, with either piano part alone with reduced orchestra, or with both piano parts and the two reduced orchestras combined into a full orchestra.
The piece was one of several that could fully or partially trace their origin to the loss of Fleisher's right hand in 1965, according to Fleisher's Kennedy Center biography.
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
, written for Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...
and Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman is an American classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator.Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova...
.
The composition, which received its first performance in Baltimore in April 1996, is constructed in such a way that it can be performed in one of three ways, with either piano part alone with reduced orchestra, or with both piano parts and the two reduced orchestras combined into a full orchestra.
The piece was one of several that could fully or partially trace their origin to the loss of Fleisher's right hand in 1965, according to Fleisher's Kennedy Center biography.