Companion to Podcast Episode 1 of our Four-Hand Piano History Series

When we demonstrated Ernst Wilhelm Wolf's Sonata in G Major and Charles Burney's Sonata in F Major on this week's podcast, we were playing music that was once considered scandalous. Four-hand piano music didn't emerge by accident—it was born from a perfect storm of technological innovation, economic transformation, and social revolution in the 1760s.

Before the mid-18th century, keyboard instruments simply couldn't accommodate two players. Virginals had only 45 keys, harpsichords topped out at about 5 octaves, and the idea of two people sitting close enough to share a keyboard was socially unthinkable. Everything changed when instruments expanded their range and the new pianoforte offered dynamic control that made intimate musical conversations possible.

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf wrote the first four-hand sonatas in Weimar around 1761, though he kept them private for decades. Working under Duchess Anna Amalia, Wolf created these pieces as teaching tools, influenced by the emotional intensity of the Empfindsamkeit ("sensitive style") championed by C.P.E. Bach.

Charles Burney changed everything in 1777 by publishing the first commercial four-hand music. His "Four Sonatas or Duets" filled a market gap he shrewdly recognized, complete with a preface explaining this "unusual practice" to puzzled audiences.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (age 9) and his sister Nannerl turned four-hand performance into spectacular entertainment during their European tour. Their Sonata K.19d became a marketing sensation, with audiences amazed to see two children playing together, sometimes blindfolded.

Four-hand playing required unprecedented physical proximity between performers—hands crossing, occasional touching, shared breathing. This intimacy was revolutionary in an era of strict social codes. As Stanford scholar Adrian Daub notes, piano four hands created "a safe space in which touching and nearness were permitted or even desired."

The growing middle class embraced four-hand music as affordable home entertainment. Rather than hiring orchestras or purchasing multiple instruments, families could experience sophisticated music through piano duets, democratizing access to high culture.

When we perform these early works today—navigating Wolf's sudden mood changes, appreciating Burney's elegant galant style, or marveling at the Mozart family's collaborative genius—we're continuing a conversation that began when propriety met passion and technology enabled intimacy.

This is just the beginning of our exploration into four-hand piano history. In future episodes, we'll trace how this intimate musical medium evolved through the Romantic era and beyond.

Read the complete story: For the full exploration of how keyboard instruments evolved from Pythagoras's monochord to enable four-hand music, detailed analysis of the economic and social factors that drove this revolution, and in-depth discussion of the musical examples we performed, visit our comprehensive article: The Intimate Revolution: How Four Hands Changed Everything

This is the first episode in our ongoing series exploring the history and development of piano four-hands repertoire.