Three-hand effect
[1] The effect had been prefigured by composers including Francesco Pollini (1762–1846), a pupil of Mozart, whose 32 esercizi for the piano (1829), based on techniques found in the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau, included music written on three staves, and using interlocking hand positions, to generate the impression of three, or even four, hands.He adds "[Thalberg's] clever shading that helped make this device convincing: since the accompanying arpeggios were very soft, the resonance of the well brought out melody tones...could seem to 'sing'.[7] A contemporary review of Thalberg playing in London mentioned "myriads of notes sounding from one extremity of the instrument to the other without disturbing the subject, in which the three distinct features of this combination are clearly brought out by his exquisite touch.[16] Kenneth Hamilton comments that "[Thalberg's] inheritance is still with us today, as anyone will testify who has ever heard a cocktail pianist wreath a slow popular tune in elegant arpeggios."[17] This is a partial list of two-hand piano compositions intended or arranged to create the illusion of three hands playing simultaneously.
piano pedalsarpeggiosFrancesco PolliniMozartJohann Sebastian BachJean-Philippe RameauAlexandre Pierre François BoëlysixthsbravuraSigismond ThalbergDon JuanRossiniMoïseArthur LoesserMoriz RosenthalElias Parish AlvarsCarl CzernyGrove Music OnlineromanticFranz LisztGrandes étudesPaganiniFelix MendelssohnFerruccio BusoniKlavierübungBeethovenSchubertOffenbachKenneth HamiltonConcert Étude No. 3Sadie, StanleyTyrrell, JohnThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansMacmillan PublishersBusoniThe Musical QuarterlyInternational Music Score Library ProjectCvetko, DragotinStanley SadieHamilton, KennethUniversity of South CarolinaLoesser, ArthurRosenthal, MorizMusical techniquesArticulationBowingDampingDouble stopExtended techniqueFingeringFinger substitutionFinger vibratoGlissandoHarmonicsIntonationMultiphonicPhrasingPizzicatoPositionSlappingStopped noteThumb positionTremoloVibratoWind instrumentsSaxophone techniqueCircular breathingEmbouchureFlutter-tonguingGrowlingHarmonica techniqueOverblowingSlap tonguingSplit toneTonguingPiano extended techniquesFinger tappingLuthéalPrepared pianoString pianoTack pianoBowed string instrumentsBowed string instrument extended techniqueViolin techniqueCello techniqueBariolageBartók pizz.Col legnoFree bowingMarteléSpiccatoTwo bowsGuitarDownpickingFingerstyleFlatpickingPickingHybrid pickingString bendingTambourThird bridgePrepared guitarPrepared harpPercussionSnare drum techniqueBurton gripCymbal chokeDrum rollStevens gripRimshotHuman voiceExtended vocal techniqueBeatboxingDeath growlOvertone singingScreamingSprechgesangÉtude