In the high register of the piano there are marvelous potentialities for bell-like chordal complexities that no other instrument can equal. In the middle register there are resources for a fluency of motion that can add subtle elaboration to accompanimental background (Manuel de Falla has made much of this possibility in El Amor Brujo). In the low register there are extraordinary marcato percussive intensities useful for punctuating and thickening the bass sounds. When the piano is used routinely or for ordinary doubling, the result is dull. If used in the orchestra it should have its own independent and imaginative part.
Works which show a particularly inventive and effective use of the piano as an orchestral instrument are El Amor brujo by de Falla and Petrouchka by Stravinsky.
Playable Books