In the nineteenth century and before the introduction of sound recording and broadcasting, one of the most common ways of spreading knowledge of new works, especially those written for orchestra, was in arrangements for four hands, either to be played at two pianos or by a duet at a single piano. Pianos were common musical instruments in many households, and often there would be more than one. This type of arrangement had several advantages it could reproduce with a reasonable exactitude all the main musical arguments in a symphonic work, it could be performed in a domestic setting at the players’ convenience, and it allowed the players to gain a detailed knowledge of the music, possibly in preparation to hearing the work in the concert hall. From the composer’s perspective all these were valuable factors and in addition these arrangements were extremely popular and provided valuable additional income. The arrangements on this CD of Brahms’s two middle symphonies, the Second and Third, transfer extremely well to the medium of piano duet. Both the composer’s soaring lyricism and rich, if traditional harmonic, language can be appreciated to the full.