Brahms had a stylistic reason to - he arranged Bach's Chacconne (from the Partida 1004 in d minor for violin) for piano, and he wanted to replicate the difficulty of playing the piece on a solo instrument (or-one handed instrument, looking at fingering), by making the piano play it with one hand (the left, given the piece's lower range). The result sounds much closer to Bach on the violin than the Busoni or Lutz arrangements, as one has to arpegiate the chords much like the violin does. FYI
Saint-Saens also wrote a group of pieces for the left hand, I've heard them being played by João Carlos Martins.
brcmano 2 years ago
Godowsky is famous, or infamous if your view is parochial, for arranging many of Chopin's etudes for the left hand.
pentium1000 3 years ago
I didn't know Brahms and Alkan wrote for LH too. Thanks for the correction!
mathguy83 4 years ago
Brahms had a stylistic reason to - he arranged Bach's Chacconne (from the Partida 1004 in d minor for violin) for piano, and he wanted to replicate the difficulty of playing the piece on a solo instrument (or-one handed instrument, looking at fingering), by making the piano play it with one hand (the left, given the piece's lower range). The result sounds much closer to Bach on the violin than the Busoni or Lutz arrangements, as one has to arpegiate the chords much like the violin does. FYI
CinemaniacsAnonymous 3 years ago
well brahms started writing for left hand only and then alkan the scriabin then ravel and before you know it everybody has
4444matthew4444 4 years ago
Didn't ravel on the other hand arrange for the left hand for a more, practical reason? For a casualty of the first world war?
KantutJuice 7 months ago