Doppelspiel

Höller's piano anthology Doppelspiel for four hands is the result of the cultural capital project Piano Book. In 2010 the Piano Festival Ruhr commissioned renowned European composers to write new piano pieces. A main objective was to not only show a panorama of contemporary compositions but also create a repertoire that is accessible to young pianists and can be used in piano lessons. For this reason, all participating composers were asked to write a piano piece for both two and four hands. The latter was to be designed such that at least one part could be performed by a player whose pianistic skills are not quite advanced yet.
York Höller, by his own account, found this unusual task an 'interesting challenge'. Whereas his piano works had made very high demands on the players until then, the two works Solo Play and Duo Play composed by him for the first time could also be performed by young pianists.