Three’s Company
- 'His bravura pieces… treat their subjects always in one and the same way, [namely] ... to let the tones of a melody be played in the medium octave of the keyboard now by the thumb of the right, now of the left hand, while the rest of the fingers are executing arpeggios filling the whole range of the keyboard'. — C. F. Weitzmann, qtd. in Wikipedia
Sigismund Thalberg, a rival of Liszt,
Found a technique that was hard to resist.
What was the gimmick that earned him great sums?
Fancy display, with a tune in both thumbs,
Which gave the impression to fans in the stands
That Thalberg, though solo, was using three hands.
He toured all of Europe and caused a sensation,
And all on the strength of this one innovation.
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