The first of Arensky's four suites for two pianos is his shortest and most dependent on the conventions of his own time. It falls into three movements, essentially a song and two dances.

The opening Romance begins with a flowing Allegretto passage that itself seems to want to become a waltz, but within a few bars this gives way to an Andante melody that sounds like a Russian folk tune, full of melancholy. Arensky subjects this to a short series of variations in alternation with variants of the initial Allegretto tune, ultimately overlapping the two themes. The movement's coda is a variation on that opening melody.

The ensuing Waltz is probably Arensky's most familiar piece. It's a highly attractive, glittering salon trifle, related in thematic material and mood to Glazunov's two concert waltzes. The structure is fairly simple; the full tune is repeated a couple of times, louder and with greater ornamentation, then breaks apart into its highly decorated components, and is reconstituted and broken apart again. Here, Arensky makes extensive use of glissandos and ornamental figures. The concluding Polonaise is stately, yet immediately is enveloped in even more glissandi, ornaments, and rhythmic complications than was the Waltz. This is light-hearted, entertaining music, far more stressful for the busy pianists than for listeners.

© James Reel, Rovi