The way John Cage arranged Erik Satie's Socrate for two pianos is simple and quite ingenious. He dovetails Satie's original piano accompaniment between both instruments and generally replicates the vocal line in unison octaves deployed in different registers. As a result, together with the loss of text, we get no sense of the original's dry, declamatory drama. But we do get Satie's ambling gait, pretty harmonies and, especially in the final pages, stark simplicity.
Without choral forces and the organ's sustaining power, Liszt's Via Crucis (based on the 14 Stations of the Cross) emerges as a rather severe exercise where bare-bone single lines shuttle between bleak block chords and tremolos. Sometimes it sounds static, yet certain moments prove quite effective, such as Station 11's pounded-out opening chords that mirror Christ being nailed to the Cross. The Ránki/Klukon duo make the best case for these arrangements and play with sustained, long-lined concentration and intelligent dynamic scaling that is far more difficult to achieve than it appears to the casual ear. In any event, if you're interested in these works without singers, this excellently engineered release recommends itself.

Two great choral works reduced to two pianos still make an impact. The Ránki/Klukon duo make the best case for these arrangements and play with sustained, long-lined concentration and intelligent dynamic scaling that is far more difficult to achieve than it appears to the casual ear.