Ferrante and Teicher

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Ferrante and Teicher

Piano stylings of pop music themes were in vogue during the post-war "lounge music" or "mood music" style, and Arthur Ferrante (1921—) and Louis Teicher (1924—) were the duo-piano team that capitalized most prolifically on this genre during the 1960s. Imitating the sound of the Romantic-era piano concerto, and at times including novelty effects such as "prepared" pianos, Ferrante and Teicher recorded lush arrangements of film themes, Broadway tunes, and other melodies backed by full orchestra and chorus. Both pianists pursued their early training at the Juilliard School in New York, but gradually dropped their classical repertoire in favor of pop and light comedy performance elements. After signing with United Artists in 1960, they had their first American chart hits with the million-plus seller theme from The Apartment and Ernest Gold's main theme from Exodus; in 1969, their arrangement of "Midnight Cowboy" was a Billboard Top 10 single. Their discography numbers over 60 albums and compilations.

—Ivan Raykoff

Further Reading:

Ferrante, Arthur, and Louis Teicher. "Two Pianos? It'll Never Sell!" Music Journal. September, 1965, 42-43.