Alexander Zemlinsky and his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg wrote piano reductions for piano 4 hands by order of Universal Edition during the first decade of the foundation of UE (1901-1910).

Zemlinsky arranged Haydn's “The Seasons”, Schönberg arranged Lortzing's “Waffenschmied" ("The Armourer", UE879), two pairs of composers who would hardly be linked together at first sight. It is all the more interesting to experience some of the music that results.