All four voices, every one of them at its original pitch, with four hands sharing a single instrument. The three melodic lines therefore stack in the same register — which is exactly the density of the original three violins, and makes this the closest of the four to how the piece was written. 4:01.
Not louder — fuller
Four hands on one instrument, three melodic lines stacked into the same register: it sounds thicker than the other versions.
Not louder — fuller. The whole room is sounding and you cannot find where it starts. That is exactly the density of three violins playing in the same range.
Other ways to hear it
The same piece exists here in four scorings: solo beginner (with score, playable with two hands), solo advanced (with score, two lines in the right hand), two pianos (the sound arriving from both sides), and this one (four hands).
More to leave running: Bach's Prelude in C, Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1.
About this arrangement
Where it comes from
Mutopia Project, "Canon per 3 Violini e Basso" — originally scored for three violins and basso continuo, four voices in all. Engraved by Michael Fischer v. Mollard from the IMSLP edition in LilyPond, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Why it was arranged this way
All four voices again, but every one of them at original pitch, four hands at one piano: at each moment the three sounding voices are assigned high to low across the four hands. The three canon lines therefore stack in the same register — which is exactly the density of the original. What it asks for is two players sitting side by side at one instrument.
