Violin Duets
Some of my students are playing violin duets. I own a fair amount of duos, but I'm always on the lookout for more, or any that people especially like. The level of pieces the students play, on average, are comparable to suzuki books 2-5 (there are a wide range of ages and backgrounds). Any suggestions for duet (or even trio) repertoire at any of these levels? Escpecially pieces in 1st position, though more challenging recommendations are also welcome. :) Thanks in advance.
Replies (41)
Hi,
though I'm not aware of the Suzuki book levels, starting out with Bach's double concerto will probably lead to frustated students, a musically unsatisfactory performance - or both.
Violin duets are available from composers like Pleyel, Campagnoli, Beriot, Gebauer, Mazas and Leopold Mozart. Telemann has written e.g. the "Gulliver Suite" (at times quite challenging) or sonatas to be performed by two violinists in canon.
The duets by the first five composer cover a range of musical abilities.
Bye, Juergen
There is a nice set of books called "Beautiful Music for Two Violins" by Applebaum. These books contain some nice beginning duets that allow for development of player independance and ensemble skills at an easy to manage level. Once there is some experience under their belts, then you can try some more difficult items. I would save the Bach double for when they are very strong counters and can keep track of not only their part while they play, but their duet partner's part otherwise they will pull their hair out trying to put it together.
Pleyel wrote some good duos.
Michael McLean has arranged a lot of duets for violin, in a wide variety of levels. He is Suzuki trained, and while many of his duets are for more advanced students, he has many for beginners as well. He also sells CD's containing most of the pieces. My pianist friend really likes his arrangements because the piano part is also interesting. The place I've found his music is through Young Musicians (ymonline.com). Have fun!
I would recommend some of the Bartok duets. Although some are tricky some of the early ones stick to 1st position and are technically not difficult, but probably sound quite different to what young kids are used to. And they are so much fun! =)
One book that may be useful for suzuki level 2-4 is called "Violin Duet Classics Made Playable" by Mary Ann Harbar, published by Mel Bay. It has 58 pieces from Bach to Vivaldi. The pieces are excerpts and themes from well-known works, and are easily within the grasp of students of that level. None are long, but each piece features a different skill/technique/bowing style to focus on. The book comes with a split track CD as well. Just a thought.
Check out Mozart's Der Spiegal. It's fun because it's 1 sheet of music, you put it on a table, and one violin plays reading it one way, and the other plays reading 'backwards' and it's a perfect duet!
Some other thoughts:
Viotti duos
Bach double
Vivaldi doubles
Moskovsky suite (beautiful!)
Mozart concertone for 2 violins
Wieniawski etudes-caprices for 2 violins
Haydn duos
Spohr duos
Boccherini duos
George
For intermediate students I'd recommend some of the 12 Easy Duos by Mozart, KV487, published by Peters. Though seemingly simple, they're not all that easy to play with the right sound and style. With some adjustment here and there, an advanced player could play both parts (which are printed in score) simultaneously, which can come in handy at reception gigs, etc.
I found this neat book called "Music for Two Violins", arranged by Daniel Kelley and published by Last Resort Music Publishing. It has about 15 pieces by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Telemann, Vivaldi, and even an arrangement of Joplin's Pineapple Rag. Some are entirely in first position, and the most difficult uses third. I think there are other volumes, as well. Check out their website at www.lastresortmusic.com.
Many of the Bartok Violin Duets were written with the beginning student in mind.
Thanks so much for your responses everyone. There were wonderful suggestions, and if anyone has additional ideas, feel free to post. :)
I second Fiona and Kenneth. SOME of the Bartok duets are great. They are short, technically very easy, and different from other music that beginning students usually learn. They are completely sophisticated musically, and there is much to learn in terms of rhythm and ensemble playing. A few of them are really tough (either musically, rhythmically, or technically), but the simple ones are just great for beginning students.
I. Pleyel wrote some duets for two violins.
Mozart's Mirror Duet is fun. (it's 'table music' so one person is reading upside down - which seems to be a crowd pleaser if you don't memorize it)
Mazas wrote some nice duets as well, I believe. Also, for the advanced student, the Navarra by Sarasate is a lot of fun.
does anybody know of any Chopin arrangements for 2 violins?
Alessandro Rolla wrote over 131 violin diets! I have just started to publish all of these duets with Gems Music Publications.
If you don't know Rolla- he was the founding violin/viola teacher of the Milan Conservatory, and he was a teacher of Paganini! We was also the founding principal viola of the La Scala opera, and he then later became concertmaster, and then music director.
Check them out at www.gemsmusicpublications.com
Here's another vote for the Mazas duets - particularly opus 38 but I think there are more. And as others have mentioned, Mozart's "Der Spiegel" (The Mirror) is lots of fun, especially when you show people the sheet music and turn it upside-down.
the editions are not so hot.... but there are about 30 of Rolla's violin duos available (for free) at IMSLP:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Rolla,_Alessandro
although the one I looked at goes above 3rd position.
My duet partner and I are very fond of the Mazas (of course) but like even better the Telemann duets. We have enjoyed duets arranged by Catherine McMichael for wedding gigs. There are alot of duets out there so seek and ye shall find.
I'm reviving this thread with a question. Duets were extensively used for teaching purposes in the 19th century. In the methods of Spohr, Baillot, De Beriot, etc. you find many duets, including duets used for accompanying scales.
Why has this seemed to have dropped out of favor?
Grretings,
when you think of the reasons for doing it, it seems strange. Unless you are doing scales or exudes (but even then) a lesson is often curiously sterile unless the teacher has a) a pianist constantly present b) works from the piano or c) pluck or plays the accompaniment in the traditional style Gingold was so famous for. I think the average teacher is Probaly remiss in not providing this kind of context.
Then duets themselves are a sort of related special case. in the begiinnig I think they are quite normal but somehow, little by little students want and expect their own repertoire that they are going to perform solos with and it perhaps becomes annoying or frustrating to them when lesson time is at a premium. it is fairly easy to understand this feelin I think. I like to do the Bartok duets with students and have them memorize both parts if possible, really dig deep into the music.
I started exploring the duet repertoire you mention after reading how the great Israeli teachers (Fehles?) said she played a lot of duets with her studenst. I found some real gems by de Beriot in particular . I think sight reading this kind of stuff is really valuable and it improves students reading ability which is perhaps why they were not always so keen
Idle thoughts
buri
The Leclair duo sonatas are lots of fun! I don't remember how high in positions they go but I don't recall them being terribly difficult.
I really like the Doris Gazda/Larry Clark series of progressive duets, which range from beginner to early intermediate level. I also use the Bartok duos, which are progressive from fairly easy to quite difficult.
Just today I pulled out the Telemann canonic duos for some sightreading with a college bound senior (not the one Bruce Berg knows)--it turned out that the counting was a bit beyond the student, and now I know something else to try to buff up before sending him off.
As per some of the suggestions above, my teacher regularly played violin duets with me as part of lessons, usually for sight reading. These were my favourite lessons. On red-letter days she would take out her viola and we would play one of the Mozart duos. (She also played the piano adequately for accompaniment, but this was nowhere near as much fun). We usually played arrangements of Mozart - often the piano sonatas, which involved some fairly hairy passage-work for the first violin (my teacher) but the second part was usually quite manageable. So musical content was high (dare I suggest rather higher than de Beriot or Pleyel). I've no idea whose arrangements they were. I seem to recall playing some Spohr as well. Alas her repertoire did not include the Bartok.
I think this is a really important aspect of teaching and learning. My son gave up the violin partly because he was bored - bored with lessons and practice consisting mainly of unaccompanied Suzuki. I did play the second parts with him at home where they existed, or sometimes improvised them, as well as introducing him to Scottish dance music. Perhaps significantly, the only thing which raised any enthusiasm in him towards the end was participating in a Telemann concerto for 4 (unaccompanied) violins with some of the other students.
why are duets important? as one of those troublesome adult learners, I suggest the following reasons: it requires you to listen
to two sounds at the same time. it makes your rhythm and tempo better (assuming your teacher plays better than you) and 3, it inspires you to play as well - intonation, musically - as your teacher. plus, as several noted, it's so damn much fun! sometimes, playing a difficult part in unison with teacher helps you cross a hurdle.
I have found that turning Beethoven Sonatas into 2 violin duos saves a lot of time conveying style, ensemble, and balance. This can make the student aware of how important (or more important) that the pianist is in the artistic result.
Greetings,
that a great idea. Especially helpful in spring,
cheers,
Buri
It's a harsh lesson in intonation often to play duets with one's teacher. I think there's a lot to learn by this. I play duets with my daughter. We play (sight read) through such things as the Mazas and the Whistler Selected Duets. Very playable, but not so easy to play really nicely. Therefore, that's the challenge -- to play them nicely.
I've been enjoying the duets of all the Suzuki books/ Handel Sonatas, etc. arranged by fellow teacher Martha Yasuda. I play them quite often with my students. I also enjoy teaching from the Doflein method, which includes many duets.
I've been working through a book of Wohlfahrt duets as part of my studies. As an adult student, my opportunities to play with other musicians are quite limited (read non-existent). This little 10 minutes a week is all I really get. Even that minuscule few moments helps my intonation and ensemble playing skills quite a bit. It is, by far, my favorite part of the lesson.
Er, "violetcat (rachel)" gives "no such record", which is against the rules..
The original post is dated 2005. Sometimes people move on.
If you look back, you will see that I revived this thread with the following question:
"I'm reviving this thread with a question. Duets were extensively used for teaching purposes in the 19th century. In the methods of Spohr, Baillot, De Beriot, etc. you find many duets, including duets used for accompanying scales.
Why has this seemed to have dropped out of favor?"
My thought is that many of these duos could be
very useful in teaching. For instance in Spohr's ViolinSchule there is a very nice duo using various scales. The second violin part basically supplies a drone. I use the original, a version I transposed up 1/2 step, and another version transposed up a whole step to use for students who are recalcitrant about practicing scales. It makes scale practice fun.
By the way, concerning my post above, you can download them for free if you go to my website: http://www.baylor.edu/music/index.php?id=859279
Jean Delphin Alard
4 Duos élémentaires, Op.22
Both violin parts of Nos. 1 and 2 can be played entirely in first position. Nos. 3-4 1st to 3rd.
Sonata Intimus for two violins
4 movements. Mainly in 1st position throughout the work, with occasional shifts to 2nd, and just a few in 3rd.
There are a few by David Worswick, which are AMAZING. But I'm not sure he did publish them yet or not...
Here are two of my favourites:
Copland - Hoe-Down for 2 Violins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTaMxChPPrw
Piazzolla - Spring for 2 Violins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPo7XBS-rE
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September 14, 2005 at 08:20 AM · The Bach double concerto 'concerto in D minor, S.1043' is a really good one. Both first and second parts go up to 3rd position, but thats all. It's a bit of a challenge but it sounds great. You've probably seen it in Suzuki book 5.