Duets for violin and viola
Can you give me some examples of duets for violin and viola? I need them for my brother.
Thanks.
Replies (35)
Haydn had 6 short sonatas, between 10 and 15 minutes each. By Halvorsen ther's also a Sarabande with variations after Hendel. And Reinhold Gliere
had 8 duos op.39. Also Alessandro Rolla had many
duos.
the Mozart Duos (K. 423&424 I believe) are great. difficult, but great. I was told that Mozart wrote them as a sort of favor for Haydn's son (why he didn't write them himself, I have no idea!), who had been commissioned to write the duets, so it doesn't sound as Mozart-ian, which is a nice change.
handel-halvorsen: passacaglia
a virtuoso piece, nice to play and to hear,grat as an ancore
martinu madrigals : a little bit difficult but worth looking at it
The Passcaglia is my favorite, but very hard.
Yeah, that Handel-Halvorsen is a headache, as I know from personal experience. But it is incredibly exciting.
Max Bruch's Double Concerto is a gorgeous piece, and not terribly difficult. It was written for clarinet or viola and violin. I'm not sure why it isn't more well-known . . . it took me a while to hunt down the sheet music.
Ruth, Bruch´s Double is amaizing, but is really difficult find this music, i only find the score, any suggestion? Thanks.
BRUCH, Max (1838-1920)
Title: Concerto for Clarinet (Violin) and Viola in E minor, Op. 88
Edited O. Lindermamm
Pub.SIMROCK
EE3172 solo cl (or Violin), va & pf red (Lindemann) $30.95
Have your music dealer order this from Hal Leonard, the U.S sales agent for Simrock/ Boosey. Leonard does not sell to individuals.
Orchestra parts are on rental only from Simrock (Boosey in the U.S.) as the work is still under copyright.
Scoring
2.2(II doubles EH).2.2-4.2.0.0-timp-strings
Thanks a lot Clinton, a little expensive but i got for it.
Most unusual use of the Handel-Halvorsen (shouldn't it really be called "Passacaglia on a Theme of Handel," by Halvorsen?):
It was used in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", with both parts naturally played by Lt. Commander Data (the android played by Brent Spiner). I have no idea of played it for the TV show. They mainly used the fast brilliant coda passage right before the end. Anyone else remember this?
Why not the Mozart violin/viola duets? Not too difficult and very pleasant.
Why not Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante?Wonderful music..
AN
Yes, Anisha,it's just that he needs something without orchestra, but actually that's one of my favourites, too.
Spohr also wrote some duos for 2 violins. Wonder if he did some for 1 violin & viola?
Spohr did, the one in E minor, amazing.
I second the Spohr..he seems amazingly good at writing duos...his duo concertante for 2 violins in A is just brilliant.
AN.
PS: Sorry Adela,didn't know that your brother was loking for ones sans an orchestra.;)
Stamitz violin-viola duo is pretty easy.
I very much like the Duetti concertanti for Violin and Viola, Op. 15 by Alessandro Rolla
Performer: Salvatore Accardo (Violin), Luigi A. Bianchi (Viola)
Is the Arthur Benjamin Romantic Phantasy with or without orchestra? Can't remember, but recorded by JH and WP anyway.
The Benjamin's does indeed have an orchestral accompaniment.
There is also a Sonatine for Violin & Viola by Milhaud.
About the Handel-Halvorsen business, I still prefer his arrangement for the Sarabande than Passacaglia.
Oh, I've just noticed there is the Kalliwoda 2 Duets for Violin & Viola op.208, quite interesting but not too difficult. Published by IMC, with number IMC953.
Bruni,Offmeister,Pleyel are three duet composers that come to my mind. I have not the detail at hand but I can provide them to you .Feel free to E-mail me
About the Handel-Halvorsen. It isn't just a theme of Handel's. Listen to the harpsichord suite no. 7, passacaglia. Or look at the score. All that Halvorsen did was arrange it for two stringed instruments, with a little embellishing to suit them. For real. The whole piece is Handel, not just the theme.
Sals,
JW
Duos for Violin and Viola: Hard to find publications.
Villa-Lobos, Heitor ( 1887 - 1959 )
Duo for Violin and Viola (1946)
Publisher: Seresta Music Ltd.
410a Hessle Rd, Hull, E Yorks HU3 3SD
tel: 01482 210743 also fax
email: davidashbridge at yahoo dot com
Listed on http://www.musicroom.com/search.aspx?publisher=Seresta%20Music&searchtype=advanced
---------
Porter, Quincy ( 1897 - 1966 )
Duo for Violin and Viola
Publisher: South Hadley, Mass. [1962]
New Valley Music Press of Smith College
POP
Publisher out of business since 1996
[39 libraries in the U.S have a copy cataloged]
Eric,
The episode you speak of is about the android (violin) and his supposed long lost mother (who plays the viola).
He does a great job "playing" the parts that are not just the fingers (body/finger doubles)...I wonder if he's been trained in the violin before?
I love the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante too. Couldn't it be played with a piano reduction?
besides the two mozart duets, there is also an edition of 12 easy mozart duets for the violin and viola. a friend of mine was using those in her class with young players. that one is available for purchasing online.
heinz irsen has pretty interesting duets, also i used to own a book of baroque duettes with pieces by composers like corette and boismortier. sorry that i cannot remember the name of the publication but it was printed by schott.
ugh actually an interesting coincidence: i just found some of my duettes on a cd, if you send me an email: sefkul@gmail.com i can send the duets to you.
oops, that is if you still need it, i just saw the date of the first post :P:P:P
Just to be clear on that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Inheritance", from Season 7:
The violin-playing character of Data, an android (played by Brent Spiner), actually figured out the woman, Dr. Soong's wife and Data's "mother", Juliana Trainer (played by Fionnula Flanagan) is really an android too, even though she herself is unaware of the secret nature of her existence, because when she plays the viola/violin duets with Data, she plays her part exactly the same every time.
Data proudly points out that only an android could be capable of that. And no Heifetz jokes either, as Data was programmed to play violin just like Heifetz. I won't spoil the ending.
Oh yes, Dr. Soong ("Oftenwrong") was also played by Brent Spiner.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...
John Williams also recently wrote a "Duo Concertante" for violin and viola. It's available from Hal Leonard.
Check out my website for the largest list of existing repertoire for violin viola duo (as far as I know):
http://www.string-duo.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=5&Itemid=66
Thanks for adding the link to your extensive list. There's also Duets, for violin and viola (2004) by David Beck. This work has just been released on a CD from ASC Records (PFCD011).
There is also a set of violin & viola duets by Bach. If I remember correctly, these are arrangements of a set of two-part organ pieces. A good music shop should be able to identify these and order them for you.
Edit: The duets I had in mind are transcriptions of BWV 802 to 805 inclusive. Also, there are 13 violin & viola duets from Bach's English & French Suites, arranged by Mark Feezell.
Once I played Bach's fifteen two-part inventions with a cello, maybe you could try that with a viola :)
What is your brother's advancement?
Just commented on a similar thread. Try the Kalliwoda duos. Great fun.
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August 7, 2006 at 05:52 AM · The Handel-Halvorssen Passacaglia immediately comes to mind...