I saw a thread about duets and thought "Hmmm... I bet if I posted about duets here no one would rabble rouse. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I like duets and concertos as much as or more than solo piano which is why I was doubly happy to find that this was Elena's home.

I am currently working on polishing the Secondo for Gottschalk's Grand Tarantelle (La Jota Aragonesa and Other Favorites for Piano Four Hands; Dover 2003). I've got it down but not to tempo. I am doing some fingering work in preparation for the Primo part. My teacher wants me to bag the four-handed version and just learn the concerto part as he knows the orchestral part by heart. I attempted it pulled a tendon on the Primo octaves near the beginning the other day (which is why I'm on the computer today). I am being more careful about ample warmups now. I am also working on Schubert's Six Grande Marches (Kalmus Vol. I) and am starting to poke around on Marche #3.

I don't know where that puts me level-wise, but it sure is fun. I got into duets as a kid because I had a brother in lessons and I hated metronomes. I now have a pretty nice Roland sequencer instead of a brother, who lives in Texas.

As if to goad me, my teacher uploaded HIM doing the Tarantelle to youtube (my favorite song in the whole world). He is doing a "duet" of Piano & Orchestra version. He reduced the entire orchestral score down to a Unit Orchestra arrangement himself and plays from memory. 1:25 to 1:45 below is where I racked a tendon in the four-hand version and back-burnered it. Whereas once I was very good at this, there HAS BEEN a 23-year gap and I have to remember that my fingers and tendons are 45 years old and used to holding a steering wheel.

There are multiple camera angles so his and the pianists hands are clearly visible, especially on full-screen if you have the bandwidth. You can clearly see from the way he plays that he is a trained classical pianist as well.

Grand Tarantelle for Piano & Orchestra w/Piano and Unit Orchestra

PS: This is why why travel 129 miles each way for lessons.

I find duets scrumptious.

gosh..

i don't know what to say.

i remember hearing Fantasy 103 (Schubert) and thinking it the most beautiful melody ever... and then found out Elena played it on her CD so i bought it.

i'm going to try and play a duet (i've several in mind) with mr. teacher before he leaves for his summer gig (i'm hopefully giving a little KC party) he might not want to, tho i think he'd have no objection... it'll be a bit beneath his level of professionality but Hay, i pay him.

so pianolicious.. since you live so close, (relatively) we should pick a duet to play in case we ever meet.

I stink at duets.

Nevertheless, I keep trying.

There are a number of problems. I find myself less motivated to work on a duet because my part sounds incomplete. And the payoff isn't as great if you get it all worked up. It's hard to have someone over and say, "Hey, how'z about I play half of a song for you?"

I also tend to get befuddled and distracted.

Still, I'm working on a duet of Pachelbel Canon in D, and I love it. So I will persevere and try to have it ready by January.

I posted in another thread about the duets I'm playing with my 11-year-old daughter. My teacher and I try to always have a duet piece going. We're working our way through some of the easier suites--so far, Debussy's Petite Suite and Faure's Dolly Suite. They're not quite as hard as the solo pieces I'm working on, so I'd kinda like to ramp that up a little. These work up quick, though, and they're nice for a prelude or postlude at our church.

Speaking of harder, we've read through Rhapsody in Blud a few times. It's abundantly clear that my natural level is somewhere between the Dolly Suite and the Rhapsody. Maybe someday...

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I stink at duets.

Nevertheless, I keep trying.

There are a number of problems. I find myself less motivated to work on a duet because my part sounds incomplete. And the payoff isn't as great if you get it all worked up. It's hard to have someone over and say, "Hey, how'z about I play half of a song for you?"

I also tend to get befuddled and distracted.

Still, I'm working on a duet of Pachelbel Canon in D, and I love it. So I will persevere and try to have it ready by January.

I hear you, Cindy, on the problem of a single part sounding incomplete. I'm playing Primo on Mi-a-ou from the Dolly Suite and it's really high and staccato, which is hard on the ears.

The up-side of duets is that two intermediate players can sound like a freakin' orchestra, which ain't ever gonna happen for me by myself. I think that's one reason Muffin likes them so well. That and the fact that she's an extrovert and not cut out to sit alone at the keyboard.

I love duets, but rarely have anyone to play with.

Ahh but Kathy that's where technology comes in handy. Webcams and midi and sequencers and things.

If you send me a part, I'd be happy to record it and send it back to you. It may not be the best solution, but it's a lot more fun than playing to a metronome. It's also sightreading practice for me.

Well there's an idea. I love all of the Brahms duets - especially the Hungarian Dances. Do you have them? If not, I'll pick one and take you up on your offer.

i have 5 students, including 2 sets of sisters. I bought a ton of duet literature for them at a sale.. (.25 a piece).

one thing i'd really like to do fairly soon is play concertos with recordings.

KathyK:

I only have Kalmus Brahms Piano Works Vol. II. If you have something specific in mind let me know?

I never thought I would wind up playing 2-piano or 4-hand music with anyone. It is just about the hardest ensemble music I can imagine (well, apart from 2 marimbas!) So I used to be happy to just let other pianists play it.

Then in 1997 Sarah Cahill had put together a festival in Berkeley to honor Henry Cowell, and invited a number of pianists from the East and West Coasts. So, all of us pianists were just sittin' around together one day, and Sarah says, "Hey, I just got this new 4-hand piece Terry Riley just wrote, and I'd like to program it on one of the concerts. Would anyone like to play it with me?"

I was the only pianist to raise a hand.

And we have been a duo since then, in addition to our other solo and ensemble work.

I had NO IDEA there was this much duet work going on. As a kid, all pupils with a sibling in lessons had to play a duet. But most classical circles I've been around don't seem to take them seriously.

I've always liked them, as well as two-piano/four hand and more; and concertos.

Thanks for the input.

Kathy,

I too play duets with my youngest, who is eleven. We're working on the Polonaise from one of Beethoven's flute/piano sonatas right now. He plays the flute, not me.

I haven't done any four hand work with Anthony yet. We sorta started a Dvorak Slavonic Dance. Maybe we'll get back to it this summer. On the other hand he's done some two piano stuff, concertos. Ya'll know about the Haydn concerto he played last year. We did the two piano version at home to prepare him for working with the orchestra. Now he's working on the third movement of Gershwin's Concerto in F with his summer teacher. He's about 90% in control of the piece. Getting it to 98% and doing it seamlessly with a second piano ....that's the real trick.

Piano*Dad:

You've GOT to try Baroque and Blue from Jazz Suite for Flute and Piano (Claude Bolling/Jean Pierre Rampal) some day.

It's a kick.