Anyone out there play piano duets? If so got any recommendations? I'm workin on Fantasia in F minor by Schubert and some Diabelli at the moment

There's some Slavonic Dances that I'm playing at the moment but (and this is terrible) I really can't remember who they're by!! Will check that for you.

Also the Dolly Suite by Faure is very nice to play - first movement is really easy but the rest of it is a bit trickier.

There are some lovely duets out there though... I played in about a million piano duets when my year was doing GCSE music!!

You already found the greatest ever piano duet: up there with "Erlkönig" and the two-'cello quintet. You might also like his Rondo Op. 107, which we have in the same collection (Universal Edition 466) as has the Fantasia. Universal also does (UE 13304) a collection of Mozart duets that includes his Andante with Variations K.V. 501 and arrangements of the two Fantasias for Mechanical Organ, K.V. 594 and 608.

Dover (always good value) publishes "Four-hand piano music by Nineteenth-Century Masters" which has the Bizet "Jeux d'enfants", the Debussy "Petite Suite" (the familar orchestral version is by Busser, not Debussy), and Fauré's "Dolly". Separately, somewhere, we have Ravel's "Mother Goose", another great piece that (unfortunately for piano duet enthusiasts) sounds even better in his orchestral version.

I'm doing a duet at the moment! Has anyone done Jamaican Rumba by Benjamin?
I know it's not as 'serious' as the ones you're all talking about but it provides a welcome break from the heavy exam prep!

Dvorak?

I was thinking of getting a book of slavonic dances (they are Dvorak). Also theres a book called 'The complete works for four hands' by Johannes Brahms. Anyone have that or know any of the pieces in it?

I'm arranged one duet already and am in the process of composing one. (Available for order - I accept Visa, Mastercard, Link, cash cheques, etc. )

There's a book of Greig Duets taken from Peer Gynt that can be quite tricky (crossing hands and so forth) but are a lot of fun. I did Anitra's Dance for my GCSE and really enjoyed it.

There is 1 piece I love..not entirely sure what its called and who by!

Something along the lines of Moskowski...Spanish Danses?!

Or am I making this up!

Debussy petite suite is lovely - did it with piano teacher for her pupil concert - I was the golden (or greying) oldie in it!!

Doesn't matter.......you whistle it, we'll have a go at playing it!

I like it lots, but I know it as a two-piano piece. Have you got it arranged for one?

Carnival of the Animals for 4 hands rather than 2 pianos is fun (but difficult!).
Dvorak Slavonic Dances.
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite.
Warlock's Capriol Suite - not so tricky but fun nevertheless. (Good Fauxbourdon!)
Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture.
Hava Nagila. (Again not quite as difficult - but fun - if you like Hebrew-sounding music.)
Brahms Waltzes.
You can also get arrangements of a lot of the big symphonies - I remember playing through Beethoven and Tchaikovsky's Symphonies with a friend when I was at college.

Yep! The one I'm doing is for four hands one piano!

Ravel's Mother Goose Suite? Comes as either 2 pianos four hands or standard duet.

I once heard an arrangement of "Stars and Stripes" march for four people on Two pianos... that was different!!

I've had a lot of fun playing Eine Kline Nachtmusik for four hands )

I've also enjoyed Mozart's symphonies for four hands, and if you want a *challenge*, Reger's arrangements of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are interesting.

As is Brahm's four-hand arrangement of his own Concerto no. 2.

But I do agree -- the Schubert F-minor fantasy is simply the most perfect four-hand work ever written!

There's a wonderful duet by Poulenc, I think it's called Sonata, but I'm not sure, but there's a really crunchy bit with semiquavers in major 7ths between the 2 hands - oh yummy! And there are a few bits where the secondo Right hand has to play ABOVE the primo's left hand (make sure you know your duet partner fairly well!!!!!!) I used to play duets with my dad, and we had great fun with this one!

My student did one with my colleague's electric organ student. It was a piano/organ arrangement of Beethovan's Symphony no. 40 in G minor. And it sure was fun! Quite a simple arrangement too.

Peters publish a massive amount of duet music. I play duets with another teacher for about three hours one morning a week, every week, wouldn't miss it. A lot of our music is published by Peters, including Haydn symphonies ( know they are better in the orchestral version, but we have loads of fun with them). Mozart and Beethoven symphonies are also published by Peters, the Beethoven being quite tricky.

We have quite a large library of duet music, and also borrow from the library at times.

There's an attractive Sonatina for piano duet by Lennox Berkeley (just heard it on the radio yesterday morning - first time I remember hearing it broadcast, but I've owned the music for many years). For more elementary players there's an excellent collection called "Easy Original Piano Duets", but I don't know if it's still in print, and we also have a collection called "Studio 21" which includes a particularly jolly piece by Lutoslawski called "A tune I once heard".

Someone mentioned players' hands crossing. Some of the more dangerous moments are the ones where one player has to play the same note immediately after the other. Some of our duet copies have CUT YOUR NAILS written large at the top.

hi

Hungarian Dance no 5, by Brahms is excellent and a lot of fun!!

Joy

I do love that piece, as a matter of fact, I have just started Hungarian Dance No. 6 for four hands with a friend. I'm doing the Secondo, which is relatively easy I think.

Hi Jazzywench and JoyJoy
My mate and I need a good duet for a competion. He is grade 8 + and I'm doing Gde 8. Would the Greig Duets taken from Peer Gynt or the Hungarian Dance no 5 by Brahms you mentioned be too hard for us?
Thanks
Musicman

Brahms Hungarian Dance is a short, challenging and lively piece to do on 1 piano, fantastic fun!

I've just seen this post - you lucky thing! I wish I had someone to play duets with like that! There's noone here but me - and at school the piano teacher who could sightread well has left.

Holst's The Planets, arranged for piano duet, has recently been republished after being out-of-print for many years. The reprint was sponsored by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the score is available from Barbican Chimes Music shop: http://www.chimesmusic.com/barbican/ . Technically pretty challenging, particularly the faster movements, but the vivid musical impressions come across well even in "black-and-white".

For my GCSE music ensemble i did a piano duet version of Prokofieff's Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet.

Ooooh, I bet that was good - love the music to that ballet!

Talking of ballet, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is available in piano duet form (Boosey & Hawkes publ.). Awesomely difficult...

Anyone suggest me medium-difficulty duets I could play for my GCSE? I really like duets, though I haven't played one for a long time. I still remember the first duet I played with my teacher, before I even took Grade 1...

Im trying to find the book that i used for my duet it had loads of really good 'medium ability' duets in it. It doesnt help that in dont have the book anymore and can only remember that it was 'white and green'..

my teacher and her husband play a piano version of the orchestral Capriccio Espagnole from Rimsky Korsakov......it sounds so great on piano....although it sounds very tricky!

Chocolatedog, I've just seen your post. You could possibly find someone who is not quite so good as you at sightreading. After a while their sightreading would definitely improve and it such great fun (well we think so anyway) that its worth persevering even if the reading's not perfect at first.

For anyone out there doing exams, duets are a wonderful way of practising sightreading.

Ive done a few...
Rhapsody in Blue-Gershiwn
I've Got Rhythm Variations-Gershwin
Some small Mozart works
And Im currently working on Mozart's Concerto No. 20

WOW! Love this!!

I might have mentioned it in this thread already but the Diabelli book of Sonatines has 5 pieces, all of medium difficulty and very pleasant to listen to. I'd say this book would be ideal for your GCSE.

I've looked at this site, they list the duet version as Arr for piano duet by Nora Day & Vally Lasker. New edition edited by John York & Fiona York.. Is this the one you mean or was there another Holst version? Other sites mention Holst's original version for two pianos - sadly a little impractical in the average familiy home.


(I spent many happy hours playing duets with my Dad, especially the Beethoven symphonies, the Schubert, Eine Kleine Nachtmusic, also Brahms St Anthony Chorale for which my Dad wrote his own arrangements of the "Missing" movements from his edition. Sadly my Dad died earlier this year.... but I can still play duets with my son and carry on the tradition)

Yes, this is the one I mean. The Yorks have slightly amended the original Day/Lasker duet edition in the interests of playability.

There is indeed a further version for two pianos by Holst himself, which as you say is arguably for professional situations.

I remember playing the Brahms Anthony Chorale with my dad too - it was the first proper duet I ever played with him and I could only play the top part of the primo - and even then probably missed out a few of the flats, but I was soooooo proud to be playing a duet with him! We later did Dvorak, Handel, big albums full of light music (no longer in print) Brahms Waltzes, Poulenc (oh fun!!!!) etc. My dad died 2 years back - and I really miss being able to play duets with him, and play for him what I'm currently working on. Unfortunately I have no children to carry on the tradition - just a dog - and I haven't succeeded in teaching her how to play the piano yet!

For GCSE I'm doing a Debussy duet, Petite suite, for piano, En Bateau. So pretty but my teacher can't generally play it. At all. grr...

I've played that with my teacher - it is lovely isn't it? Which part are you playing? We (ie andante-in-C & me) might do it at the February forum concert....

Bizet's 'children's games' (jeux d'enfants) are very nice, although some are a bit tricky. I don't have the music at hand, but seem to remember some are around grade 6ish.