Piano Duets – Pianodao

The Piano Duet Anthology

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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There can be no doubting Faber Music’s commitment to their rapidly expanding series of keenly-priced but tastefully presented bumper Piano Anthologies, the latest of which focuses on intermediate piano duet repertoire with a contemporary and appealing twist.

This is the tenth anthology in the series, and having reviewed them all here, regular readers probably now know the drill. I like these books, they are gorgeously presented and deliver an engaging and distinctive range of music. I have also seen that they have proved popular with my adult students and in our piano club.

So let’s check out the latest addition…

Mike Cornick’s Grieg Favourites

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Mike Cornick is perhaps best known for his contributions to the repertoire of jazz-styled solo, duet and ensemble music, and I have previously reviewed several of his publications, all of which are available from Universal Edition.

Cornick’s more recent duet collections have steered towards arrangements of popular classics, and the latest continues this trend.

Mike Cornick’s Grieg Favourites is a sequel to the earlier Elgar Favourites collection, reviewed here, and offers an inspiring selection of new arrangements that are suitable for players around UK Grades 4-7 level, and which are sure to engage performers and their audience alike.

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection, for which I had the honour of selecting and editing 24 solo piano pieces by the contemporary Japanese educational composer last year, is already proving a hit with players and other teachers.

Working on that collection involved a deep dive into Ikeda’s work, and the solo pieces in my selection are truly the tip of a tremendous iceberg. But alongside her wonderful solo music, I also discovered that Ikeda has composed a significant body of very enjoyable music for one piano, four hands.

How wonderful that Ikeda has now, with publisher Willis Music Company, curated a selection of 15 of her favourite duet compositions.

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection can be seen as a natural companion to The Graded Collection. The book will be welcomed by teachers and intermediate players who enjoy duets, and want to explore more of Ikeda’s music.

Schott’s Easy Concert Duets

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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A few years ago I reviewed Schott’s Easy Concert Pieces, a series of three excellent anthologies of core classical repertoire, which progressively deliver a rich pedagogic diet of music suitable for elementary to intermediate players. Since then I have been using these cost-effective books at my studio in Milton Keynes, where they have proved especially popular with teenage and adult learners.

Now, Schott are back with a new collection, this one more suitable for early advanced players, and delivering an appealing selection of core material for piano, four hands. The book offers “20 Original Pieces from 4 Centuries”, and includes favourites by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Bizet, Fauré, Moszkowski, Debussy and more.

With ‘social distancing’ a receding memory for most of us, this could be a great time to start exploring the duet repertoire, and this just might be the ideal collection to help us do that. Let’s find out if it is…

8 Great Duet Books 2022

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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My review of 8 Great Piano Duet Books published back in 2016 has been a popular post with readers ever since, proving that there’s plenty of interest in piano duet books.

Since then I have reviewed a trickle of other duet books, but ground to a halt during the pandemic. Meanwhile, more duet books have been amassing in my review backlog, and in this new round up I’ve got my paws on another 8 Great Duet Books for 2022.

For ease, I will introduce them in approximate order of difficulty…

ABRSM: ‘Piano Star’ Duets

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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ABRSM’s popular Piano Star series, which originally aimed at bridging the gap between the pupil’s first tutor book and ABRSM Grade 1 piano, continues to grow. The seventh and latest book is Piano Star Duets, which offers 26 newly composed or arranged piano duets for ‘early beginners to Grade 2’, compiled and edited by David Blackwell and Karen Marshall.

With several of these pieces already selected as duet alternatives in the piano syllabus, the book is likely to tempt teachers and students looking for a one-stop collection of duets that they can dip into over a couple of years of lessons. That the pieces have been commissioned from some of our leading pedagogic composers further adds to the attraction.

Before taking a look, full disclosure. I contributed a single piece each to four previous titles in the series (find out more here). However, I receive no ongoing royalty income from those, have absolutely no vested interest in the series, and chose not to contribute to the Piano Star Duets collection. I write here with full independence.

So, with that out of the way, let’s jump in with all four feet…

Mike Cornick’s Elgar Favourites

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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In addition to Mike Cornick’s new solo piano collection Ragtime Blues and more (which I recently reviewed here), Universal Edition have just published his latest collection for one piano, four hands: Elgar Favourites arranged for Piano Duet.

As one expects from this fine writer,, it’s a collection that’s well worth a look, so let’s take one…

Evolving Blues & Easy Pieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Adrian Connell is well-known and beloved as the smiling face of Universal Edition here in the UK. Over the last three decades, he has tirelessly promoted the music of other composers while quietly and steadily pursuing his own musical interests: conducting, arranging, playing bass guitar, and developing his own portfolio of compositions.

These include 6 Symphonies, 2 Concerti, numerous other orchestral works including overtures, variations and symphonic poems, works for string orchestra and for concert band, and a growing body of choral music. Most of these works were composed in response to commissions.

It’s with great pleasure that I highlight and commend three of his publications for pianists in this short review, all brought to us by German publisher Edition Dohr:

Evolving Blues for Piano four hands (1990)
Six Easy Pieces for piano solo (1990-2015)
Suite on a Jazz Theme for piano four hands (1989/2015)

Dusk of Day, Dawn of Night

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Nikolas Sideris is a composer of formidable musical intelligence and imagination who is perhaps best known for his extraordinary duet collection Fairyland in Treble.

Reviewing that collection, I concluded:

“I must say that this book stands out as being VERY special indeed. It’s truly an essential purchase.”

Fans of that duet book will undoubtedly be delighted to know that its successor, The Dusk of Day, The Dawn of Night, is now available. So let’s take a look…

Mike Cornick’s ‘Dinner for Two’

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Mike Cornick remains one of our most prolific piano composers, and one who has made a very substantial contribution to the popular piano duet literature.

His latest release, Dinner for Two, subtitled “Romantic arrangements for piano duet”, continues his best-selling “for two” series which began with 2010’s Tea for Two and has now grown to 7 titles.

As ever, the book is brought to us by Universal Edition. Let’s take a look inside…