Piano Duets – Pianodao

ABRSM: ‘Piano Star’ Duets

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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 five of these pieces also selected as duet alternatives in the 2021-2 ABRSM Piano Syllabus, which I recently reviewed here, 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. 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

THE PIANODAO MUSIC LIBRARY

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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.

Once again, it’s a collection that’s well worth a look, so let’s take one…

Evolving Blues & Easy Pieces

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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)

Mike Cornick’s Piano Duets & Ensembles

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Teachers often ask me to recommend duet and ensemble pieces suitable for older players who are at intermediate level.

One context where this has added importance is the preparation of pieces for assessment as GCSE “ensemble” performances. Here there is a particular need for music at around ABRSM Grade 3 level, with suitably easy duet part for the classroom music teacher to play at sight, or for two or more students to perform together.

But equally, for those who teach siblings or paired/group lessons, intermediate music for more than one player can be an important – indeed essential – resource.

Happily, popular educational composer Mike Cornick has been on the case, writing brilliant arrangements for various combinations of players, and publishing several collections through Universal Edition over the years.

There are two particular sets of books well worth looking at. Firstly, there are several neat duet books, and secondly – more unusually – a series of books for larger combinations sharing a single piano.

In this review I will take a look at two of Mike’s latest publications:

Movie Music Favourites: Eight arrangements for piano duet
4 Afro-Caribbean pieces for 6 hands at 1 piano

Piano Sketches & Duets

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With so many great new educational piano music publications on the market, it is becoming easy to miss or overlook some genuinely top-drawer material. And of the many collections to be published over the last few years, Vitalij Neugasimov’s two books of Piano Sketches are among those that you really DON’T want to miss!

Publishers Oxford University Press (OUP) have now added two new volumes of duets to the series, appropriately titled Piano Sketches Duets 1 and 2, providing the perfect opportunity to explore the whole series.

OUP do seem to have the Midas touch when it comes to selecting sure-fire winners to publish. Their many best-sellers include the Nikki Iles Jazz Series, Janet & Alan Bullard’s brilliant Pianoworks, and of course Pauline Hall’s Piano Time range of method books, which despite stiff competition remains one of the UK’s favourite piano tutor books.

So let’s see whether the Piano Sketches series compares favourably…