….
More About Viola Concerto Duets:
These viola duet arrangements were born out of necessity. For most students, access to a pianist is limited and usually occurs in the last stages of learning a piece. I wanted a way for my students to have a more complete experience of the concerto earlier in the process. For this reason, I created the Viola Concerto Duets.
Students can improve their accompanying skills by taking turns accompanying each other. They will acquire a deeper knowledge of the score through learning the accompaniment part, which in turn helps with their own solo performance. These arrangements also make it possible to perform in venues that don’t have a piano.
Finally, it makes playing music fun and helps us connect with one another.
Some notes on the arrangements:
My arrangements are not meant to replace the standard editions of these pieces, but rather to be used in addition to them. For this reason, I have kept the measure numbers in the accompaniment the same. If I cut a long tutti section, the measure numbers at the end of the cut should match up with the complete score.
Over the course of this project I have learned that good voice leading is often better than double stops. However, the accompaniment still has many double stops. Feel free to simplify them as needed.
I hope playing these duets enhances your experience with the music and your fellow musicians. Enjoy!