Heller, Barbara: Dialogues

9 Duets

Playing in a duo is great fun for professional musicians and amateurs alike and can inspire creative music making. Bringing together the sounds of different string instruments extends the range of notes and volume of sound to be enjoyed by players and audiences, too. These pieces represent encounters between two people, with each of the nine compositions taking a specific moment or mood as its theme. Titles and indications of style and tempo will give performers ideas for interpretation, with markings relating to technique, articulation, bowing and fingerings offered for guidance. For players who would like to work out their own interpretation of these Dialogues, the second section of the book includes an unmarked score of the same pieces (with no indications of dynamics, fingerings, bowings, articulation or phrasing). This additional score is intended for use by instrumental teachers who wish to work with their pupils on marking up and arranging pieces of music for string instruments. These Dialogues are aimed at young people and adult musicians, too. They may be played as a cycle in the order given in this book, or else combined at will. Individual Dialogues may serve as useful teaching material, for student auditions or for inclusion in student concerts or chamber performances. Their musical content and brevity make these duets particularly suitable repertoire for youth music competitions. The overall duration of the set of Dialogues is about fifteen minutes.