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Violin duos and duets are an indispensible part of the chamber and orchestral music repertory.
This is the second and final article in a two-part series based on violin duos and duets. In this article you will find the top 8 violin duets in the classical repertory.
The main difference between a violin duo and a violin duet is that the former is for two solo violins only and the latter has added accompaniment, usually an orchestra or continuo.
The violin duet or double violin concerto repertory is relatively small, but that doesn’t make these pieces minor. (Unless they are written that way!) There are many excellent duets and I bet many you have never even heard of!
Along with the standard violin duets from J. S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart, this list contains twentieth century works that historically pushed the boundaries of musical composition and music making.
Specifically, the minimalist works for two violins by Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass along with the chromatically provocative Amitité by Ysaÿe.
Indeed, this list provides a broad overview of 8 of the best violin duets throughout history.
1. Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor (1717–23)
This piece certainly deserves to be on the top of the list! Also known as the Bach Double, to Concerto for Two Violins is one of J. S. Bach’s most well known pieces.
Strings and basso continuo accompany this concerto for two violins. Throughout the work, Bach uses Baroque compositional techniques like fugal imitation and counterpoint between the two solo instruments.
You can find a recording of Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh here:
2. Philip Glass: Echorus for 2 Violins and Orchestra (1995)
The title “Echorus” is derived from the word echo, and this piece is certainly characteristic of that idea. It has a chaconne-like repeating harmonic structure passed back and forth between the two solo violins.
Typical of his style, Glass uses minimal thematic material in an effort to evoke feelings of serenity and peace. Glass wrote Echorus for Edna Mitchell and Yehudi Menuhin.
3. Moritz Moszkowski: Suite for 2 Violins and Piano in G Minor (1903)
For one of the lesser-known composers in the canon, the Suite for Two Violins and Piano was a critically acclaimed and well-known work for its time during the nineteenth century by Polish/German composer Moritz Moszkowski.
The first movement is highly romantic, with broad and sweeping themes. The second is an elegant waltz, while the third is plaintive and slower. The finale, Molto vivace, is full of spirit and bounce, a fitting end to a fabulous work of art.
4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concertone in C Major for 2 Violins and Orchestra in C Major (1774)
Mozart wrote this concertone, or large concerto, for two violins when he was only 19. This brilliant, but relatively rare work is very characteristic of his younger style, with a lightness and optimism, even in slower themes.
The first movement features a lovely cadenza for both violins and solo oboe before returning to the main theme. The second movement is very graceful while the third and final movement provides a bold and spirited finale.
5. Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa for 2 Violins, Prepared Piano and String Orchestra (1977)
With a prepared piano (a piano with added objects on the strings to alter the sound of the instrument) this piece sounds like an out-of this-world, futuristic film score.
This piece is an early example of Pärt’s tintinnabuli style of composition, which is a type of musical minimalism that mimics plainchant and bells.
The altered piano adds both percussive depth and chime-like tones to the lush string ensemble, while the two solo violins soar above. With a minimum of thematic material, Pärt is able to create a dramatic and compelling sound world.
6. Pablo de Sarasate: Navarra, Duo in A Major for 2 Violins and Orchestra (1889)
Spanish violin prodigy and composer Pablo de Sarasate composed this show stopping virtuosic piece for two violins and orchestra. It definitely makes for an excellent encore.
This showpiece is a Spanish jota, with close harmonies throughout, even during extended sections of harmonics and left and right-hand pizzicato.
Sarasate’s talent as a violin composer is evident throughout: his idiomatic writing for the violin comes across like brilliant fireworks. This is certainly a fun piece—both for the performers and the audience!
Here is a stunning live performance by Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony:
7. Eugène Ysaÿe: Amitié, poem, for 2 Violins and Orchestra (1927)
Amitié for 2 violins and Orchestra by Eugène Ysaÿe contains many characteristic features of his work: unstable harmonies, sweeping melodies, and undeniable warmth and passion.
Ysaÿe’s poems for stringed instruments, similar to Liszt’s symphonic poems were innovative for their time in terms of their form. Like the piano virtuoso, Ysaÿe’s later works, with their introspective character, are not just empty displays of virtuosity.
8. Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor (1711)
Like his popular Violin Concerto in A Minor for solo violin, Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 Violins is part of a twelve-concerto collection called L’estro Arminico. It is very similar in character to the violin concerto as it is in the same key.
Since Vivaldi wrote many of his compositions as pedagogical tools for young girls at a home for abandoned children, this exciting three-movement piece is often still considered a student concerto.