Real Repertoire Violin Duets presents eight intermediatepieces for violin from the 18th Century selected by Mary Cohen and published as part of the Real Repertoire Series. The series introduces players to a wealth of original works by great composers, and this duets book complements Real Repertoire for Violin.
Once again Mary Cohen has chosen a worthwhile and enjoyable selection of 18th century violin duets, mostly from contemporaries of Mozart but also including two marvellous duets by Telemann and Leclair, the former being a perfect canon that is much fun to play. There are three excellent duos by Pleyel, a composer much admired by Haydn and Mozart, one by Gebauer, and two attributed to Haydn, that are effective arrangements of the minuet and finale of his quartet in B flat major, Opus 33 number 4, the least played of that particular set. Whether the arrangements are Haydns is open to question: Mary Cohen suggests his contemporary Antonin Kammel as a possibility. Should they encourage players to try the quartet, they will have been well worthwhile. There are no fingerings and just a few bowings, but this volume is an excellent introduction to 18th century music for those from Grade 5 upwards.
Music Teacher Magazine, March 2008
Eight violin duets from the 18th century from the likes of Hayden and Telemann (among others), targeting intermediate violinists......A real challenge, and a real feather in the cap of any duo that pulls these off (or teacher with student). Such is the standard and appeal of these pieces, it sits here [in Classical] rather than the education section.
MI pro Magazine, September 2007