# Duos for viola and cello



## Comus

What are some good pieces for viola and cello? Any style.


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## Delicious Manager

There aren't many of these. The ones I know about are:

Beethoven – Duo in E flat WoO 32 (‘With Two Obbligato Eyeglasses’)
Hindemith - Duett for Viola and Cello (1934)
Walter Piston – Duo for Viola anc Cello (1949)
Spohr - Grand Duo in E minor for Viola and Cello Op 13


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## Ukko

Kodaly - Op. 4. Less intense than Op. 8, but very good.


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## Comus

Thanks Delicious Manager. I'm digging the Hindemith; however, the Spohr op. 13 turns out to be for violin and viola. Hilltroll72, the Kodaly op. 4 is for cello and piano. Thanks nonetheless, but I'm looking specifically for viola/cello duos.


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## Ukko

Oops. I (probably) was thinking of the Duo, Op. 7 - and that's for violin and cello. Sheez.


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## World Violist

Apart from the one by Beethoven, the only ones I know of are a couple of pieces by Rebecca Clarke (Lullaby and Grotesque) and a duet by... um, I forget. I think it was part of Les Six. Milhaud?


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## Delicious Manager

Thank you, World Violist. There IS a Milhaud piece:

Milhaud - Sonatina for Viola and Cello Op 378

Apologies re: the Spohr - my mistake. I have discovered, however the following:

Boccherini - Sonata in C minor for Viola and Cello G 18 http://imslp.org/wiki/Viola_Sonata_in_C_minor,_G.18_%28Boccherini,_Luigi%29
Václav Pichl - 3 Duets Op 14 http://imslp.org/wiki/3_Duets_for_Viola_and_Violoncello,_Op.14_%28Pichl,_Vaclav%29


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## Comus

Thanks, folks.

The Milhaud piece led me to the following recording, performed by Adler and Ruge:

1. Duo-Sonate for Viola and Cello, Op. 139 by Otto Siegl
2. Lullaby and Grotesque by Rebecca Clarke
3. Duet for Viola and Cello by Paul Hindemith
4. Duo for Viola and Cello, Op. 47: no 4 by Günter Raphael 
5. Bukoliki by Witold Lutoslawski 
6. Sonatina for Viola and Cello, Op. 378 by Darius Milhaud	
7. Chassidic Dances (2), Op. 15 by Zikmund Schul


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## altiste

*Bukoliki by Witold Lutoslawski*

The Bukoliki by Witold Lutoslawski (Bucolics) are five short pieces (more or less one minute each) composed originally for piano in 1952. Based on folk music and uses cross-rhythms and metrical contradiction


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## Chasman

Sweet stuff, classical in style:


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## arturs86

I can mention an unusual duo for viola and cello.

Gundaris Pone - Grand Duo Funebre. It's very complicated piece, especially for viola. But maybe You have a chance to get it somewhere. Or at least something else of his chamber music. He was an unpriced composer with a very original and delicate writing style.

A small article about Pone is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundaris_Pone

But internet is quite silent about this man.


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## chesapeake bay

> I'm doing a master's research about the viola and cello duo and in my dissertation I will include a catalog with more than 400 pieces for viola and cello that I have found so far, besides I also will include the websites of the composers and linksweb where you can buy the sheet music and recordings of the pieces that I have found this information.
> If you still have interest in discovering new works for viola and cello duo, please visit the website of my Duo (Chordata Duo). At the end of this year (2016) I'll provide for free all the catalogue and the dissertation.
> 
> Thank you!


Thanks for posting, the Partita Brevis by Kjell Karlsen that you played was very good. Since we love lists here at talk classical It would be great if you could post your top 10 or 20 pieces for viola and cello, as you will have an exceptional perspective on them  but start it in a new thread.

p.s. Also liked your Ligeti sonata performance.


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## Mandryka

Comus said:


> What are some good pieces for viola and cello? Any style.


Why not play some of the music in Bach's musical offering like that?


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## ChordataDuo

chesapeake bay said:


> Thanks for posting, the Partita Brevis by Kjell Karlsen that you played was very good. Since we love lists here at talk classical It would be great if you could post your top 10 or 20 pieces for viola and cello, as you will have an exceptional perspective on them  but start it in a new thread.
> 
> p.s. Also liked your Ligeti sonata performance.


Thank you! I'm glad that you liked our performance.
I already started a new thread listing some pieces! 
Have fun: http://www.talkclassical.com/47378-duos-viola-cello-410-a.html?highlight=duos+for+viola+and+cello

If you have interest in discovering more works for viola and cello duo from intermediate to advanced level, I will provide access to all the catalog and my book to sell here: http://chordataduo.wixsite.com/viola...logue-of-works.

Thank You!


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## cellohiker

Paul Wiancko's American Haiku is awesome. Some pretty challenging looking extended techniques though. There is a good recording of him playing it with Ayane Kozasa on YouTube.


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## kangxi

Chasman said:


> Sweet stuff, classical in style:


Ah, that would be the John Cage.


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## MusicCello

https://chordataduo.wixsite.com/violacello/catalogue-of-works
In this site you will find a book and a great catalog listing more than 570 medium/advanced duos for viola and cello and some performances by Duo Chordata.


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## Pugg

MusicCello said:


> https://chordataduo.wixsite.com/violacello/catalogue-of-works
> In this site you will find a book and a great catalog listing more than 570 medium/advanced duos for viola and cello and some performances by Duo Chordata.


Great information, thank you for sharing and a very warm welcome to Talk Classical.


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## Boston Charlie

Passacaglia by Handel/Halvorsen played by Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky

A hard to find recording that I first heard on vinyl: As far as I know it still hasn't been released on CD or digital. Please go to YouTube and check it out. You'll be glad you did.


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## cougarjuno

There is a Sonata for Viola and Cello by American composer George Templeton Strong. The score is available but I don't know if there is a recording. Naxos has recorded several of his works though.


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## Enthalpy

*Malinconia* in the linked page, including links to violinists' performances. Search for viola+cello in the pdf appended there. A bit easier to play than Bartok's violin duets, can fit students too. Very nice, but on a single violin it was badly difficult. And then I took the scissors.
talkclassical


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