Béla Bartók

20 duos

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) composed his 44 Duos for Two Violins in 1931. These unique musical miniatures combine folk melodies from Eastern Europe with the musical language of the twentieth century in an exciting blend of tradition and modernity.
For the present edition Marcin Langer arranged twenty of these duos for Bb clarinets. The pieces allow players to share the pleasure of chamber music while exploring this fascinating sound world.

All the duos sound at the original pitch and can thus be performed by a clarinet and violin. Most of the duets can also be played by a clarinet and alto saxophone combination (nos. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17). In such cases, the relevant duos from the edition for two violins (UE10452A and UE10452B) or for two alto saxophones (UE36991) should be used.