Duetto capriccioso (Op.12 No.1b)

1987/1995, 6 minutes

An arrangement for two pianos of 7 Up (Op.12 No.1a).

Duetto Capriccioso was arranged for two pianos in 1995, and given its first performance on 16 March that year by Ayako Hasegawa and the composer at St. Christopher School, Letchworth in Hertfordshire.

The piece is an extended ternary structure in an overall D modal minor key, with the central section in B flat major. The piece borrows from a mixture of styles: part pseudo Irish-folk in the dorian mode, part jazz, with syncopated rhythms and 'blue' notes, and part popular music with simple tonic-bass harmony, albeit with an individual style of juxtaposing remote chords.

The two pianists explore a variety of textures over a wide tonal range, with the top part perhaps having the lion's share of melodic material.

Listen

You can listen to Duetto capriccioso on scoreexchange.com.

Performances