SKU: A0.1143220

This time honored classic Christmas song has been covered by many artists., but I wanted to capture the magic that Ray Charles shares with his audience when he performs this piece. This arrangement finds inspiration from the intimacy and personal touch that Charles brings to his orchestration of this piece, with its jazzy piano chords, shimmering strings, and casual vocal line. The violinist carries the vocal line in this duet, and croons the melody with frequent interjections of double stops that compliment the viola's bass line and harmonies. Together, the two instruments create a rich combination of melody and evolving seven chords that bring depth and personality to an instrumentation that is often under utilized. This challenging violin and viola duet is for advanced players who want more from their sheet music!

SKU: A0.1402228

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is a famous piece for the organ. Surprisingly, it wasn't very popular when Bach was alive. It was first published in 1833 by Felix Mendelssohn in a collection called noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositinen. Mendelssohn performed it in 1840, which made it more well-known. This piece is different from Bach's later works in style and composition; for example, the fugue is relatively simple. Music expert Peter Williams suggested in his 2003 book The Organ Music of J. S. Bach that it might have originally been written for solo violin. Following his idea, some people tried to adapt it for solo violin, with some versions in A minor based on his suggestion.

While it's unsure if Williams' idea is correct, it implies that this piece might work well for string instruments. We decided to arrange it for a Violin and Viola Duet, trying to stay close to the original organ version. However, because of technical reasons, we had to remove some parts. Our first arrangement was liked at a small concert in 2022. During this, we realized that the music could be good for string ensembles. We also found that removing some notes made the remaining ones stand out, sometimes making a special beauty. This suggests that the music might have been meant for string instruments originally.

We first planned to publish this arrangement in 2020, but we changed our minds. We wanted as many people as possible to enjoy this wonderful piece, so we decided to publish two versions. Version 1 is similar to the organ score, sounding familiar but being technically hard. In contrast, Version 2 skips some notes, making it easier technically. Players will still experience the unique beauty of string ensembles with intentional note removal. The choice between the two depends on what players prefer and their skill level.

To help players understand better, we've used colored notes. Different colors show different voices, helping players know each instrument's role. In Version 2, green notes show parts where both instruments play the same thing. While these notes are optional, playing them will help synchronize the two parts.

Turning pages can be hard because there aren't many rests. We suggest using a tablet or arranging music stands side by side with all six pages in a row. If that's not possible, we suggest connecting pages 1-3 and 4-6 horizontally with cardboard. Put pages 1-3 in front and 4-6 in the back. For specific instructions during the piece:

- The Violin plays the Viola part in bar 74, shown by solid parentheses. Turn the page after playing the third beat of bar 75 and don't play the Violin part in bar 76 (marked with dashed brackets), as the Viola will play it.

- The Viola turns the page right after playing bar 73. Instead of playing the part in dashed parentheses in bar 74 (which the Violin will play), play the Violin part of bar 75 (marked with actual parentheses).

SKU: A0.1402227

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is a famous piece for the organ. Surprisingly, it wasn't very popular when Bach was alive. It was first published in 1833 by Felix Mendelssohn in a collection called noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositinen. Mendelssohn performed it in 1840, which made it more well-known. This piece is different from Bach's later works in style and composition; for example, the fugue is relatively simple. Music expert Peter Williams suggested in his 2003 book The Organ Music of J. S. Bach that it might have originally been written for solo violin. Following his idea, some people tried to adapt it for solo violin, with some versions in A minor based on his suggestion.

While it's unsure if Williams' idea is correct, it implies that this piece might work well for string instruments. We decided to arrange it for a Violin and Viola Duet, trying to stay close to the original organ version. However, because of technical reasons, we had to remove some parts. Our first arrangement was liked at a small concert in 2022. During this, we realized that the music could be good for string ensembles. We also found that removing some notes made the remaining ones stand out, sometimes making a special beauty. This suggests that the music might have been meant for string instruments originally.

We first planned to publish this arrangement in 2020, but we changed our minds. We wanted as many people as possible to enjoy this wonderful piece, so we decided to publish two versions. Version 1 is similar to the organ score, sounding familiar but being technically hard. In contrast, Version 2 skips some notes, making it easier technically. Players will still experience the unique beauty of string ensembles with intentional note removal. The choice between the two depends on what players prefer and their skill level.

To help players understand better, we've used colored notes. Different colors show different voices, helping players know each instrument's role. In Version 2, green notes show parts where both instruments play the same thing. While these notes are optional, playing them will help synchronize the two parts.

Turning pages can be hard because there aren't many rests. We suggest using a tablet or arranging music stands side by side with all six pages in a row. If that's not possible, we suggest connecting pages 1-3 and 4-6 horizontally with cardboard. Put pages 1-3 in front and 4-6 in the back. For specific instructions during the piece:

- The Violin plays the Viola part in bar 74, shown by solid parentheses. Turn the page after playing the third beat of bar 75 and don't play the Violin part in bar 76 (marked with dashed brackets), as the Viola will play it.

- The Viola turns the page right after playing bar 73. Instead of playing the part in dashed parentheses in bar 74 (which the Violin will play), play the Violin part of bar 75 (marked with actual parentheses).

SKU: A0.1202565

This arrangement adapted for violin and viola duet was designed to make its listeners weep with emotion, because the adaptation preserves the original essence of the work, keeping its integrity faithful to what Beethoven wanted to transmit, with only a slight change in tone and addition of harmonic resources in the structure of the arrangement. Even though it is a funeral march, it is well suited for any musical performance occasion, being intended for beginner students who want to immerse themselves in the universe of romantic music, and nothing better than starting with the transitional composer of this period, which also does not prevent professional teachers from using it for recitals, academic presentations or didactic material in their classes as an ensemble practice.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor sharp, Op. 27, No. 2, is one of his most popular compositions and was an audience favorite even in his day. Written when Beethoven was 31, the Moonlight Sonata (Mondscheinsonate in German) was composed after he finished some commissioned works, but there is no evidence that he was hired to write this work. It did not receive its nickname until 1832, five years after Beethoven's death. It was the critic Ludwig Rellstab who compared the music to a moonlighting on Lake Lucerne. This comparison was adopted as a nickname for the work. Called Quasi una fantasia by the author - like its companion Op. 27, No. 1 - the piece was completed in 1801 and dedicated the following year to one of the composer's pupils. Beethoven chose to open the sonata with a slow, hypnotic arpeggio movement, the best known of the entire work. The dotted rhythm of its minimal melody evokes the tradition of 'Trauermusik' (funeral music).