Petros Shoujounian, an Armenian/Canadian composer has written Twelve Duos for Trumpets based on the folksong collection of the Armenian priest Komitas, known as the founder of the Armenian national school of music and one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology. Below are comments from the composer about his inspiration in writing these Twelve Duos for Trumpets.

My interest in the collected works of Komitas's ethnographical songs was aroused when I was introduced to Bela Bartok's similar works followed by Alan Hovhaness's huge creative world. Bartok completed his project having at his disposal a large collection of ethnographic music, while Hovhannes studied the wealth of Komitas's music with great interest. It is difficult to say to what extent the Armenian underpinning of Hovhannes's works is nurtured by Komitas's musical world, but his classical interpretation of the Armenian ethnographical music created a huge interest in the listener. Needless to say, there is also Aram Katchaturian's legacy, which at its core has the ardent presence of the Armenian spirit, nurtured by Komitas's very existence.

Komitas has left a collection of about 3,000 cleaned versions of the ethnographic song and dance pieces, of which 1,700 has reaches us, about 400 of which have been activated. I believe that in those beautiful musical fragments reside the power to be revived, once we enrich them with colorful musical instruments and unbounded polyphonic imagination.

This is the motivation behind my own work and these Twelve Duos for Trumpets: to make the essence of our ethnographic music accessible through Komitas.

These Twelve Duos are appropriate for advanced performers and are written for C Trumpets, B-flat Trumpets, Cornets, B-flat Piccolo Trumpets, and Flugelhorns.

This is a book of popular pieces arranged for duet; it comprises both volumes from the '15 Duets for Fun' series, plus the '21 Christmas Duets for Fun' as well, making a total of 51 duets in this set. The difficulty levels range from early-intermediate to advanced, and should provide something for everyone to enjoy. The pieces have been arranged so that both parts are interesting throughout - they often interweave and take on many roles within the music. A duet score is provided for each piece, and the repertoire covers wedding music, slow melodies, traditional Welsh melodies, baroque classics, famous symphonic melodies, piano works, Christmas classics and other popular pieces. This is the full list:


1. Jingle Bells v1
2. Jingle Bells v2
3. Ding Dong Merrily On High v1
4. Ding Dong Merrily On High v2
5. Ding Dong Merrily On High v3
6. Joy To The World v1
7. Joy To The World v2
8. Joy To The World v3
9. Deck The Halls v1
10. Deck The Halls v2
11. Deck The Halls v3
12. O Christmas Tree v1
13. O Christmas Tree v2
14. Silent Night v1
15. Silent Night v2
16. Silent Night v3
17. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v1
18. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v2
19. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v3
20. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen v1
21. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen v2
22. All Through The Night (Welsh trad.)
23. Amazing Grace (Newton)
24. American Patrol (Meacham)
25. David of the White Rock (Welsh trad.)
26. Fanfare from ?Water Music? (Handel)
27. Happy Birthday
28. Largo from ?Xerxes? (Handel)
29. Myfanwy (Welsh trad.)
30. Pizzicati from ?Sylvia? (Delibes)
31. Prelude in C (Bach)
32. La Réjouissance from ?Music for the Royal Fireworks? (Handel)
33. Rondo from ?Abdelazer? (Purcell)
34. Scherzo from Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)
35. Suo Gan (Welsh trad.)
36. Concerto for Mandolin and Strings (Ugolino)
37. The Entertainer (Scott Joplin)
38. Highlights from Rhapsody In Blue (Gershwin)
39. The Blue Danube Waltz (Johann Strauss II)
40. Six Christmas Pieces, No.5 (Mendelssohn)
41. Für Elise (Beethoven)
42. In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Grieg)
43. Trumpet Voluntary (Jeremiah Clarke)
44. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik No.1 (Mozart)
45. The Londonderry Air / Danny Boy (trad.)
46. Symphony No.5, Mvt.1 (Beethoven)
47. Rondo Alla Turca (Mozart)
48. ?Autumn? from ?The Four Seasons? (Vivaldi)
49. ?Ode to Joy? from Symphony No.9 (Beethoven)
50. March of the Toy Soldiers from ?The Nutcracker? (Tchaikovsky)
51. Prelude from ?Te Deum? (Charpentier)