The success story of Diabelli's 'Melodic Exercises' Op. 149 for piano duet has lasted now for almost 200 years. They are beautiful melodies covering a range of only five tones, perfectly suitable for beginners, with refined and brilliantly designed accompanying settings in the Secondo part. To this day, the pieces are very popular among pupils, teachers and music lovers. Diabelli, born in 1781, was not only a respected piano teacher and composer in Vienna, but also a busy music publisher and friend of Ludwig van Beethoven who jokingly called him 'my diabolus' from time to time. Sometimes he sent themes composed by himself to the then famous composers, asking them to write and return to him some variations on these themes. This led to the creation of the famous Diabelli Variations by Beethoven, a demanding piano work which is performed in the concert halls all over the world still today.
Hopefully, Mr Diabelli .would not mind some of his wonderful five-tone melodies .being transported into the world of swing, samba and other forms of expression, as has been .done .in this volume. Apart from some arranged melodies from Opus 149, this volume also contains a few newly arranged pieces, all of them inspired by Diabelli's idea to make music with five fingers as varied as possible. The .original arrangement of the keys has been maintained. New .inspiration for piano lessons and four-handed piano playing!

Songs and Dances of Atlantis for Piano Duet (Book 2)

Twenty elementary to intermediate piano duets - four hands on one piano.
The legend of Atlantis is one of the oldest and most enduring mysteries which remain in popular culture to this day. It has captivated the imaginations of people for centuries.
Songs and Dances of Atlantis (Book 2) follows on the first book and is a collection of ten fairly easy to intermediate level piano duets which celebrate this famous legend.
These duets would be ideal for any piano recital event especially in schools or colleges. They could be useful in the piano lesson for both sight-reading exercises and ensemble practice. Of course, ensemble playing is an essential element of musical development, though most piano students rarely get the opportunity to make music with others. Ensemble playing encourages the performers to listen to each other as well as themselves and it encourages them to ?keep together? rhythmically. Perhaps most importantly, it enables students to share musical decisions and work towards a common musical goal. Apart from that, playing duets can be great fun and can add an extra dimension to the piano lessons.
Most of the pieces contain short passages that offer opportunities for improvisation in the Primo part though rhythmic and harmonic guidelines are provided for those who require them. The Primo and Secondo parts are traditionally printed on separate sheets and the melodic material is shared between both parts. Book 2 contains the following titles: (1) Song from the Western Hills, (2) Twilight Dance, (3) Shepherd Song from Zanakh, (4) Circle Dance of the Elders, (5) Dance to the New Moon, (6) Midnight Dance from Khortakh, (7) Dance to the Air Spirits, (8) Zaronian Whirling Dance, (9) Slow Dance from the High Hills and (10)Village Dance from Kratah. The audio sample contains numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 6,7 and 10.

Songs and Dances of Atlantis for Piano Duet (Book 1)
Twenty elementary to intermediate piano duets - four hands on one piano.

The legend of Atlantis is one of the oldest and most enduring mysteries which remain in popular culture to this day. It has captivated the imaginations of people for centuries. Songs and Dances of Atlantis (Book 1) is a collection of ten easy to moderate piano duets which celebrate this famous legend.
These duets would be ideal for any piano recital event especially in schools or colleges. They could be useful in the piano lesson for both sight-reading exercises and ensemble practice. Of course, ensemble playing is an essential element of musical development, though most piano students rarely get the opportunity to make music with others. Ensemble playing encourages the performers to listen to each other as well as themselves and it encourages them to ?keep together? rhythmically. Perhaps most importantly, it enables students to share musical decisions and work towards a common musical goal. Apart from that, playing duets can be great fun and can add an extra dimension to the piano lessons.
Most of the pieces contain short passages that offer opportunities for improvisation in the Primo part though rhythmic and harmonic guidelines are provided for those who require them. The Primo and Secondo parts are traditionally printed on separate sheets and the melodic material is shared between both parts. Book 2 contains a few easy pieces but pushes the boundaries a bit further and requires rather more advanced technical skills.
Book 1 contains the following pieces: (1) Song from the Northern Forest, (2) Ancient Song from Crane River, (3) Hymn to the Golden Sky, (4) Lullaby of the Sea Gypsies, (5) Song from Dragon Island, (6) Dance to the Temple Spirits, (7) Evening Song from the Cloud Lakes, (8) Round Dance from Ikrania (9) Slow Dance from the Eastern Hills and (10) Children?s Dance to the Sun. The audio demo features numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10.