Pièces mélodiques Op. 149 n°09

About this work

The G-major Allegretto in 6/8 begins with a rounded motif, connected in small groups, which both pianists carry above a very clear bass. Chords and repeated notes add points of emphasis, but the motion remains in two broad pulses. Its character depends on that lightness: counting every quaver would immediately make the phrase laborious.

Two repeated sections multiply piano-forte changes and shifts of register. Primo sometimes extends the line while Secondo punctuates it, then the parts draw closer in more compact chords. The ending prepares a rallentando and descends to pianissimo. This release is convincing only if the pulse has been stable beforehand; otherwise it sounds merely like a loss of energy.

Practise with two beats per bar and align the first note of every slurred group. Inner accents should colour the phrase without creating a third pulse. Secondo can rehearse the bass and chords alone to retain their lightness once Primo adds the line. For the final rallentando, agree on the length of the last measures and on the point where the slowing actually begins. Pianissimo requires less weight, not shortened notes.

What the document containsScore: The 2-page PDF presents the Secondo and Primo parts separately for piano duet. It retains the fingering, dynamics and repeats. A MIDI file lets you hear both players together.Alberto Simões’s LilyPond engraving comes from the Mutopia Project. It is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence, which requires attribution and sharing under the same terms. The PDF includes a link to LesPartitions.info.