Rodion Konstantinowitsch Schtschedrin

Duets

You can even play a duet on a solo instrument! In his piece! In notes spread across two systems the violin displays its characteristic contrasting qualities. The instrument contradicts itself: staccato notes cut in abruptly within a legato line, quiet phrases are interrupted by an expressive fortissimo, while a stubbornly contemporary answering voice is set against Bach's formal language. Shchedrin succeeds in finding a remarkably powerful way of reminding every solo violinist that their instrument is inhabited by at least two different souls.