Couple Duos
November 11, 2024
By Nicky Swett
From the passionate partnership of Clara and Robert Schumann to legendary two-piano ensemble Gold and Fizdale, romantic relationships have often led to great chamber music collaborations. Paul Dean wrote his Suite for Clarinet and Cello, which will be heard on this Sonic Spectrum concert, to play together with Trish Dean, his wife. On this playlist, we find an assortment of 20th- and 21st-century duets written for couples. Some, like songs Benjamin Britten composed to perform with his life partner Peter Pears, are by one of the pair. Others, including numbers commissioned by CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han, are by third parties who write with the capacities of a particular couple in mind.
Cellist, writer, and music researcher Nicky Swett is a program annotator and editorial contributor at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
