A charming tale of a young girl and her beloved nutcracker…what better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a piano duet collaboration of great accessible arrangements from The Nutcracker Ballet. Ideal for intermediate to late intermediate pianists, these enjoyable duets are as true to Tchaikovsky's orchestral score as possible, giving each pianist an equally important part wherever feasible. From the first notes of the lively Miniature Overture to the climactic close of Waltz of the Flowers, duet partners and their audiences will enjoy the colorful images conjured by this enduring masterpiece.

Completed in 1892, Tchaikovsky's entertaining masterpiece is one of the most popular pieces ever created for ballet. A perennial favorite in theaters and concert halls especially at Christmastime "The Nutcracker" vividly displays the composer's virtuosity in creating varied orchestral colors. Exhibiting immense "charm and novelty of instrumentation" ("Grove's Dictionary"), the work has delighted generations of listeners with such familiar favorites as the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy," "Trepak" (Russian Dance), "Arabian Dance," "Chinese Dance," and "Waltz of the Flowers." Now available to students, teachers, and musicians at a price considerably less than any comparable full score would cost, this high-quality reproduction of an authoritative edition will be welcomed by music lovers everywhere."

Faithful to the original score, this delightful arrangement by Sergey Taneyev and the composer himself renders the entire ballet in a style both idiomatic to the piano and specially designed to be relatively easy to play.

A charming tale of a young girl and her beloved nutcracker . . . what better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a piano duet collaboration of great accessible arrangements from The Nutcracker Ballet. Ideal for intermediate to late intermediate pianists, these enjoyable duets are as true to Tchaikovsky's orchestral score as possible, giving each pianist an equally important part wherever feasible. From the first notes of the lively Miniature Overture to the climactic close of Waltz of the Flowers, duet partners and their audiences will enjoy the colorful images conjured by this enduring masterpiece.

Felix Mendelssohn's Allegro brillant, Op. 92, for one piano, four hands, was written in 1841 and dedicated to Clara Schumann. The expressive Andante theme alternates between the Secondo and Primo, segueing into the virtuosic Allegro assai vivace movement with a rush of scales. All fingering, metronome marks, and notational omissions have been supplemented by the editors. Allegro brillant is considered one of the most challenging pieces in the entire piano duet repertoire.

Each volume includes eight movements chosen and arranged for piano solo or 1 piano/4 hands by Tchaikovsky himself in 1891, adapted from his orchestral ballet. To assist pianists in creating a memorable performance, editorial notes are offered by Dr. Hinson and the story of The Nutcracker is provided as an introduction.