Duet

A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo section rather than performing simultaneously. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is a "piano duet" or "piano four hands". A piece for two pianists performing together on separate pianos is a "piano duo". "Duet" is also used as a verb for the act of performing a musical duet, or colloquially as a noun to refer to the performers of a duet. A musical ensemble with more than two solo instruments or voices is called a trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet, etc. When Mozart was young, he and his sister Marianne played a duet of his composition at a London concert in 1765. The four-hand, described as a duet, was in many of his compositions which included five sonatas; a set of variations, two performers and one instrument, and a sonata for two pianos. The first published sonata or duet was in 1777. In Renaissance music, a duet specifically intended as a teaching tool, to be performed by teacher and student, was called a bicinium (see Étude). Duets have always been a part of the structure of operas. Early 16th-century operas such as L'Orfeo and L'incoronazione di Poppea involve duets throughout the performance. In 17th-century Italy duets were often used in comic scenes within serious operas. In Baroque France the duet was popular in tragedies, such as songs of vengeance and confrontation. The love duet was characterized by singing in close harmonies of 3rds and 6ths, symbolizing unity after conflict. La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini The Puritans of Vincenzo Bellini Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi Aida of Giuseppe Verdi Mefistofele of Arrigo Boito Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini L'amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, duets have been common in the popular music of their respective eras.