Wieniawski “Alla Saltarella” arranged for 2 violins
To download this arrangement as a PDF, scroll down to just above the video…
During this time of trouble, hordes of unaccompanied pieces for every instrument have crawled out from under their hiding places as musicians have scrambled to find something, anything, to play by themselves! Even etudes have enjoyed a renaissance, something that warms my heart.
So it may seem strange to take an already unaccompanied set of pieces, Wienawski’s L’École moderne, Op. 10, and arrange one of them for more than one player. But when that “other player” is my wife and Stand Partner for Life Akiko Tarumoto, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
But rather than creating an accompaniment part from scratch, I “borrowed” from work already done by Fritz Kreisler, who composed a piano part for the piece title “Alla Saltarella”. I turned the piano part into another violin part (chock full of double stops, of course). In our performance below, we switched parts every now and then so that Akiko and I could each enjoy star turns.
This was also (in its original form) the sixth and final “challenge piece” for last summer’s Violympic Games, selected by James Ehnes. So it will sound very familiar to any of you Violympians!
If you’d like to download my arrangement as a free PDF, simply complete the form below:
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43 thoughts on “Wieniawski “Alla Saltarella” arranged for 2 violins”
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Thank you!
Wonderful arrangement for two violins! Thank you for sharing.
Brings tears to my eyes with joy in my heart! Thank you
Perfectly lovely! What a treat. However Nathan, I think you gave your wife the hard part LOL.
Just what I was thinking, lol…! ????
Bravo to you both… that was really a treat! So exciting to see and hear you too (and can I dare say “inspiring”?!?
WONDERFUL!
Excellent! Thank you.
Love it and it conjures up good memories of last summer~
Many thanks Nathan and Akiko
What a wonderful rendition and dare I say it is a marriage made in heaven with 2 violins!
Magnificent.
Thanks so much.
Bravi tutti to you both!
Beautiful!
So generous of you to share this with us!
Thank you
So fun! Thank you, Nathan and Akiko! ????????????
Sweet! You two blend wonderfully.
Love this!!! What an absolute delight!
Thanks so very much! This was totally amazing!
Hi Nathan, Akiko,
Thank you so much for posting this.
Your violin playing is a true delight to watch and listen to.
Thank you.
James Hutton
Thanks, I enjoyed your performance very much
A smile at the end from both of you would have topped it off 😉
When I follow the sheet music and not watch the video I couldn’t tell who is playing which part when.
Is Akiko’s instrument old like yours, Nate? Who made it?
The instrument Akiko plays here is by Vincenzo Postiglione, from 1881. And I know, I think we were relieved to have made it and forgot to smile at the end!
Beautiful sound – and playing! Postiglione was for long regarded the best violin maker from Naples using the Guarneri and Strad templates. And the colour of Akiko’s violin’s varnish has his signature reddish tone. Very nice! Thanks, Nate for responding.
Can’t wait to see your next duo recording (how about some Charles Dancla?!!)
Absolutely exquisite!
bravi!
Simply put, that was great!
Damn!
Beautiful! Unreal! Thank you!
Beautiful, wonderful, amazing and more, and more…
Thank you!
Beautiful. Thanks Nathan and Akiko.
So inspiring to watch their playing. Their playing is so calm and gentle
during such a technically difficult piece!
Bravo! Do more.
Very nice, bravi! Good job.
However, I would pay attention to the flexibility of the right arm by both violinists (the wrist could have been more flexible by (ALL and every) string crossings). And a little bit of phrasing would not harm this music too…
Thank you.
Greetings from Moscow Conservatory
Thank you maestro! Your comment reminds me of my teacher from Leningrad Philharmonic. I’d not have noticed that myself (Abram died around 2000) since … well, they hit the notes so well! But personally I enjoy the perfectionism of this comment, why I loved my Russian teacher Abram so much!
Beautiful music played by beautiful professionals. I’ve learnt alot from your videos and wish you could have been my teacher from the beginning. More of this would be very welcome and much appreciated
Bravo, Akiko and Nathan!
Your stellar performance of this piece is breathtaking!
Please consider making more of these duo videos.
Let us know when new duo performances are available.
I enjoyed this one very much, and I would enjoy and cherish more of them!
Wonderful! Thanks to you both for sharing your skill and beautiful music.
Thank you so much for sharing one of wonderful arrangement and beautiful piece.
Thank you for sharing your arrengement. I’ve enjoyed very much. It was one of my favorites. Now, I will can play it with my daughter. Or may be she has other plans… We’ll see…
Thank you again! You are great!
Fantastic as Always . Thank you for sharing.
Warm Regards
Great arrangement,great playing,great couple……what more can one say or wish for!Congratulations & warm greetings from South Africa! ????
Thank you for the arrengement!!
Wow! Thank you! I hated this one when I played it some many years. Now, I could play it with a different feeling.
If I can receive scores for free, I’ll be very glad and thankful)