Mendelssohn Op. 38, No. 6 "Duet" Dedicated to My Sister Jenifer

Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words (Opus 38) is one of his most popular works for piano. Number 6, "Duet" or "Duetto" is arguably one of his most beautiful compositions. It is a love song between two voices accompanied by a moving bass and quiet hand. Each voice has it's turn for solo expression and then they both intertwine for a most impressive climax before coming to a distinct and gorgeous conclusion. You can read my additional commentary on this piece by visting this download page for the selection on my Lisztonian website.

This recording is dedicated to my oldest sister, Jenifer (pay careful attention to the one-'n' spelling!). Jenifer is the oldest of five children and has always been a leader and guide to the rest of us.

Growing up, Jenifer was a great inspiration to me. I remember sitting on her bed night after night as she would do homework at her desk, listening to me chatter about unimportant things. This became quite the routine for the two of us. I'm not sure why she put up with it for so long, considering I was always slowing down her ability to get her schoolwork done - but she was always patient and loving towards me.

Jenifer always brings laughter and joy to all situations, no matter how difficult or hard it may be. She also takes the time to share other's burdens and make everybody feel important. I can always look to Jenifer to provide a good outlook on life, to uplift, and to encourage.

I am dedicating this recording to Jenifer for several reasons. She was the first to introduce me to this composition several years ago. She brought me a copy of it one day and mentioned that she thought I would like it. I played through it several times, and again maybe once or twice over the span of the next several years. I always considered it a beautiful piece of music. However, it wasn't until just a month or two ago that I "fell in love" with the piece. I pulled it out and decided it was time to invest more study into it and so I got out my trusty red and gray pencils and began reading through the score while marking the things I noticed. As I did this, I couldn't help but think of my sister and the wonderful influence she has been in my life. So it is with great love and sincerity that I dedicate the recording of Mendelssohn's popular "Duet" to my sister, Jenifer.

To listen to this recording you may use the embedded media player below. You may also subsribe to my iTunes podcast (free) and be updated whenever I release a new recording. You may also visit this page of my Lisztonian website to download the recording as either an MP3 or WMA file - this will provide a better playback experience. Thank you for your support and for enjoying my music.