Better to Play with Others than Play By Yourself?

Well I suppose in the case of piano duet music, that’s a must.  Though hats off to those individuals who have posted videos on Instagram and Rednote of themselves playing both parts of certain duets.  It’s a good party trick!

And while you are digesting that, I’m proud and delighted to announce a new volume of four hand works, published by the indefatigable JCLINK.  You can get it here: https://www.jclinkmusic.com/product/digital-sheet-music-four-moods.  We’ve gone digital for this one.  There’s a recording out there somewhere – at the time of writing I could find it on youtube music (which I can access from behind the Great Firewall) and on Spotify (which I can’t access, so haven’t tested that).  For some reason, it doesn’t show up on Apple Music (at least not on my app).  Big shout out to my old friend Wang Qianwei who did the artwork for the cover (yes, that’s his handwriting).  I think he went through more than four moods to manage it.  It’s a gorgeous canvas. 

These duets are less technically demanding than the Memories of Childhood set. 

And there’s some news about the Memories of Childhood set too: the Macau Piano Competition (about to celebrate its 15th year in February 2026) has created a Nicholas Michael Smith piano duet prize.  So its now not just better to play with others than play with yourself, its better to play for others too! Duettists of any age can compete for a RMB2000 prize by playing any of the duets from the Memories of Childhood book well enough to persuade the international jury they deserve it.  What’s not to like?  Sea, sunshine, great food and music! 

Link for that one? https://www.sky-culture.com.