Duet in C, WoO. 27, No. 1

Duet in C, WoO. 27, No. 1

Ludwig van Beethoven, (1770-1827)

Saxophone Duet for Any Two Saxophones

Duet in C, WoO. 27, No. 1 by Beethoven, arranged for any two saxophones is the first of a set of three duets originally written for clarinet and bassoon. The duet is in three movements: I. Allegro commodo, II. Larghetto sostenuto, III. Allegretto. This arrangement is intended for Alto and Baritone Saxes but for flexibility, 1st part for Soprano and 2nd part for Tenor are included as well .

Experts disagree as to whether the 3 Duets for Clarinet and Bassoon were actually composed by Beethoven. They also disagree about when and where they were published. That’s nice, let them argue. What musicians agree on is that these duets are tremendous fun to play. Their cheerful character, clever melodic and harmonic invention, and moderate difficulty have made them favorites of amateur wind players since they were written.

Duet In F, WoO. 27, No. 2 is available here.
Duet in B flat, WoO. 27, No. 3 is available here.
The set of all three duets is available here – you save 30% when you buy the complete set.

• The range for each saxophone part is shown below.
• Audio and score excerpts are available above.
• Registered users can download a complete sample score and full length audio file of Duet in C, WoO. 27, No. 1 on the ‘Samples’ tab.