14 Studies in Duet Form for Solo Flute or Flute Duet [Playing score(s)]

As a teacher, I am always on the lookout for new and engaging materials for students, particularly at the intermediate/advanced level. It is rare to find something that immediately feels usable and versatile, which becomes a staple of many a lesson, and even rarer to find something that not only delights and informs my students but becomes something I also find I want to pick up and explore as a player. I have, however, found all of these aspects, and more, in this new publication by well-established composer and performed James Rae.

There are so many things I want to shout about with this that it's difficult to know where to start, but perhaps that should be with the format of the book being, as the title states, studies in duet form. It would be easy to think that by being both studies and duets the pieces perhaps fulfil neither objective very well, but that is far from the case. The studies themselves are short, effective standalone pieces, arranged in all major and minor keys up to 3 sharps and flats with each written in a distinctive style. These range widely from the Bachian Scherzo in A minor to the four-on-the-floor style Organic Rock, and even touch upon the video game world in Flights of Fantasy (think classic Final Fantasy and Zelda soundtracks). Each is extremely well thought through, with appealing melodic content and which, as any good study should, offers technical challenges and a firm theoretical basis to be explored. It is easy to see how the material itself is developed throughout each study as the melodies expand and evolve, offering their greatest challenges in their latter halves which provide a great compositional masterclass as well. The optional second parts are a little more straightforward by are not simply an accompaniment to the studies; they also have been extremely well thought through, with countermelodies and unison and octave passages providing much to explore and work on, which is unusual to find in more conventional duets of this length. I have also found that the optional second parts are very sight-readable for intermediate students, which provides a great starting point in lessons and quite often, inspired by hearing the main study part, they are keen to take that away to work on as more of a challenge. I've also had students who are reluctant to perform in public say that they would be willing to share these, encouraged no doubt by the security of playing duets which are short, distinctive and very appealing.

This book is now never far from my music stand or teaching bag and I'm sure that will be true for a long time to come. I hope it inspires other composers and publishers to explore the format of studies in duet form as this collection proves that it certainly can be a most useful and pleasing one indeed.