Duo Caron

Duo Caron is a classical music group who transcribe and perform orchestral works for various piano formations.

History

Born in Rimouski, Quebec,^[1] sibling pianists Josee and Martin Caron^[2] have lived in Montreal for several years. They started collaborating under the name Duo Caron in 1990.

In 1994, because of their transcriptions, the duo received an internship grant from Quebec-Wallonia-Brussels Agency for Youth (AQWBJ),^[3] for a promotional tour in Belgium, met with rave reviews.

In 2012, after the recording of Mendelssohn, Martin Caron left the group to focus exclusively on composition and teaching^{[citation needed]}.

Since 2020, the duo has consisted of Carmen Picard and Josee Caron. They released an album in 2023, met with positive reviews.^[4]

Premieres

Alan Belkin's Petite Suite for two pianos, commissioned by the Duo Caron,^[5][6] was premiered by Duo Caron in Montreal's Claude-Champagne Concert Hall.

In 1998, the Quebec International Duo-Piano Festival commissioned for Martin Caron a George Gershwin transcription for two pianos, eight hands, "Strike up the Band", premiered at the Gala Concert, pour terminer l'événement de façon spectaculaire,^[7]

Released in 2009, the recording British Music for Piano Four Hands^[8] includes two new arrangements by Martin Caron of Paul McCartney's works, which L'Avantage positively reviewed.^[9]

Their recordings have been broadcast on CBC, SRC, "Radio Classique" CJPX,^[10] CKUA Radio Network Edmonton,^[11] and RTBF Radio "Musiq'3" Belgium.^[12]

Transcriptions by Josee Caron

For Piano Duet

• Gustav Holst (1874-1934): The Planets opus 32, Suite for large Orchestra
  • I. Mars, the Bringer of War
  • IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity

Transcriptions by Martin Caron

For Two Pianos‚ Four Hands

• Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847): Symphony No 4 in A major Italian
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881): Night on Bald Mountain‚ symphonic poem
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951): Verklärte Nacht op. 4 for string sextet ("Transfigured Night")
• Richard Strauss (1864–1949):
  • Don Juan op, 20‚ symphonic poem
  • Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, symphonic poem
  • Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893): Symphony No. 4 in F minor‚ op. 36
• Richard Wagner (1813–1883): Overture from the opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

For Piano Duet

• Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934): Introduction and Allegro for Strings Op. 47
• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958): Overture from the opera The Wasps

For Four Pianos‚ Eight Pianists

• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943): Isle of the Dead op. 29‚ symphonic poem
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893): Symphony No. 4 in F minor‚ op. 36

For Two Pianos‚ Four Pianists

• George Gershwin (1898–1937): "Strike up the Band"

Arrangements by Martin Caron

For Piano Duet

• Paul McCartney (1942- ?):
  • A Leaf for piano solo
  • Appaloosa-Meditation‚ orchestral suite

Discography

• 1992 - Transcriptions for Two Pianos Four Hands (Société Nouvelle d'Enregistrement,^[13] SNE-582-CD)
• 1995 - Tchaikovsky for Four Hands (ATMA Classique, ACD 2-2102)
• 2009 - British Music for Piano Four Hands (XXI-21 Productions Inc.,^[14][15] XXI-CD 2 1603)
• 2012 - Mendelssohn‚ Transcriptions for 4 hands (Société Métropolitaine du Disque Inc./Espace 21,^[14] SMD 225-1)
• 2023 - Modern Four-Hand Suites (Société Métropolitaine du Disque Inc./Espace 21,^[14] SMD 312-1)

Footnotes

Citations

1. ^ Music in Rimouski, entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia / The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
2. ^ Jean-Pierre Thiollet, « 88 notes pour piano solo, Solo de duo », Neva Editions, 2015, p.98. ISBN 978-2-3505-5192-0
3. ^ AQWBJ Duo Caron (French language). Retrieved March 8, 2024.
4. ^ « Review | Duo Caron: Suites modernes pour quatre mains (Espace 21, 2023) » Review from The Music Scene, April-May 2, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
5. ^ Nina Veronica Schumann, Two-piano performance: its classification, history, and challenges, with a compilation of a detailed catalogue of works , In two volumes , Thesis - Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town, March 2005, (346 p.), p.147. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
6. ^ Alan Belkin's Worklist
7. ^ « Festival international de Duo-Piano du Québec » Article from Voir, August 5, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
8. ^ « British Music for Piano, Four Hands - Duo Caron » entry in AllMusic.
9. ^ « Josée et Martin Caron jouent McCartney » Review from L'Avantage online, October 13, 2009, Archived 2015-04-28 at archive.today
10. ^ "Radio-Classique Montréal 99,5 cjpx-fm - Radio-Classique Québec 92,7 cjsq-fm". www.radioclassique.ca. Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
11. ^ "Support CKUA Radio". CKUA. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
12. ^ "Musiq3 - La radio de la musique classique, des concerts, de l'opéra et du jazz - RTBF Actus" (in French). RTBF. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
13. ^ "Société nouvelle d'enregistrement". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
14. ^ "Home - XXI-21.com". www.xxi-21.com. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
15. ^ "XXI-21 Productions Inc. Discography". Discogs. Retrieved 2025-10-21.

References

• Transcriptions - Josée et Martin Caron, pianos from Arnold Schönberg Center
• [https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/search?databaseList=638%2C283&queryString=transcriptions+pianos+caron&clusterResults=true#/oclc/277155499|Transcriptions : pour deux pianos quatre mains = for two pianos four hands.] entry in McGill University Library.
• Transcriptions pour deux pianos, quatre mains entry in BAnQ Catalogue Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• Transcriptions : pour deux pianos quatre mains = for two pianos four hands entry in LAC's Library Catalogue Library and Archives Canada.
• Tchaïkovsky 4 mains = Tchaïkovsky 4 hands entry in University of Maryland Libraries.
• Tchaïkovsky 4 mains = Tchaïkovsky 4 hands entry in University of Alberta Library.
• [https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/424415534Tchaïkovsky 4 mains= hands] entry in WorldCat, Retrieved March 15, 2012.
• Tchaïkovski, 4 mains = 4 hands entry in BAnQ Catalogue Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• [https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/search?queryString=au%3D%22Duo%20Caron.%22&databaseList=283,638#/oclc/49146898|Tchaïkovski, 4 mains 4 hands] entry in McGill University Library.
• British music for piano four hands entry in University of Maryland Libraries.
• British Music for Piano 4 Hands entry in Apple Music. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
• British music for piano four hands entry in BAnQ Catalogue Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/7463876?counter=1|British music for piano four hands] entry in Columbia University Libraries (CLIO).
• British music for piano four hands / McCartney, Vaughan Williams, Walton, Elgar. entry in University of Pennsylvania (PennLibrairies).
• Mendelssohn - Transcriptions pour 4 mains = Transcriptions for 4 hands entry in BAnQ Catalogue Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• Mendelssohn Transcriptions pour 4 mains Transcriptions for 4 hands entry in University of Maryland Libraries.
• Felix Mendelssohn: Transcriptions pour 4 Mains. entry in AllMusic.
• Suites modernes pour quatre mains - Modern Four-Hand Suites entry in University of Maryland Libraries.
• Suites modernes pour quatre mains - Modern Four-Hand Suites entry in BAnQ Catalogue Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• Suites modernes pour quatre mains - Modern Four-Hand Suites entry in LAC's Library Catalogue Library and Archives Canada.

External links

• L'Art du duo de piano from The Music Scene by Julie Berardino (French Language), Vol. 16 no 8, p. 26. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
• Our artists through the years (French language) Article from Jeunesses Musicale Canada Archived 2013-06-28 at archive.today. Retrieved September 5, 2024.