SUITE I / SUITE II for Piano 4 Hands（1982）

Each of these two suites is an arrangement for piano duet of five of sixteen hitherto unpublished pieces I originally composed for piano solo in the summer of 1985 and the autumn of 1982 in response to a commission for pieces for piano duet aimed at young people.
Each suite consists of individual pieces with a distinctive character of their own. It might have been better if I’d given each piece a descriptive title，but I’d hope that each person who plays or listens to the pieces could use their imagination to conjure up their own
titles. If these pieces are ever to be played in public，I’d be quite happy for the performers to attach their own titles to them in the programme notes. Moreover，performers are free to create their own suites combining any of the ten pieces in these two sets in any order and with any titles that occur to them.
The enjoyment of the piano duet medium arises from the clash and cooperation between the respective individualities of the two players in the music-making process，resulting in the emergence of a single piece of music. Piano duet performance on a single piano makes it possible for each player to sense clearly the ‘breathing’ of their partner，and it’s the coordination that results from the communication between the players that is one of the pleasures unique to the piano duet combination.