The earliest examples of Duos for Violin and Violoncello, by Giovanni Platti (1697-1763) and Francesco Bonporti (1672-1749), date back to the baroque period. Later, the inventiveness of the early classical period produced an abundance of new works. Well-known examples are attributed to Carl Stamitz (1745-1801), Joseph Reicha (1752-1795), Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812) and Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831).
The genre flourished with the establishment of the concert scene supported by a nascent burgeois public. Composers such as Anton Kraft (1749-1812) and Heinrich Anton Hoffmann (1770-1842) wrote Duos of great virtuosity and outstanding quality. Today, their works are tracked down and rediscovered in libraries and musical estates all over the world.
Although the establishment of the symphonic form and the rapidly rising popularity of the string quartet precluded further development of the genre throughout much of the nineteenth century, many excellent works were written nevertheless. The retrieval and performance of these works is of particular importance to the Jansa Duo.
The tremendous success of Zoltán Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Violoncello in the nineteen-twenties ushered in a veritable revival of the form. Composers such as Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) were inspired to create works to be performed by the two cornerstone instruments of the string quartet ensemble.
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