String & Piano Duets

Hensel’s violin & cello works

Fanny Hensel wrote three chamber duets that have survived in her manuscripts: one for violin & piano and two for cello & piano. With this release, HenselPushers achieves another milestone: all of Hensel’s extant string chamber music works are now available as free PDFs online.

Adagio (H72) is a refined and beautiful miniature for violin and piano Fanny wrote in 1823 at age 17. This was only the second piece of chamber music she completed, after her piano quartet of 1822. Hensel wrote one other violin & piano duet nearly two decades later, but the manuscript was lost and has not resurfaced.

In 1829, around the time of her wedding to Wilhelm Hensel, Fanny wrote two duets for cello and piano: Sonata o Fantasia (H238) and Capriccio (H247). Each of these pieces are significantly larger in scope than the Adagio for violin, and are dedicated to Fanny’s youngest sibling, Paul, who was a talented amateur cellist.

Each file in this collection includes a full score, a standard part, and an annotated part with suggested bowings and fingerings for the string instrument. Thank you to violinist James Woodrow and cellist Miranda Wilson for your collaboration and expertise in creating these editions!

Update - July 2023: This collection has been transcribed into braille by brailleorch.org! Braille scores are linked on the pages for each piece below: