Börner, Klaus. Handbuch der Klavierliteratur zu vier Händen. Mainz: Atlantis-Musikbuch-Verlag/Schott, 2005. An annotated bibliography of piano duet literature with composers and their works for the medium listed chronologically. Covers mostly European literature with less attention given to American composers. Does not comprehensively address the pedagogical/didactic literature. Provides valuable commentary.
Chang, Frederick Ming, and Albert Faurot. Team Piano Repertoire: A Manual of Music for Multiple Players at One or More Pianos. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1976. List of four-hand music (pp. 3–37), with descriptive and critical annotations.
Eberler, Max Wilhelm. “Studien zur Entwicidung der Setzart für Klavier zu vier Händen von den Anfängen bis zu Franz Schubert.” Ph.D. diss., University of Munich, 1922 (U23.9561). A study of the development of four-hand music, its setting, and its literature, with many musical examples; covers the period from the mid-eighteenth century to ca. 1815. The second section contains lists of original duets and four-hand arrangements of other works.
Ferguson, Howard, ed. Style and Interpretation, vols. 5 and 6. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. In addition to the helpful interpretive suggestions accompanying the pieces in these two collections, the preface and introduction are of exceptional interest for their useful and practical discussions of the techniques and mechanics of duet performance. Also contains chronological list of duets.
Friskin, James, and Irwin Freundlich. Music for the Piano: A Handbook of Concert and Teaching Material from 1580 to 1952. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1954; reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1973. Useful section on the piano four hand repertoire with terse critical evaluations of the music.
Ganze, Karl, and Ludwig Kusche. Vierhändig. Munich: Heimeran, 1937; reprint, 1954. Attractive, entertaining, and practical introduction to the piano duet. The carefully annotated index of four-hand works is worth looking into, despite its unfortunate Nazi bias in the heavily German choice of composers and the conspicuous omission of Mendelssohn and Moscheles.
Georgii, Walter. Klaviermusik. Zürich-Freiburg: Atlantis, 1950. The brief discussions of the four-hand literature, while not comprehensive, are thorough.
Jensen, Kimberly Dreisbach. Weekley & Arganbright: A Renaissance of the Piano Duet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music, 2014. A biography of the notable duet team Weekley & Arganbright. Includes some historical perspectives on the piano duet literature, composers, and performance.
Kanwischer, Alfred. “Aspects of Performance Practices of Four-Hand One Piano Music Illustrated by Works Taken from the Period 1850–1900.” Document, DMA, Boston University, 1967. Contains an analysis of Debussy’s Petite suite and Dvořák’s Legends, and a selected list of four-hand music written between 1850 and 1900.
Lubin, Ernest. The Piano Duet: A Guide for Pianists. New York: Grossman, 1970. Attractive, practical introduction to four-hand literature and its performance. Written with great warmth, affection, and breadth of experience by a sensitive musician; includes critical studies of the major works with copious musical examples and helpful performance suggestions. A major work on the subject.
Miller, Hugh M. “The Earliest Keyboard Duets.” Musical Quarterly 29 (1943): 438. A discussion of the two Fancies of Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Carlton; both works are written out in full.
Müller-Blattau, Joseph. “Zur Geschichte und Stilistik des vierhändigen Klaviersatzes.” Jahrbuch der Musibibliothek Peters für 1940 47: 55–58. Leipzig: Peters, 1941. Analysis of the approaches of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert approaches to four-hand writing.
Newman, William S. The Sonata in the Classic Era. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1963; 2nd ed., New York: W. W. Norton, 1972.
Rowley, Alec. Four Hands—One Piano: A List of Works for Duet Players. London: Oxford University Press, 1940. One of the first English-language surveys of duet repertoire: general works, the “classics,” special lists of English and French compositions, graded lists of educational pieces, and études; many out-of-print items.
Ruthardt, Adolf. Wegweiser durch die Klavier-Literatur. 10th ed. Leipzig and Zürich: Gebrüder Hug, 1918–. Brief descriptions of works in graded lists. Good commentaries; best for instructional music, studies, and exercises. Good coverage of European music, mostly German but with some French and English listings.
Sonnedecker, Donald I. “Cultivation and Concepts of Duets for Four Hands One Keyboard, in the Eighteenth Century.” Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1953. A critical study of the duet from its early stages to 1800. Investigates the development of musical form, style, and harmonic idiom of the four-hand works of the Viennese, German, and French schools, and of English and American composers.
Townsend, Douglas. “The Piano Duet.” Piano Quarterly (Fall 1967): 15–18. Excellent study of the historical background of the rise and development of four-hand music, with brief lists of works.
Webb, John Elliott. “Compositional Features of Original Music for One Piano, Four Hands.” Ph.D. diss., Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, 1957. Analysis of the music and discussion of technical features including textures, sonorities, doublings, imitations, sequences, repetitions, integration of melodic material, rhythms, and ensemble problems of J. C. Bach, Sonata, Op. 18/5; Mozart, Sonata (F), K. 497; Beethoven, Sonata (D), Op. 6, Marches, Op. 45; Schubert, Fantasy (f), Op. 103; Mendelssohn, Allegro brillant; Schumann, Bilder aus Osten, Op. 66/4 and 6; 12 Pieces, Op. 85/9 and 12; Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 23, Waltzes, Op. 39; Debussy, Six épigraphes antiques; Poulenc, Sonata; Casella, Pupazzetti; Hindemith, Sonata; and Constant Lambert, Trois pièces nègre.
Weekley, Dallas, and Nancy Arganbright. The Piano Duet: A Learning Guide. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music, 1996. An excellent, concise introduction to the piano duet medium for both teachers and students. Includes musical examples by Louis Kohler, Anton Arensky, and W. A. Mozart as a means for experiencing the technical, musical, and logistical intricacies involved in playing piano duet literature.