Thank you very much!! J. P. Maintz

Both are!!🙏

Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt

because... they don't own a 5 string cello??

I dont really get the point of your question. 5 String cellos are used in Baroque music, but as the music "evolves" with the centuries the use of four strings as the "gap" between the strings grow as the notes get higuer because the cello looked up to the violin technique and the halls grew bigger and so on. Keep in mind this is an enormous simplification.

You are absolutely right!

Dear Thomas Demenga, we have the greatest respect for you as a cellist and composer and we are very sorry that you feel offended by our performance of the Paganini-Moses-Variations for two cellos. However, we plead not guilty in this case. As a matter of fact, 30 years ago, in our student times, we were highly inspired when listening to the Paganini on your wonderful cello-duo-CD with your brother Patrick. So when we were asked to play a virtuoso piece at a student concert of a masterclass of our teacher Geringas, we took the cello/piano music of the Paganini we had at hand (it was IMC, edited by Pierre Fournier), and just tried to adapt the piano part for cello. It is obvious that with this kind of rather simply structured material (one solo line, one accompanying line, playing the harmonies in different sorts of Arpeggios), one comes to at least quite similar sounding solutions. Nevertheless, there are differences in your version and ours: according to the booklet text of your CD, you added a third cello in your recording. Also it seems that we switch the solo between us more often than you did. I (JP) saw the printed music of your version for the first time in September 2018, after having performed ours for about 30 years. It was at the Kronberg Academy, where I gave a masterclass, and two students played the piece for me. It was interesting for me to see the similiarities, but also some differences in treatment of the arpeggios. One other example may illustrate our point of view: I`m just learning Bach Goldberg Variations, string trio version. Looking for the music I found out that there are at least three different versions, that, at the end of the day, will sound more or less the same. I`m quite sure that Dmitri Sitkovetsky was the first one to arrange the piece for string trio. But would he sue anyone, who plays another version, for stealing his arrangement? I hope you can agree with us so that we all can continue enjoying this wonderful piece, no matter on how many cellos at one time! Best regards, Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Schmidt

​@@Cellotown Grote geesten denken gelijk/Les grands esprits se rencontrent. Herzliche Glückwünsche zu Euren Studenten, die das Finale des Königin Elizabeth erreicht haben!

Hello, congratulations on your magnificent arrangement, I would like to have it, how do I get this arrangement of yours? where I can buy? thanks

@Thomas