Music and Time Annotation << Back Dmitry Shostakovich’s Piano Duets in the Context of the Development of the Genre in the Twentieth Century V.O. Petrov The genre of piano duet is rightfully considered one of the most popular in the musical art of the twentieth century. It is extremely common both in performing practice and in the composing environment. Among the famous authors who turn to him are C. Ives, J. Cage, I. Stravinsky, O. Messiaen, K. Stockhausen, D. Ligeti, P. Boulez, V. Ekimovsky. In the huge conglomerate of works created in the conditions of a piano duet, the works of D. Shostakovich are distinguished, which are directly related to the evolution of the genre under consideration. On the one hand, they embody the composer’s multiple tendencies towards innovations, on the other, they are an example of the author’s traditional attitude to the very idea of the existence of musical art. Using the example of D. Shostakovich’s duet works, the general aspirations of the piano duet genre for intragenre transformations characterizing the development of the genre in the twentieth century are considered. Keywords: music of the twentieth century, Dmitry Shostakovich, piano duet, interpretation of the genre, ensemble. Pp. 15-18.