Unequal twins

[Jo498]

There are a lot of pieces either published as a pair or composed/published in close proximity and often regarded as (contrasting) pairs. Sometimes this might be only created by reception later Although I'd rather exclude "pairs" that seem rather accidental, e.g. St. John and St. Matthew Passions (there were more than these two and they were not composed as a pair) but I'll be liberal.

Sometimes both twins are justly famous, often one twin seems to clearly outshine the other one.

Which one do you prefer and what other pairs can you think of?

Bach:
Italian concerto and French Ouverture b minor

Haydn:
Creation and Seasons (a borderline case according to my own criteria)

Mozart:
piano quartet g minor and E flat major
string quintet C major and g minor

Beethoven:
piano sonatas op.14 1 vs. 2
violin sonatas op.23 vs. op. 24 "Spring"
symphony #5 vs. symphony #6 pastoral
trios op.70 1 vs. 2

Schubert:
Piano trio in Bflat D 898 and Eflat D 929

Brahms
(he wrote 2 of so many subgenres, although not always as pairs, feel free to pick one of two even if they are rather distant siblings than twins)
string quartets op.51 1 vs 2
string quintets 1 vs 2

etc

(I'll put in which ones are my favorites in a later reply)

[JBS]

In the category of odd pairings there's Beethoven Opus 81
81a is the "Les Adieux" sonata.
81b is the Sextet for Horns and Strings
Two very different works and one of them far more famous than the other.


A pairing of similar but different works
Schönberg's Chamber Symphonies
Cherubini's Requiems
Shostakovich wrote two concertos each for violin, cello, and piano. Certainly for the first two instruments, possibly the piano as well, the first concerto is the better known work.

[Jo498]

In the category of odd pairings there's Beethoven Opus 81
81a is the "Les Adieux" sonata.
81b is the Sextet for Horns and Strings

I would not count such a case that seems a purely editorial artifact. I am not sure but I think the number 81 was used twice by publishers so later on a/b was added. It almost certainly was not Beethoven's decision to make a pair of them.

A pairing of similar but different works
Schönberg's Chamber Symphonies
Cherubini's Requiems
Shostakovich wrote two concertos each for violin, cello, and piano. Certainly for the first two instruments, possibly the piano as well, the first concerto is the better known work.

These are all great examples; I don't know the Schoenberg and Cherubini well enough to have a preference. I share the common preference for the first of each DSCH concertos although it's not strong in the case of the cello and I have to admit that I hardly know the 2nd violin concerto which is of course again an effect of the preference and more recordings of the  first concerto.

[André Le Nôtre]

Debussy - Deux Arabesques

I love the first one, and played it for many years.

The second one drives me up the wall, and is likely my least favorite of his compositions.

[Olias]

Dvorak's String Quartet 12 and String Quintet 3 (both nicknamed "American")  Love both of these works very much.

Also, during Beethoven's lifetime, his 7th Symphony was considered to be the "companion" piece to "Wellington's Victory".  Ironic as they are arguably Beethoven's best and worst compositions.