Violin and viola duos of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
Date
1992
Authors
Edge, Martha Anne
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Abstract
Over the last few decades, much has been discovered about the repertoire which includes significant parts for the viola player. Thanks are due to various individuals who, during this century, have rediscovered and prepared in modern editions many important eighteenth and nineteenth-century works for solo viola. Twentieth-century composers, realizing the unique tonal qualities of the instrument, continue to add to the viola literature. In addition, the International Viola Gesellschaft accepted the responsibility to promote, research, collect and publish viola music, and to expand its mandate to cover areas concerning performers and the instrument itself. A viola archive offering an ever increasing repertoire has been established at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The official name of the archive is the Primrose International Viola Archive, in honor of violist William Primrose. Yet, despite the number of viola compositions that have been published, performed and recorded, relatively few of these works (concerti, sonatas) have entered the standard or popular concert repertoire for the violist. This can be seen especially in reference to the music of the eighteenth century.
When a music lover thinks of pieces composed for viola in the latter part of the eighteenth century, few may come to mind outside those for it as a middle range voice in the orchestral string section. Among these, Mozart's Symphonie concert ante, K. 364, represents the concerto genre. In chamber music, string quartets, such as the Mozart "Dissonant" (K. 465) or Joseph Haydn "Emperor" (Op. 76, no. 3), or the Mozart quintets (such as K. 515), with their rich, two-viola sonority, might also be considered. Other small chamber combinations, among them the Mozart Duos (K. 423 and 424), are less well-known. Apart from Mozart's and Haydn's contributions, the average concert goer would have difficulty naming composers who wrote for the viola.
Furthermore, one still encounters the degrading opinion that violists are in some way inferior to other string players. This stereotype has a historical foundation which can be traced to eighteenth-century criticism. Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773), for example, wrote of orchestral violists:
"The viola is commonly regarded as of little importance in the musical establishment. The reason may well be that it is often played by persons who are either still beginners in the ensemble or have no particular gifts with which to distinguish themselves on the violin, or that the instrument yields all too few advantages to its players, so that able people are not easily persuaded to take it up." (On Playing the Flute, 237).
Indeed, it has been typical in the past to start young players on the smaller violin as a compromise to avoid the large size of the viola. In recent years, however, teachers changed their attitude, and started to use violas of a smaller size for the beginning students; the result has been an earlier introduction to the unique technical problems of the instrument, and a visible rise in standards. With well trained violists there has been a steadily growing demand for challenging orchestral music and for publications and access to solo and chamber compositions with significant parts for these players. This general trend towards more difficult works influenced string education, where teachers encouraged students to learn other pieces along with the solo concerto and string quartet literature.
The focus of this thesis is an examination of the somewhat neglected late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century music written for violin and viola in duo combination. such a study will not only increase the awareness of the available material, but will demonstrate that in many cases the viola has an also equal partnership with the violin, a partnership which assumes--for both instrumentalists--technical equality.
The duos covered in this essay date from around 1770 to about 1810, i.e., the period commonly known as the Classical era. Composers who contributed to the genre represent a broad range of geographic areas in Europe: Paris, Vienna, and Mannheim and a number of other German cities. It is not entirely possible to examine the duo literature without drawing parallels to other genres. A very brief but concentrated look at the fashionable Symphonie concertante will reveal a concerted symphonic form which gave a leading role to the viola. A comparison of the two idioms is further justified by the relationship between the violin and viola in both.
Finally, an annotated list of some of these lesser known compositions will be included, as a viable expansion to the repertory of the modern day violist. It is my hope that the introduction of these forgotten pieces will arouse enough curiosity to cause original work to displace transcriptions and arrangements in concert performances, thus furthering the growing reputation of the viola as an instrument of significant solo capacity.
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