JAVS Summer 2026

With Viola in Hand Reimagining The Rite of Spring by Stephen Wyrczynski and Aram Arakelyan

that: it reimagined Stravinsky’s original work and scaled it to a technically challenging and virtuosic version for the viola soloist. Creating a New Transcription After having reflected on de Almeida’s work, my colleague, Dr. Aram Arakelyan (currently Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of North Texas) and I decided to return to the original ballet score, to research, study, and create our own edition of The Rite of Spring for viola and piano. Our goal was for the transcription to reflect Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet version with the greatest possible fidelity to the score. Many months were spent studying not only several editions of the orchestral version but also reviewing and considering the composer’s own four-hand piano arrangement. Since these editions feature a rather substantial number of alterations, especially between the orchestral and four-hand piano versions, we chose the 1913 edition as our model. We proceeded with scholarly rigor and close attention to the structure and inventiveness of the original score. Each rehearsal session between Dr. Arakelyan and me became a laboratory of experimentation, proposals for revision, and inventive musical problem-solving. The orchestration of The Rite of Spring is comprehensive and varied. There is a large string section that is often divided into as many as twelve separate parts. The woodwind section, in addition to the usual flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, includes the extended family: piccolo and alto flutes, English horn, piccolo and bass clarinets, and two contrabassoons. The brass section calls for eight horns, five trumpets (including bass and piccolo), three trombones, and two tubas. The sizeable percussion section features timpani (played by two players), tam-tam, triangle, guiro, bass drum, tambourine, cymbals, and suspended cymbals. Stravinsky regularly challenges instruments at the extremes of

The Rite of Spring and Viola Tradition The Rite of Spring , originally composed for the 1913 season of the Ballets Russes, was commissioned by its director Sergei Diaghilev. It is a transformative work in classical music because Stravinsky experimented with complex mixed meters and polyrhythms, polytonality, and dissonance in a highly innovative manner which pushed the boundaries of musical performance and dance. It is considered one of the twentieth century’s defining works of musical and artistic modernism. Stravinsky himself said that the first time he played the beginning of The Rite , with its dissonant chords and pulsating rhythm, for Sergei Diaghilev, he was asked a “very offending” question: “Will it last a very long time this way?” Stravinsky replied, “To the end, my dear.” 1 The first performance took place at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris on 29 May 1913. The early generation of viola soloists, including Lionel Tertis (England), William Primrose (Scotland), and Vadim Borisovsky (Soviet Russia) had a very limited number of solo works because in centuries past, the viola was often relegated to a secondary role. To expand the repertoire, these violists began to arrange well-known works originally composed for violin, cello, orchestra, and other combinations, as well as commission new works for the duo of viola and piano. As the repertoire increased, expanding the technical demands of the instrument, violists began to emerge from their anonymity in string quartets and orchestras to perform as soloists. Around 2020, I became aware of a transcription for viola and piano of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring arranged by violist Victor de Almeida. 2 I was inspired by this transcription because of its attempt to tackle this monumental piece in the spirit of violist-transcribers who adapted great compositions to enhance the viola solo repertoire. The de Almeida transcription did just

68

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 42, Summer 2026 Online Issue