JAVS Fall 2007

Fantasias for solo violin; Biber's Passacaglia for solo violin; Swedish Baroque composer Johan Helmich Roman's 6 Assaggi for solo violin (to which I was first introduced at the Rekyjavfk Viola Congress); Pisendel's Sonata for solo violin; and J . S. Bach's Partita for solo flauro traverso. I felt char this was at least a good starr in adding to the published repertoire for both modern and Baroque viola. Other works keep coming ro my atten tion , so the project will be on going; so much so that I even start ed my own " in-house" publishing company to distribute these tran scriptions. [See Roman's First Assagio as the Sample Score on page 51.] Today 1 am siccing at my computer in my office ryping up chis article. It is my fourrh day back at the University after my leave period has ended, and I have been back ro playing modern viola since the end ofJuly. I missed modern viola after all of those months. (What's life without Brahms and Hindemith?) The transition back ro modern technique has nor been the easiest. Playing modern viola involves so much "equipment" and the instru ment and bow are just so darned heavy. Bur these differences are necessary in order to play music wrirren after the 18th century. And the modern viola is so won derfully loud and rich (and the strings stay in rune for more than ten minutes!). The modern instru ment is just a vastly different beast from irs Baroque counterpart.

After the traveling was finished I hunkered down ro the grueling task of putting all of these great ideas and information I had gathered during my travels into performance editions. The centerpiece of my project (and goal many years in the making) was ro create a performance edition of the Bach Cello Suites in a "workbook" format; char is, an edition into which the performer could easily insert their own interpretative markings. What the Bach edition ended up being was a 3-volume set: Volume I was edited and marked using the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript copy as my guide; Volume II was a Facsimile copy of her manuscript copy; and Volume III was a completely unmarked copy. 1 also included a preFace that gives the violist an exten sive list of resources ro explore regard ing Bach and performance practices of the rime. After a presentation on Bach inter pretation ar the Montreal Viola Congress rwo summers ago an audi ence member asked, "Why another Bach edition?" My somewhat Face tious first response was "Well, per haps we don't!" But in truth I had always felt the need to have a more in-depth edition for viola char was closely based on the Anna Magdalena Bach copy, which is con sidered by many musicologists robe the most reliable source. Also, it would be great ro have a "clean" part, like me cellists have in the Barenreiter editions. With char project finished and primed, I moved on ro the ocher works I felt needed ro available ro violists in accurate, clean, scholarly based editions: Telemann's 12

chinrest, no shoulder pad, and a small bass bar and endblocks. The woods used for the fittings are also lighter than ebony. The bow is lighter and more flexible, there is no "grip," and the hair is looser and "spongier." There is also no set position of the bow hand on the stick- each player has their own "sweet spot." The strings are for the most parr gut (the C and G strings are typically wound with silver), and respond much differently than modern strings. They are strung with less tension, and the touch with the bow is more intimate and gentle. Overall, Baroque technique is more flexible and gender, which was a wonderful break for me (and my body). Much ofwhat I did on my Baroque instrument has had a tremendous influence on my mod ern technique as well as my inter pretation of music from all eras and genres. I learned rhar technique does nor have ro be so rigid and regimented. Players need to ques tion more often their reasons for playing and interpreting in given ways. They should be much more aware of period practices and tech niques and nor walk blindly into a piece, operating on instinct alone, or just following their teacher's instructions. Why does rhe bow have to always be held so close ro the frog? (When the Tourre-design bow was first introduced many musicians srill held the stick much higher up.) Should we depend so much on the use of shoulder pads and chinrests? (Nor char I advocate their elimination, just simply ask ing why and how we use them.) Why do we always play soft pas-

The Baroque viola is very light. It has a small tailpiece, no tuners, no

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