JAVS Fall 1990

15

Orchestration, published in 1844: "When a musician is unable to play his part as a violinist, he goes over to the viola." Therefore the viola was of little importance at the Conservatoire. In fact, there was no viola professor. When forced to, violinists looked for small-sized violas, or bluntly adapted viola strings to their violins (quoted by Daniele Pistone in La musique en France de la Revolution a 1900, ed. 1979 Paris, Champion, 7 quai Malaquais). These poor musicians were, nevertheless, able to play their part in symphonies, operas, and in chamber music. It was never said that they played badly. The first viola class was founded at the Paris Conservatoire in 1894 under Theophile Laforge, a student of Eugene Sauzay, who was the pupil and son-in-law of Pierre Baillot. The success of the class was evident from the beginning and in Belgium, the need for a viola class seems to have been even more acute. At the Brussels Conservatoire, a class began seventeen years earlier, in 1877, with the appointment of Leon Firquet from Liege as professor. He was an assistant to the celebrated musician Hubert Leonard. Firquet played on a Stradivarius tenor viola, cut and adapted to viola size. Musicians from Liege played an important part in promoting the viola. After Firquet, Leon Van Hout, member of the Quatuor Ysaye, was appointed at Brussels in 1893. To consider the quality of Franco-Belgian viola playing, let us return to the Paris Conservatoire, not to gi ve a fu 11 list of the viola laureates, but to consider the violists Maurice Vieux and Louis Bailly. Maurice Vieux, born in 1884, entered the class of Laforge in 1900. Vieux won a first prize in 1902, and at the age of twenty was appointed solo violist at the Opera, succeeding Laforge in 1919. Vieux molded many distinguished students, among them a young man from Brussels who tried to imitate his master's vigorous style. This Belgian Fran~ois Broos became professor at the Brussels Conservatoire in 1930. Later he emigrated to Portugal, where he taught for years. The present solo violist of the Orchestre de Paris is from Broos's

studied with Rodolphe Kreutzer and later became the teacher of Henryk Wieniawski, and Fritz Kreisler. A remarkable fact is that at the Conservatoire of Paris in the year 1900, the six leading violin professors were all disciples of Massart: Berthelier, Lefort, Marsick, Rerny, Brun, and Desjardins. Also, Lambert Massart taught Cornelis, teacher of Alfred Dubois, who was in turn the teacher of Arthur Grumiaux. The Franco-Belgian unity and solidarity in string affairs appeared at the time as a natural and logical thing, evoking no animosity or jealousy. The following anecdote demonstrates this point, It was noted by the French government during the first world war that Belgian refugees were so numerous in France that the Conservatoire of Paris was instructed to put a classroom at their disposal for the musical education of young Belgian students. There the professor Cesar Thomson was able to teach violin with his assistant Charles Harmant (from Liege, as well). The local authorities were so generous as to encourage a student refugee to study at the Paris Conservatoire by offering him a free weekly ticket for a year on the train, Calais-Paris-Calais, where he lived. State of Viola Playing This very high level of violin playing had a beneficial effect on viola playing. The young violinists who converted to the viola had a fairly good technical foundation, certainly better than in the preceding century. In this regard I quote the famous essay from 1752 of Johann Joachim Quantz, flutist to the court of Frederick the Great: "In music, the viola generally gains but little respect. Perhaps because it is played by beginners or less-gifted violinists. It offers but little profit, so the able people don't play it willingly." But in Quantz's opinion, the role of the viola is important and requires a talented musician in ensemble performance. I may add that several distinguished composers played the viola: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvo ak, Lalo, Britten, Staimitz, and Schubert. From French sources, I quote two opinions, the first published 21 April 1804 in La Corres pondance des Amateurs musiciens: "One regrets the small number and the mediocrity of the viola players." The other appears in Hector Berlioz'a Treatise of

s