JAVS Fall 2005

Luciano Berio's Naturale for Viola, Percussio n, and Tape, then jo ined Ga rth Knox and W illi am Lane in three pieces w ritten by Gar th, t itl ed Viola Spaces for T hree Violas. The idea behind these p ieces, Mr. Knox explained , was that contempo rary music can ho ld many di scouraging techni ca l issues, often all c rammed in to the first measure. A performer might acquire a new piece, look at the opening, and then simply pack it in , swayed by the problems encountered early o n. Knox's pieces are et udes to enrich under standing of the contempo rary com positional language. Each move ment employed one technique: har mo ni cs, pon ticello , o r pizzicato (utilizing 9 fingers) . T he resource ful Mr. Solare figured our a way to use al l ten fingers in the last move ment, much ro the deligh t of the audience. New Zealand Comes North featured the inimitable Don Maurice and fr iends. His gu itar is t Matthew Marshall provided the con tinuo for a transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto in E Minor for Four Violas. They also performed Astor P iazzolla's Histoire du Tango. Don d ispl ayed his characteristic cleverness in both his rappo rt with th e audi ence and his p laying. His lecture the next day, The Art of Voc.'ll Fingering, scaled him in my mind as someone imbued with profound in tell ect. T he evening's concert was by "the G iant of the Nordic Vi ola," Lars Anders Tomtcr. Twas eager to hea r this concert, because r own several of Mr. Tomter's recorrungs. 1 had never seen him perform li ve, and was surprised when he walked out on stage. Thad always fi gured the

"Giant" niclrname simply referred to his play ing and reputation, and not his stature. Bur Lars is a big guy! T he next day, Twas able to ch at with him fo r a few moments, during whi ch 1 subjected him to my almost compulsive hand size compar ison. I have yet to find a vio li st wit h smaller hands than me (and T teach lots of fifth grade rs) . My fingert ips barely made it past his palm. H e fo und this to be greatly amusing. 1t was an excellent recital, the hi ghligh t being the Franck Sona ta, which exceeded all expectations. We all applauded to an almost embarrassing extent , fo rc ing him in to an enco re. O n d1e fifth day of d1e Congress, we were treated to a rour of Iceland's natural beauty. We p iled o nto a bus and headed to T hingvellir NarionaJ Park, an hom outside of Reykjavik. l decided that J.R.R. Tolkien must have made a visit to Iceland befo re wri ting The Lord ofthe Rings because every place we visited had a very "Middle Earm" feel. "1f you look to me Soum, you will see Mount Thormok!" announced our bus driver. O m first stop was Thingvellir, which means "Pl ains ofAssembly." Long ago, this is where Parliament wou ld meet annually to decide important issues, such as which country to go to war with next, o r whose unfaid1ful wife to drown. At this stop, we enj oyed some authenti c fcela ndic fo lk music perfo rmed by H erdis Jonsdordr and her husband Steef van Oosterhout. Helrus p layed on an unvarnished viola, wh ile Steef played a marimba constructed from Day 5: The Golden Circle Tour

those players were all members of the Iceland Symphony O rchestra. In the warm-up room, I wa.~ able to strike up a conversation with Helga, who had been Dave's stand partner. She remembered him warmly, as a kind, gentle man and an excellenr player. Other section members came over to share their recoll ections of Dave, all ofwhich line up with the D ave I know today. While I'd pre fe r to think of D ave having some dark secret t hat required him ro hide our for a yea r, sadly, there is no hid den past. H e simply won the Iceland Symphony Orchestra auru tion and tried it out fo r a year, then returned back to the States to take other audi tio ns. T hat mission accomplished , 1 was able to focus on our performance of Finn Hoffding's Dialogues, which arc five funny, sho rt, conversation-style pieces. My favorite movemenr, Altercazione, drew appreciative laughs. (At least I assumed d1at they were.) Thad survived another Cong ress performance! Michael Hall is another up and coming leader. President of me C hica.go Viola Society, Michael is o rga nized, efficient, and enthusias tic. Q uick-witted and a compelling conversationalist, a chat wid1 Michael wi ll take you down many unknown roads ve1y rapidl y. Mich ael has a knack for performing contemporary repertoire, and I was not surprised to find that a new piece, commemorat ing the life of Pope John Paul TT, had been written fo r him to perfo rm ar the Cong ress. T he afternoon concerts provided much new music for consideration. Ca rlos Maria Sola rc performed

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