JAVS Fall 2005

ln reviewing Miss Fuchs' recording of the Bach Suites No. 2 and No. 6, a reviewer in the November, 195 1 issues of American Record Guide said that one docs not "need to go back to Casals for satisfac tion in the two Suites, which are equally effective on the cello or viola. Miss Fuchs is quite good enough. Need anyone say more?" Regretfully, Miss Fuchs never made her own edi tion of these sui res. The ed ition she used was that of Louis Svecenski and Mr. Williams declares that her interpretation of the suites was close to this edition (rhis reviewer used the Svecenski edition, with Fuchs modifications, when studying the Bach Suites wi th her). There is an interesting discussion ofWi lliam Primrose and his ea rlier, initial belief rhat the Bach Cell o Suites were not adaptable to the viola. As is known , Primrose ulti mately came our with his own edition of five sui tes, omitting the sixth Suite as he thought it nor feasible on the viola. Fuchs was always interest ed in composition, going back to her early student days. ln addition to her three excellent volumes of

viola Etudes, Stud ies, and Caprices and the Sonata Pastorale for unaccompa nied viola, she wrote some violin solo works and ear lier piano and chamber works. She freq uently per When The Musician's Guil d disbanded in 1957 and those players went thei r separate ways, Lillian Fuchs focused more on solo concerts as well as continuing her chamber music appearances. She ofren appeared witl1 her brother Joseph in per formances of Moza rt's Sinfonia Concertante and reco rded that work many times, including one with Pablo Casals as conductor with the Prades Fes tivaJ Orchestra. O ther works tl1at she performed fre quently with orchestra were rldemann's C Major Viola Concerto, Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi, Berlioz's Harold in Italy, and Martinu's Rhapsody. The Italian-American composer Vittorio Rieti wrote a triple concerto for Violin, Viola and Piano (wri tten specifically for Joseph and Lillian Fuchs and pianist Arrur Balsam), which she per formed with Joseph and Balsam. ln her later yea rs she had a uio - the Lillian Fuchs String Trio with her twin daughters, formed her Sonata Pastora.le in public.

The History of the Viola

Volume I and Volume II

by Dr. Maurice W. Riley

To order, contact:

George Maurice Riley 12301 Harbour Circle Ft. Washington, MD 20744 Phone (301) 292-0 177 Fax (30 1) 292-0280 Gviolinriley@msn.com

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