JAVS Fall 2011

talent, great skill, and big heart. 3 hindemith once wrote that in the world union of viola players, Borisovsky is the chairman! 4 In addition to his extensive performing and teaching careers (his students include Fyodr Druzhinin and yuri Bashmet), Borisovsky found the time to edit and transcribe for the viola and viola d’amore more than 250 works by a huge variety of composers, the first of which was published in 1928. It is intensely frustrating that more of his transcriptions are not widely available. he had Prokofiev’s full approval to arrange extracts from Romeo and Juliet and is believed to have consulted him on a number of occasions during the process. Choosing Excerpts for Transcription Minuet – Arrival of the Guests (4), Dance of the Knights (6), Mercutio (7), Balcony Scene (8) and Romeo at Friar Laurence’s Home (11)) to arrange for viola and piano reflects not only the obvious melod ic and textural suitability of these pieces, but also a keen ear for the potential range of colors and effects that could be utilized. his virtuosic facility was renowned, and although the viola part rarely reaches the very top notes on the viola that some composers (especially Tertis-inspired ones) were exploring in the same period, he never held back from using long series of fiendishly difficult double-stops or other technical challenges. Borisovsky wisely avoided Borisovsky’s initial choice of extracts ( Introduction (1), The Street Awakens (2), Juliet as a Young Girl (3),

choosing sections of music whose effectiveness lay on sudden changes of orchestration. It is difficult to imagine, for instance, how the Interlude of the first act in which the (already playing) quiet strings appear out of a cacophony of wind and brass chords or the music for Juliet’s Funeral could ever be reduced to a smaller force of musicians. In Borisovsky’s first set, most of the main “character theme” extracts are presented, while the later set of transcriptions are, perhaps intentionally, and with the notable exception of Death of Juliet , more inci dental music from the ballet. Carnival seems at first glance more natural a choice than Death of Mercutio for transcription, but most mysterious is why Borisovsky chose to add two extracts that require two violas ( Dance with Mandolins (10) and Morning Serenade (14)). Both extracts include two mandolin parts in the original orchestration, and one cannot imagine them working with only one viola part; it has also been suggested that the arranger planned to perform these extracts with one of his students. TheTranscription Process Of the thirteen extracts, only four appear in the same key as their counterparts in the orchestral ver sion or piano reduction ( The Street Awakens (2), Juliet as a Young Girl (3), Carnival (9), and Romeo at Friar Laurence’s Home (11)). Most arrangers of music for viola and piano are working from violin or cello parts, for which an easy transposition or octave change solves most issues in making the transcrip tion work. Borisovsky was not only extraordinarily skilled at reducing multi-layered orchestrations to

Example 1a. Sergey Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Minuet – Arrival of the Guests, mm. 60–63 (Prokofiev’s Piano Reduction).

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