JAVS Fall 2016

The Reception What are violists saying about performing works by these young composers? Eileen Smith, the executive coordinator of the Cecil Aronowitz International Competition at Birmingham Conservatoire, was one of the quintet who performed Leon Haxby’s Elgar Variations in Portugal. She says, “Theme and variation is a well known musical structure, and Leon’s purpose was to take this and flip it upside down. This piece of music contains elements of satire, and its performance directions (such as the third viola part asking the performer to “fall asleep”) give it a humorous edge which pokes fun at the structure without being disrespectful to this important musical form.” Eileen’s opinion is that the piece is well written and asks for good chamber musicianship from its performers, since it requires “excellent rhythm and listening skills.” She enjoyed the process of working with Leon, who was specific in his musical direction but also open to the ideas of the players. “With this piece, Leon gives us the right amount of freedom (and equally the right amount of instruction) to really delve into the different characters of the variations,” Eileen says. Another performer, Alistair Rutherford, who studies viola with Louise Lansdown, says of Haxby’s work, “The piece, inspired by Alkan’s Le festin d’Ésope variations, where he takes a small, simple melody and slowly rips it to shreds, clearly takes the theme from Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 , movement 1, and completely dismantles and fragments it throughout the five movements of Haxby’s Quintet. Performing the piece was an incredibly fun opportunity. It is a challenging piece of chamber music requiring the utmost of attention to detail. The changes of color and mood between the movements are stark, and a strong foundation of rhythm is necessary in order to capture the quirky nature of the meter changes.” Michael Biancardi’s Strata drew positive comments from many players in the Crane Viola Ensemble, directed by Shelly Tramposh at SUNY Potsdam. Dr. Tramposh sums it up by saying, “Everyone likes the piece!” Comments from some of her students follow: Shannon Santmyer says, “When we first sight-read the piece, I especially found it to be unlike any we had played before. Strata was such a fun piece to perform and could make anyone want to get up and dance.” Alexa Teves Mani says, “Michael Biancardi’s Strata was one of my favorite pieces we performed this year; it was so upbeat and fun. It has nine parts (not including the two percussion parts), which

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 32, No. 2, Fall 2016

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