JAVS Fall 2022

New Music

Let Not Poor Nelly Starve: A New Work for Viola and Piano by Sonya Leonore Stahl

Figure 1: Let Not Poor Nelly Starve, m.8.

In 2021, I wrote a short, lyrical piece for my friend, trombone professor Dr. Jemmie Robertson. As soon as violist Virginia Lamboley heard it, she looked into my eyes and said, “Sonya–imagine this on viola!” And she was absolutely right. It was a great fit, but not just because of the deep, dark beauty of the instrument’s sound. The viola is uniquely situated among most modern symphonic instruments to bring Let Not Poor Nelly Starve to life due to its similarity to the viola da gamba, which was common during the historical period evoked by the subject and musical themes. “Let not poor Nelly starve,” was Charles II of England’s deathbed plea that his mistress Nell Gwynn, a comic actress—and more relevant, a commoner—not suffer once he was gone. Rather than contemplating literal, financial starvation as he most likely intended with his words, my fantasia on this title evokes the emotional starvation that results from such a parting, as well as the irresistible nostalgia of remembrance. Charles II ascended to the throne in 1660, reopening England’s theaters after years of Puritan closure. Nell was his most popular mistress and a much beloved public figure thanks to her sparkling wit and humble origins— as a teenager she sold oranges on the steps of Covent Garden. The piece begins using harmonic language consistent with the music Nell and Charles might have heard as they reveled together with friends after one of her performances. The opening 20 measures are entirely modal (D Aeolian/F Ionian), even when this means employing a minor v chord (a minor) rather than the true dominant (A major) that would be used if the opening bars were in d minor rather than D modal:

However, I was raised on a steady diet of opera, and for me, the language of passion is that late 19 th century and early 20 th century excess and grandeur. The second theme quickly and recklessly spins out on the carousel of fifths, modulating to D flat major and other, harder-to-define chords which have more to do with imagining Nell and Charles as characters in a romantic Grand Opera rather than in the late 17 th century. Figure 2: Waves of repeated motive represent increasing insistence of fruitless yearning.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 2, Fall 2022

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