JAVS Spring 2001

20

VoL. 17 No.1

]OURNA.L OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY

Records FTS 33439. [New York: C Fischer, 1974} Another work by Ms. Eichelberger Ivey is the Music for Viola and Piano (1974) commis sioned for Vivian Fine and Jacob Glick by the Composers' Forum of Albany, NY. It was pre miered in November of 1974 in Albany. [New York: C Fischer, 1976} The composer David Jaffe has a passion for all manner of plucked sounds-harp, harpsichord, banjo, mandolin, guitar, what ever. Even in his computer music, e.g., Silicon Valley Breakdown (1982), one can experience the super-cosmic 5-string banjo sound. Mr. Jaffe is a composer working at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University. In the sum mer of 1979 he wrote a two-minute Prelude for Viola that is played entirely-yes, you guessed it-pizzicato. It offers a lyric and compelling two minutes of strumming. Another viola piece by David Jaffe is his Three Musicians (after the Picasso paintings) for Viola and Guitar (1981). It is a five-movement work which takes about fifteen minutes and utilizes country fiddle styles and jazz styles (a la Stephane Grappelli). Jaffe entitles his second movement "Philadelphia Version (with Dog)" and labels his fourth movement "New York Version (without Dog)" after the two paint ings. [Manuscript} In 1964 composer George Kleinsinger began a memorial piece for his late friend, Irish dramatist Brendan Behan, which he completed in 1966. It bore the title Lament and Gig and was scored for solo viola and orchestra. To my knowledge this work has never been per formed. In my possession is a solo viola part and a piano reduction part. It was Mr. Kleinsinger's intention to play a homemade audiotape of Brendan Behan singing some baudy Irish songs as an Interlude between the two sections of the composition.[Manuscript} The Ernst Krenek Sonata for Solo Viola (1942) is a compact work that would enhance any standard viola recital. [Hillsdale, NY: Bomart, 1954} His Viola & Piano Sonata of 1953 was written for Ferenc Molnar & Jane Hohfeld. This later piece does not have the verve and vitality of the earlier solo work. [Los Angeles: AffiliatedMusicians, 1953} Etude pour La Viola (1981) is a frenetic solo viola composition written by Jeffrey Levine.

Much of the piece is written in double notes, in the manner of a perpetual motion etude. There are disjunct accents that occur at ran dom spots and Mr. Levine employs the normal symbol">" where the accent is applied on the first of the pair of notes, and the backwards symbol "<" where the second of the pair should be accented. The tempo marking is quarter note equals 84; hence the resultant thirty-second notes are traveling at 672 notes per minute culminating in some very spastic accented notes. Surprisingly, the audience received the work well at its premiere. It took Edwin London one month to write his Sonatina for Viola and Piano (1962). It was dedicated to Louise Rood, violist, and Robert Miller, pianist, who premiered the piece in February of 1963. There is a feeling to it of a combining of twelve-tone ideas with jazz ele ments. (The opening 3-bar Adagio introduction is a pure row.) The third and final movement is marked Allegro dondolamento; the latter direc tion means "rocking; swinging." [Northampton, MA: New Valley Music Press, 1965} Otto Luening's Sonata for Solo Viola (1958) is an eclectic four-movement work with a waltz-like interlude between each pair of movements. The thematic content of the inter ludes is repeated with each interlude becoming lengthier. The entire work is under nine min utes. [New York: American Composer's Alliance, 1958} Thirty-six years later Mr. Luening wrote a single movement Fantasia for Viola (1994) that I premiered in June of 1994. This work is for solo viola and takes but a few minutes to play. The Music for Viola and Harp by Ursula Mamlok was commissioned in 1965 and pre miered in December of that year at Carnegie Recital Hall in a program devoted to works for viola and harp. [Philadelphia: Composers Facsimile Edition, 1967] Ms. Mamlok also wrote a solo violin piece entitled From My Garden (1984) which was edited for solo viola by David Sills and is equally effective on the viola. [New York: C F Peters Corp., 1987} The Robert Moevs Variazioni Sopra Una Melodia for Viola and Cello (1961) is a difficult opus for both instruments. Robert Sylvester and I recorded this work for CRI (223 USD) several years ago, along with his Musica da Camera (1965). There is much tension in both