JAVS Spring 2007

NEW PLYA AQl)ISITIONS FOR PIVA

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by David D alton

IfWilliam Primrose's gift in 1974 of his viola library, photos, memorabilia, and lerrers formed the tiara of the Primrose Inrernational Viola Archive (PIVA)-- with added gems and jewels along the way-the latest acquisition might be seen as the crown jewel. The Brigham Young Universi£)1 Library entered inro con tract near Chrisonas, 2006, ro purchase the Ulrich Drliner Viola Music Collection, the most important private viola library in the world. Dr. Driiner, an active violist in the Stuttgart State Orchestra, is one of the preeminent collectors and music antiquarian deal ers in Europe. Violists will be acquainted with many of his rediscoveries, and over fifty published editions, of earlier viola music. Dri.iner and his wife Elyane vis ired PIVA earlier in the fall where he lectured and per formed for BYU srudenrs. In the company of his friend David Day, curator of PIVA, myself and wife as tour guides, the couple was introduced ro southern Utah's brilliant Landscapes and fell under the spell of red rock euphoria. They made the decision that Utah and PIVA were the right place for the significant Drliner collection to have irs permanent home. Contained in the Driiner Collection are over 5,000 sin gle works for solo viola, viola chamber music, viola con certos and other related documents from the early 17th cenrury to the present. Among these items are many Urtexte and first editions, and autographs found on music or in letters. The collection is particularly com prehensive of"rypical" viola composers, such as F. A. Hoffmeister, Carl and Anton Stamit:z, Hermann Ritter, and Paul Hindemirh. Of the 160 known works by Alessandro Rolla, 140 are contained in the collection. Of the few pieces for viola by Berlioz., Beethoven, and Mozart, these are present in first editions. Nearly all known viola methods of the 19th century and over I ,200 crudes originally wrirren for viola are included. Of added interest are personal letters from notable musi The acquisition will rake place as portions of the collec tion are sene incrementally to BYU, until 2009.

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The only print extant ofan Anton Stamitz viola concerto in the Ulrich Driiner Viola Music Coluction.

cians Pierre Boulez., Carlo Maria Giulini, Hans Werner Henze, Carlos Kleiber, Yehudi Menuhin, Krysrof Penderecki, Wolfgang Rihm, Max Rostal, er al. It is dif ficult ro express adequately the gratitude due ro the administration of the BYU Library and donors for this acquisition, something I had furtively hoped for decades. Following the 1982 Srurrgart International Viola Congress, Ulrich opened cabinet doors in his home and allowed me a glimpse of his collection of viola music-while my salivary glands sprang inro action.

David 0. Brown Sound Recordings Collection I wish to mention other recent "gems and jewels" that

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