JAVS Spring 2007

Concertina d'ete, Op. 311 (1951)

about them. It seems like the Concerto No. 1 is at best vaguely familiar to a handful of violists and just about no one I have spo ken with in our commun iry know about the Concerto No. 2 or the Concertina d 'ete. I enjoy all of these works, but I will say that his works for vio la and piano are superior on rhe whole, in fact I consider those pieces [Sonara No. l , Sonate No. 2 , and 4 Visages] to be among his best works that he ever wrote. T he Conurto No. 1 being only 12 minutes total in length is easi ly one of the most difficult pieces in our lirerarure, and having per formed it with orchestra myself, with all of the gymnastics required for this work (or should I say "workout") it

Hindemith actually suggested to his friend Milhaud that he come up with a smaller version so the viola could be heard better, but as Madeline Milhaud pointed out (in my 1998 interview with her) Hindemith never performed this revised orchestration. The first movement has many interesting moments and it is very joyous in character, often times reminding me of a circus. The second move ment, Lent (in a 5/8 meter), is very sentimental , and lyrical, and then ending poses an interesting chal lenge, where the violist "bars" a chord and arpeggiares under a slur going up the fingerboard. At the end of this passage, the "barred chord" is so high up, it can be a very challenge to get these notes to be played smoothly, especially if your action of the string is high. The third move ment, Souple et anime, is again joyous and swaying in triple meter. The fourth movement, Vif, begins similar in contour to the 3rd movement of Hindemirh's Der Schwanendreher, and I have always wondered if this move ment provided any inspiration for the opening of his Variationen movement. The ending of this movement is one of the most dif ficult pam of the piece with the quick double-stops and string crossing. Careful planning needs ro be done with this section as far as a playable tempo and how that relates to the opening, which con ductor tend to want ro take faster. Overal l, it is a very charming work, bur for the average listener, it would probably take some time to get used ro the harmonies. The Conurto No. 2 has no com-

Difficulry: Level 6 Duration: 14 minutes Premiere: Robert Courte with Charleston Chamber Music Players "Air" from the 1ere Sonate for Viola and Orchestra (1944) Difficulry: Level 5 Duration: 4.5 minutes Premiere: Germain Prevost with the Universiry ofWisconsin Symphony Orchestra

by Darius MiJhaud (1892-1974)

These works for viola and orches rra have been around for a while, but I am continually surprised at how little most violists know

will certainly feel much longer than that. The opening chords in the 1sr movement, Anime, are not the most flattering chord on the instrument, bur I have found that in order for these to be pulled off suc cessfully, they need lots of gusto to get rhe full effect. T here are rwo ver sions of the orchestration, and the revised version for a chamber orchestra of 15 soloists is the more commonly used version. Paul

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