JAVS Spring 2013

This delightfully textured piece is in four move ments: Allegro moderato , Allegro , Adagio espressivo , and Vivace . It is well-crafted, fits the violist’s hand, is exciting to perform, and is pleasing to the audience. The first movement (“on B”– starts on b and ends on a B-major chord) carries the intellectual weight of the piece, for both performers and listeners. using the darker timbre of the viola to good advantage, Etler employs syncopation, various harpsichord cou plings, octaves that alter both texture and dynamics, and subtle but certain pulse shifts (6/4, 4/4, 7/4, 5/4, 4/4, and 3/4 within a fourteen-bar section) (ex. 4). The result is a movement of about eight minutes that never lags. The second movement (“on D”) is much like a youthful Mendelssohn scherzo—a quick, witty, two step dance. The harpsichord is set on the 4’ choir on manual I, giving the whole movement a bell-like quality while the viola is muted and moves between arco and col legno . The third movement, Adagio espressivo (“on E-flat”), is a long elegiac melody in ABA form with the con trasting B section marked Più Mosso . The final movement, Vivace, is a tarantella (“on B”) using alternating detaché and spiccato bowing. It is light-hearted, quick, and exciting to perform. The most popular pairing of viola with harpsichord are the three viola da gamba sonatas by J. S. Bach: BWV 1027–1029. Most other Baroque and Rococo pieces, even if transcriptions, fit the viola well both texturally and acoustically. There are four sonatas specifically for viola and harpsichord written by Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739–1813). Companion pieces for programming:

More contemporary works include:

Henry Cowell (1897–1965) : Introduction and Allegro Quincy Porter (1897–1966) : Duo (for viola and harp or harpsichord) Mark Corwin (b. 1954) : C-19 Etler’s Sonata is available on the AVS website by kind permission of the Alvin Etler estate as part of the American Viola Project at: http://americanviolasociety.org/resources/scores/american viola-project/ 1 Members of the Leo Sowerby Foundation, includ ing Francis Crociata, President, and Michael McCabe, Vice President, have been extraordinarily helpful in providing details about the development and early performances of Sowerby’s Poem . Thomas Tatton is a recently retired string specialist with the Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton, California. Formerly violist and director of orchestras at Whittier College and the University of the Pacific, he holds a DMA from the University of Illinois. He was President of the American Viola Society from 1994 to 1998 and has served as the Vice-President of the International Viola Society. Notes

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