JAVS Spring 2014

moments and includes some difficult upper-register arpeggiations that attest to the composer’s flute back ground. At times, the piano writing in this move ment can feel too sparse and almost incomplete. Despite the title’s gloomy connotations, the work’s best moments occur in the frenzied and extroverted sections in the second movement. These parts are held together by a rhythmic ostinato and feature the viola and piano taking turns playing swirling thirty second-note passages filled with wailing grace notes. The ostinato and grace-note figures evoke a mood very similar to that of the Allegro ironico movement from Bloch’s Suite . This music also contains some of the most crunching dissonances of the work, includ ing parallel major-seventh and tritone passages in the viola. Feelings of pain and destruction are palpable in these sections, and one can almost hear a cracking voice of mourning crying out. To the modern violist, the vast majority of this work will present minimal technical challenges; however, several isolated passages, due to their range and awk wardness, will challenge all but the most advanced per formers. In general, this work’s evocative moods and raw expressions of pain make it a worthy and unique addition to a contemporary viola recital program. Fantasy Piece , for viola and piano By Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941) Duration: 11’ Presser Premiere Series, Theodore Presser Company $36.99 Adolphus Hailstork’s Fantasy Piece , for viola and piano, is a postmodern virtuosic showpiece that moves through a wide variety of moods and places great technical demands on both performers. The first thing that one notices about this work is Hailstork’s highly dissonant and chromatically satu rated harmonic idiom. The final chord of the piece, for example, contains the following pitches: C, D, E flat, E, F, G, G-sharp, and A. Also, the split-third chord (e.g., C, E-flat, E, G) plays an important role

in this work, creating further chromatic richness. Despite this harmonic complexity, Fantasy Piece has a clear and straightforward meter, thankfully reduc ing many ensemble difficulties. Throughout the course of this eleven-minute work, the music moves with ease among many different styles. The high drama of the beginning is contrasted with whimsical playfulness in the middle, and mys terious adagio passages appear unexpectedly. The Allegro scherzando section features an incredible and invigorating groove that will have the performers’ and audience members’ heads bobbing along with the beat. This section alone makes this piece well worth performing. This work is very technically challenging, due in large part to its wide-ranging chromaticism. Sixteenth-note triplets are present in most measures of this work, and the viola’s upper register is fre quently employed. Although somewhat helpful for the pianist, the presence of key signatures in such a harmonically adventurous work will cause unneces sary note-reading difficulties. Fantasy Piece is not for the faint of heart; but if one is prepared to overcome its technical challenges, this work will surely offer great rewards and serve as an impressive virtuosic spectacle.

V OLUME 30 NUMBER 1 6 2