JAVS Spring 2019

In context, Rochberg’s viola sonata stands apart stylistically from other pieces he was writing at the time, particularly the Concord String Quartets. While the quartets have entire movements of Classical and early Romantic-era evocation, they also feature many movements with dissonance and complex chromaticism as the ordering principle, and are still firmly rooted in a modernist aesthetic. The Viola Sonata seems to evoke more clearly an early twentieth century tonal style, particularly some of Bartók’s more tonal and melodic writing. This makes sense, as the bulk of its musical content comes not from 1979, but 1942, and Rochberg himself acknowledged the influence Bartók had on his music at the time. There may be another explanation for Rochberg’s returning to old sketches for the Viola Sonata. The commission for the Viola Sonata came in the middle of 1978, with the premiere taking place a year later. This was a very fast turnaround to produce a new work compared with most of Rochberg’s output, as most pieces took several years to gestate. He was also in the midst of a particularly busy and prolific stretch of composing. 13 One could make a case that dusting off sketches from 1942 allowed for a much quicker writing process, and it was as much a practical decision for this specific commission as it was for any larger aesthetic reason. While the Sonata is Rochberg’s lone contribution to the viola solo repertoire, there are seventeen chamber works that include viola (year of premiere in parenthesis): Blake Songs for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (1961) Chamber Symphony for Nine Instruments (1953) Music for “The Alchemist” for Soprano and Eleven Players (1966) Music for the Magic Theater for a Chamber Ensemble of Fifteen Players (1967) Octet, A Grand Fantasia for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano 14 (1980) Piano Quartet (1985) Piano Quintet (1976) String Quintet (two cellos) (1982) Serenata d’estate for Flute, Harp, Guitar, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1958) String Quartet No. 1 (1953) String Quartet No. 2 with Soprano (1962) Other Rochberg Works to Explore

String Quartet No. 3 (1972) String Quartet No. 4 “The Concord Quartets” (1979) String Quartet No. 5 “The Concord Quartets” (1979) String Quartet No. 6 “The Concord Quartets” (1979) String Quartet No. 7 with Baritone (1980) Tableaux (Sound Pictures from the “Silver Talons of Piero Kostrov,” by Paul Rochberg) for Soprano, Two Actors’ Voices, Small Men’s Chorus, and Twelve Players (1968) 15 As stated earlier, Rochberg’s style shifted dramatically during his transitional period between about 1965– 1972, and any pieces written after the Third String Quartet can be considered as part of his new, more tonal, style. The formal structure of Rochberg’s Violin Concerto— written for Isaac Stern and the Pittsburgh Symphony and premiered in 1975—is not unlike the Third Quartet. Both pieces are divided into 2 large parts, each featuring smaller movements within as well as contrasting intermezzi movements. The Violin Concerto also contains a Fantasia movement and an Epilogue— titles both used in the last movement of the Viola Sonata. Musically, there are some moments in the Violin Concerto that look and sound similar to moments in the Viola Sonata, as shown in examples 1–4.

THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY: A HISTORY AND REFERENCE SECOND EDITION

By Dwight R. Pounds

$24 Spiral Bound $28 Hard Cover (recommended for library use)

Dwight R. Pounds 651 Covington Grove Blvd. Bowling Green, KY 42104-6601 dwight.pounds@insightbb.com

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 35, No. 1, Spring 2019

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