JAVS Spring 2019

Figure 3. Letter from George Rochberg to David Dalton following the premiere performance of the Sonata. Graciously provided by David Day, curator of the Primrose International Viola Archive.

Transcription of the letter above: August 7, 1979

Dr. David Dalton is professor emeritus of Brigham Young University where he co-founded with his teacher, William Primrose, the Primrose International Viola Archive (PIVA). He was editor of JAVS for fifteen years, and served as president or the American as well as the International Viola Societies. He is one of two persons to be honored by the Society with the Golden Clef.

Dear David,

My warmest thanks for your letter. I understood from de Pasquale it was an unqualified success; and now hearing from you makes it double pleasurable. That Primrose liked the Sonata is especially gratifying to me. The work will go into production sometime early this Sept., just as soon as I have de Pasquale’s bowings etc. for the viola part. Hopefully it will be released before (or around, at the least) January 1980. Thank you once again for the opportunity to write a work which I not only enjoyed producing but which I hope violists will enjoy playing. I hope one day soon we’ll meet. All best wishes, Yours, George R.

Notes 1 For an analysis of the Rochberg viola sonata by Dr. LeeAnn Morgan, including an interview with the Joseph de Pasquale, see Journal of the American Viola Society, Vol. 14 No. 3, 1998.

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

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