JAVS Spring 2019

Special Feature

A “Design of Exchange” in George Rochberg’s Sonata for Viola and Piano (1979) Leah Frederick

“Before I knew anything about the history and background of chamber-music literature for solo string instruments and piano, the very sound of the violin, viola, or cello in concert with the piano exerted a magnetism I found irresistible. . . . There is a magic in these duos with their constantly changing patterns of color, in the subtle varieties of sound patterns as different registers and textures mix, mingle, and share in a composed design of exchange . . . . Only a few composers have had the luck to make this magic happen consistently—Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. The secret of how they managed this lay in their inordinate skill in handling the art of musical conversation—how their incomparable ideas were made to pass from one instrument to the other in an inevitable, seamless flow of dialogue .” 1 In this excerpt from his published memoirs, American composer George Rochberg portrays the interactions in string-piano duos as a type of dialogue. Such a characterization embraces a long tradition of likening chamber music to conversation. 2 This article takes the notion of “dialogue” as inspiration for an analytical reading of the first two movements of George Rochberg’s Sonata for Viola and Piano—notably Rochberg’s only string-piano duo involving the viola. My analysis interprets the term “dialogue” in two ways: first, in reference to this “composed design of exchange,” where players converse by trading and responding to one another’s musical ideas; and second, as a way of relating this piece to the conventions of the past. 3

Rochberg’s Viola Sonata was completed in 1979, after his famous shift from serialism back to tonality. Like many twentieth-century works, this sonata alludes to the harmonic syntax and classical forms of the common practice era—the latter part of my analytical lens highlights such references to tonality. In adopting such an approach, I do not wish to ignore the innovations of the twentieth century; rather, I hope to invite a new way of hearing this piece that celebrates its relationship with the music that came before.

Movement I: Allegro Moderato

Exposition

The first movement of the sonata opens with a lyrical, sweeping motive comprised of two descending fourths F–C and B–F-sharp (ex. 1, mm. 1–2). In his memoirs, Rochberg describes this melodic fragment as a “hieroglyph” that originated in sketches for a violin sonata begun in 1942. 4 At the start of the piece there are three components to the texture: the viola’s “hieroglyph” melody, the piano’s perpetual eighth note accompaniment, and the piano’s steady bass line, reinforced in octaves. This bass line is rather conventional due to its stepwise linear motion and outlining of fifths: it starts on an F, is decorated by an upper neighbor note, and then ascends by semitone. 5 Just before reaching its eventual goal of C, the bass line changes direction, plummeting to a lower octave. The descent from G to C at the start of m. 10 acts as an elided authentic cadence.

A version of this article was presented at the American Viola Society’s 2018 Festival in Los Angeles, CA. The author gratefully acknowledges the comments received on that occasion, as well as conversations about this piece with Christa Cole, Julian Hook, Blair Johnston, and Marianne Kielian-Gilbert.

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