JAVS Spring 2020

From the Editor

While this issue comes to you in the midst of a global pandemic, I hope that it can offer you, at the very least, a respite from our present difficulties. From my own perspective, it’s been a luxury to delve into the world of viola research and scholarship, a world that is partially removed from the day-to-day statistics crowding our news and personal conversations.

Our two featured articles come from first-time contributors. Alice Sprinkle takes us into the labyrinthine world of Bach manuscript study in her article “Bach’s Slurs”, the first prize winner of the 2018 Dalton Research Competition. She skillfully examines the conflicting messages of both J.S. Bach’s manuscript and his various editors, relaying them in a compelling and illuminating narrative. We are also delighted to feature Devan Maria Freebairn’s article championing Forsyth’s Viola Concerto. She provides a much-overdue look into this work, and her evocative writing captures the spirit of the legendary violists surrounding its creation. Both Christine Rutledge and Jessica King’s articles remind us of better times, when performing and gathering were everyday activities. Christine’s comprehensive account of the 46th IVC will make you yearn to return to these festive gatherings. Jessica King’s advice about overcoming performance anxiety still rings true despite many cancelled performances. I can personally attest that performances given in my living room via Zoom are equally as anxiety inducing as in-person concerts! Finally, I am honored to present an article from the late Baird Knechtel. Before a more appropriately grand memorial appears in our next issue, you can read Dwight Pounds’s brief tribute to Knechtel on page 6. As you can see Mr. Knechtel’s article in this issue, he was a vibrant scholar and promoter of the viola, and he will be missed. I encourage you to read the statement from the AVS Board on page 5. As one prong of the AVS’s goals, JAVS will seek to promote and feature scholarship by and about Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color. Within the pages of this journal, we must strive to include the voices of those who have not been heard.

But even more than just serve as a distraction, I hope that our journal can provide you with a with a small glimmer of excitement, and perhaps a desire to pursue new areas of discovery in the scholarly and performing world. As the American Viola Society welcomes its new board members, JAVS has gained its own new sources of energy in the form of newly appointed editors. First of all, we welcome Lanson Wells as the new Assistant Editor of JAVS . To this newly-created position, Lanson brings his expertise in library sciences, research, and writing, and he will greatly expand the scope and reach of the journal. Additionally, Gregory Williams joins us as the editor of the Music Reviews department. He has been a frequent contributor to JAVS , and we will continue to feature his thoughtful and clear-eyed evaluations of new works. You can read his wide ranging review of several new publications in this issue. Our final new member of the JAVS team is Leanne Darling, who joins as the editor of the Eclectic Violist department. She begins her tenure with a stellar profile of violist Jessica Meyer. Especially in these times, where many of our traditional creative and professional activities have been upended, Leanne’s article reminds us of the endless well of creativity accessible through our art form. It also shows the diversity of pathways that music can drive us, and how one discovery—in Meyer’s case, the looping pedal—can open an entirely unplanned direction in one’s career.

Sincerely,

Andrew Braddock Editor

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 36, No. 1, Spring 2020

3