JAVS Summer 1998

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instrument. Primarily he was a pianist, and for a good many years he collaborated with Watson Forbes as a performer. The final violist of the early afternoon was Esther Geldard, who was accompanied by Zoe Solomon. They played Filters, by David Horne. Filters uses extended techniques: loud pizzicato, dissonant chords, naked rhythms, and exaggerated tone qualities. At one point, there was even some reaching into the piano. They returned, and after much tuning, started over. The last work in this rather extended presentation of Scottish composers was an other lovely folk-song like piece by Alan Richardson, Sussex Lullaby, a good contrast to David Horne's Filters. At about 3:25, we went to the room that housed the luthiers' displays, where we heard a talk by Rex England, a mature gentleman who makes stringed instruments and lives in Milton Keynes, England. John White intro duced him, making a joke about the king of England giving a lecture in Scotland. England talked about the process of selecting wood and shaping it, the importance of thickness, setting the neck, bridge height, and varnish. He was generous in leaving ample time for questions, ofwhich there were many. His gra cious and knowledgeable manner made this a pleasant hour or so. Shortly after 5:00, Kenta Matsumi and his accompanist, Yuko Sasaki, presented a program of seven transcriptions by Primrose or Forbes. These were really encore pieces, so the listening was easy, and the performances were "perfect" in the best sense of the word. There was not a blemish, nothing out of place; it was a polished ensemble-balanced, faultless, exact, and finished. The Vaughn Williams/Forbes Fantasia on "Greensleeves" stands out in memory as being particularly delicious. We don't hear this type of literature as much as we used to; and played so ele gantly, this was a real treat. The Saturday evening concert was mostly devoted to viola concertos, accompanied by a small string orchestra, conducted by James Durrant. First we heard a rather nervous (at least in the fast movements) performance of the Telemann Concerto, played by Philip Dukes. Mr. Dukes plays a viola that has upper

Eighth Quartet and the Viola Sonata, it was a revelation. Saturday recitals were devoted to viola and piano works, mostly by early to mid twentieth century composers with ties to Scotland, either by birth, education, or employment. The same also could be said about the performers. The first recital was given by Michael Beeston, the violist of the Edinburgh Quartet and a professor at the Scottish Royal Academy of Music and Drama. His pianist was Cameron Murdoch. Two Scottish Tunes by Forbes/Richardson were memorable in that they courted the lighter muse, had a legitimate folklike quality, and avoided the dower personality that seems to accompany a great deal of Scottish music. After lunch, the recital featured four dif ferent violists and two different pianists who presented more Scottish composers' works. The violists were all elegant players and defi nitely youthful, demonstrating that the state of viola playing and teaching in the UK is highly developed. The first pair was Stephen Tees, principal violist of the City of London Sinfonia, and Zoe Solomon, a pianist who had some training at the Cleveland Institute, one of the few Congress performers with a U.S. background. Their work was Sonata for Viola and Piano, by Robin Orr, a substan tial and essentially academic piece in four contrasting movements. The next duo was Su Zhen, a brilliant young Chinese national, currently studying viola with John White at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and Sophia Rahman, the wonderful pianist who plays with the Steinway lid fully open and yet never covers the violist. They played two works by Alan Richardson-lntrada and Rhapsody-both composed in the late nine teen thirties. Rebecca Low, another product of John White and the RAM, joined Miss Rahman. They played Sonata for Viola and Piano by Sir John Blackwood McEwen, an attractive work in the British Renaissance mode. The last movement has echoes of the Scottish fiddle style. They also played Autumn Sketches by Alan Richardson. These Richard son character pieces were very pleasant, mak ing use of the best viola characteristics and demonstrating Richardson's knowledge of the