JAVS Summer 2001

15

I I AN OvERVIEW oF TwENTIETH-CENTURY VIOLA WoRKS PART II

by jacob Glick

study and perform; however, it felt to me like it should have been presented as a viola con certo (with orchestra). The end of the Furiant finishes on a high E natural, midway between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge. This is truly the violist's Mt. Everest! [London: Oxford University Press, 1934} In 1992 Veronica Leigh Jacobs transcribed the Frank Bridge Sonata for Cello and Piano (1913) for Viola and Piano. It is a most attrac tive work that will go well on almost any viola recital program. During the fifties, a colleague advised me to purchase Benjamin Britten's Lachrymae (Re flections on a Song of Dowland) (1950), and described the piece as the finest viola work of the decade. The tribute to the pristine Dowland song, which comes at the end of the piece, inspired my friend, composer Vivian Fine, to remark, "How wonderful it is to have a tradition that goes back so many hundreds of years!" There are some difficult double stops involving artificial harmonics in this work; Karen Ritscher gave me a different edition (by Britten), which simplifies the harmonics in question. [London: Boosey & Hawkes, 1951} It is good to witness a revival of interest in the Sonata for Viola and Piano by Rebecca Clarke. This work together with Ernest Bloch's Suite for Viola and Piano tied for first place when first submitted at the competition of viola and piano sonatas or suites presented by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in 1919. In the final movement of the Clarke Sonata the per former's pacing must be very alert in order to keep the audience's interest when the themes from previous movements return. [Bryn Mawr, PA: Hildegard Publishing Co., 1999} The 1943 Passacaglia for Viola and Piano is a short effective work (5.\i' minutes in length) by Ms. Clarke which is based upon an old English tune attributed to Thomas Tallis. [Bryn Mawr, PA: Hildegard Publishing Co., 2000}

Editor's Note: Part I of jacob Glick's '~n Overview of Twentieth-Century Viola Works" appeared in JAVS 17.1 and addressed works composed in the U.S.A. Part II continues Mr. Glick's personal commentary addressing British, French, and Italian viola works along with Mr. Glick's conclusions. Publisher information is included as available. BRITISH VIOLA WoRKS In 1993 I commissioned John Addison, the distinguished film music composer, to write a piece for me. The result was a charming three movement work called Serenade for Viola and Piano, which runs seven minutes. It makes a fine addition to any recital program. (Mr. Addison won an Oscar for his original musical score to the film Tom jones. He has also won Emmy awards.) One of the most romantic pieces that I have had the pleasure of performing several times is the Fantasy Sonata for Viola & Harp by Sir Arnold Bax. This is a 24-minute work that would go well on a program that also included the Debussy Flute, Viola and Harp Sonata. [London: Chappell Music, 1943} The Bax Sonata for Viola and Piano is another rich but strange three-movement Sonata. [London: Chappell Music, 1933} Rondel--a work for solo viola written in 1996 by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett-is a sparkling composition that was commissioned by the Erin Arts Centre as the test piece for the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. It is based on the French popular song 'Allons gay', first printed in 'La Couronne et Fleur' (1536). Playing through this piece one can feel the spirit and tradition of the sixteenth cen tury passing down to us in modern raiment thanks to Mr. Bennett's skillful and beautiful writing. [London: Novello, 1996} The 1933 romantic Sonata for Viola and Piano by Sir Arthur Bliss was a pleasure to

i:i.