JAVS Winter 1991

37

interesting, at the very least. This is not a standard recital favorite, but in the right setting, for the right audience, it would certainly make an impression.

or less conventionally marked, which explore rhythms or figures or successions of notes, or rapid repetitions... musical events different from those encountered before. These may involve extremes of range, or new timbers, or periods of silence, unusual combinations of viola and piano interactions, or sudden changes of dynamic, or tone quality. Perhaps needless to say, conventional approaches to basic concepts of rhythm, harmony, melody and form are not present, and although the music is consistently dissonant, the overall effect is not ugly, but interesting and somehow fresh. Each movement ends with a passage of long rather inactive notes held by the viola, suggesting the composer is fond of the beautiful tone of the instlument. The piano is at least an equal partner here, and extended techniques involving plucking and rubbing the strings, producing harmonics, tapping the soundboard and forearms on the keys are called for. Some of the piano writing seems less original than the viola, or perhaps just a little overdone, such as highly chromatic figurations of different pitches in widely spaced tessitura, played as fast and loud as possible, or as in the last movement, thirty...eight insistent repetitions of the same widely spaced two pitches. Some of the viola writing, too, explores a particular performance possibili ty with great frequency. There is a lot of tremolo, and very fast notes (like grace... notes ) played jete. Rapid dissonant double... stops abound, as do abruptly shifting tessituras, which require largely unguided left...hand shifts to highly dissonant pitches. The viola and piano scores are different, probably to facilitate page turns for the violist. The viola part has no editing in the way of fingerings or bowings. But with few exceptions, the viola writing lies wi thin the realm of possibility, if it's not always idiomatic. The generous use of harmonics is especially effective. The biggest performance problems doubtless lie in the area of coordination between the two performers. In spite of the care the composer has taken to indicate where exact togetherness is expected, this Sonata would call for some sincere dedication on the part of secure musicians for a good performance. There are some moments of real highpoint... notably rich and imaginative. All the unexpected effects doubtless would be great fun to play, and a sympathetic audience would find the Sonata

Alan Arnold, through his Viola World Publications, has made available to violists a good deal of standard violin repertory in solid, workmanlike, uncluttered transcriptions for viola and piano. He has continued that tradition with this new treatment of Scene de Ballet. The gist of the transcription is that the key has been moved down a fifth, from A to D. A comparison of this editions and the 1901 G. Schirmer violin and piano score shows that many of the transcription decisions involved the piano part. Octave transposition, pedal marks not used, some phrasing eliminated, some left...hand octaves thinned out, some illogical or unnecessary dynamics changed, and in one crucial place, at the beginning of the Bolero section, a helpful piano fingering is shown. The viola part is meticulously edited, with idiomatic bowings and many practical fingerings which clarify the 19th century, Franco...Belgian virtuoso style. Ornamental runs and figures are shown in the context of mathematically correct measures. It's easy to figure out what is intended. Occasionally, the suggested bow changes seem a little stingy, but this is a highly personal matter. There are a couple of fingering mistakes: two measures before the "Valse" section, there is an inexplicable "4" indicated, and thirty... three measures before the Adagio, there is a "3" over the wrong note (more clearly shown in the piano score). The piano part is missing a tie on page 3. Perhaps a more serious problem is the lack of measure numbers; an indication of the actual pitch desired when harmonics are called for would be a practical help also. Scene de Ballet could be a recital piece, if you wanted contact with the 19th century spirit, in terms of both the dance...fantasy (Bolero, Valse, Allegro appassionata, etc.), and the violin virtuoso. This is music of charm, grace,