JAVS Winter 1991

required a new piano part as well. But I persevered and often felt that I had succeeded in particularly difficult situations. I had the greatest joy in working in the third category with composers who had written works especially for me: Robin Orr, Theodore Holland, Norman Fulton, John B. McEwen, William Alwyn, Alan Rawsthome, Lennox Berkeley, Alan Richardson and others. I was always grateful for their efforts and for the way they would listen to my ideas. As to the various versions I made of unsatisfactory passages, they naturally had the final choice. Problems of technique and especially of balance would often come up for discussion, because the viola is a strange instrument, occupying a very individual tessitura. It can easily become submerged-more easily than the violin or cello. The viola has an effective range of only three octaves, and any writing above top C must be judged with the greatest care. Unlike the violin or cello, the upper register of the viola is weak in sound and apt to lose quality of tone. The lower strings are the most colorful, especially the C string that gives the viola its special appeal. Furthermore, the viola tends to sound strident under pressure. These characteristics have to be kept in mind and carefully evaluated, especially in relation to piano accompaniments. I found the composers with whom I worked most cooperative and understanding. My interest in educational music, the fourth group, grew when I became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. I was interested not only in teaching my pupils, but also in providing books of pieces they could use in teaching their students. For this purpose I arranged music for absolute beginners, right up through the various grades of difficulty. This is where arrangements really serve a purpose. At first I thought that what had proved successful on the violin merely required transposition to become equally successful on the viola. In this I was wrong. Even from the earliest stages, the viola poses individual and characteristic problems that require special treatment. In tone production, especially in the use of the bow, the basic actions have to be modified; then the greater gap between the fingers of the left hand discourages the use of extensions. It is often better to cross strings than to change position, since each string on the viola is not as individual as on the violin. I felt that a new repertoire had to be created, and it was my joy to try to provide one. Although I spent much of my time in these various categories of arrangements, devising a more extended repertoire for the viola, I always kept in mind that the ideal is a viola repertoire of original works. Arrangements are not to be despised, but to be used with discretion. To discard arrangements altogether, on principle, is to be foolishly intolerant. Of course, the young viola player of today has to explore the possibilities of the original viola literature, but while this literature continues to show such glaring gaps, there must be room for arrangements. Watson Forbes, distinguished British vioUst, has written extensively for and about the viola. His editions and

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arrangements for the instrument number over one..hundred examples. Han. Dr. Music (Glasgow), F.R.S.A.M., F.R.S.A.M. & D.