JAVS Spring 2022

archives reports a performance of the Andante movement on February 12, 1949 as part of the WYNC broadcast from the American Music Festival at Princeton University and a broadcast from WGHF in 1950 of the entire Sonata. 22 In 1956, Gideon sent the work to Lázaro Sternic, Principal Violist of the Symphony Orchestra of Buenos Aires, to play for upcoming chamber concerts. 23 And in 1958, she noted in an American Composers’ Alliance document that it had been performed twice: at the premiere and in a 1957 recital by violist Walter Trampler and pianist Doulas Nordli at the Music School Settlement in New York. 24 Formal Analysis The first movement of Miriam Gideon’s Sonata for Viola and Piano is in sonata form. Unusually, however, the large-scale formal sections of Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation are delineated by solo viola cadenzas (see Table 4). While the overall movement is atonal, phrases are still melodic. The first theme of the exposition is characterized by a rhythmic motive that leaps upward, shown in Figure 3. The second theme is more subdued and lyrical, yet still rhythmic (see Figure 4).

Modernism and Miriam Gideon: Sonata for Viola and Piano

In contrast to Marion Bauer, Miriam Gideon wrote unapologetically atonal works for most of her career. Specifically, she referred to her compositional style as “freely atonal,” preferring not to be classified as a specific “type” of composer. Gideon said publicly that she never considered her professional activities to be unique or special. On the other hand, she recalled “old timers” peeking into the windows of her classroom and being “so dazzled by seeing a woman lecturing that they’d step in and stare.” 19 Working when there were few women in the compositional field, she still tried not to overemphasize the fact that she was a woman composer. Miriam Gideon’s Sonata for Viola and Piano (1946) is virtually un-played by violists today, although during her life the work garnered several important performances. Documentation from the American Composers Alliance states that the piece was “brought in” by George Perle on October 1, 1948. 20 The Sonata was then premiered by the violist Abram Loft and pianist Alvin Bauman at Times Hall on November 21, 1948. 21 At least a few additional performances of the Sonata were given after its premiere. An account of broadcast performances from the American Composers’ Alliance

Table 2: Miriam Gideon, Sonata for Viola and Piano, I. Allegretto marcato, Form.

Figure 3: Miriam Gideon, Sonata for Viola and Piano, I. Allegro marcato, mm. 1-8, Score courtesy of American Composers Edition (BMI), New York, NY.

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 1, Spring 2022