Viola concerto

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The viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments, usually a full orchestra or string orchestra but sometimes smaller. Early examples of the viola concerto include, among others, Georg Philipp Telemann's concerto in G major, and several concertos by Carl Stamitz. The first concertante work to use the viola without caution (though extreme virtuosity only later became identified as the desired characteristic in a concerto soloist) was the violin and viola Sinfonia Concertante of Mozart.

The viola has not enjoyed wide popularity as a solo instrument and, like the cello, suffers from problems of projection against an orchestral ensemble. According to some, (such as Alfred Einstein, among others), the essence of the concerto is not the display of virtuosity but conflict and resolution, and the viola is less suited than the piano, or even the violin, to balance itself against an orchestra that is not deliberately underused by the composer. One must also consider that in the past, viola players were often violinists retreated in ranks, and as such, viola soloists were few until fairly recently. Composers like William Walton, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Paul Hindemith were among the first to begin composing solo viola works for newer and more capable players. These players in turn arranged works originally for other instruments, (an example being Lionel Tertis's arrangement of Edward Elgar's cello concerto).

[edit] Selected list of concertos and concertante works

  • Malcolm Arnold
    • Viola concerto with small orchestra (1971, his op. 108)
  • Arnold Bax
    • Phantasy for viola and orchestra (1920)
  • Ernest Bloch
    • Suite for viola and orchestra (1919)
    • Suite Hebraïque;
  • York Bowen
    • Viola concerto in C minor, opus 25, about 1908 ([3])
  • John E. Bower
    • The Echo Over the Voice for solo viola, chamber ensemble, and interactive electronics (2007) ([4])
  • Revol Bunin
    • Viola concerto, Op. 22 (1953)
  • Steven Gerber
    • Viola concerto
  • Hans Henkemans
    • Viola concerto (1954, premiered 1956) ([10])
  • Paul Hindemith
    • Trauermusik for viola and strings
    • Kammermusik No. 5 for viola and small orchestra
    • Konzertmusik for viola with chamber orchestra
    • Der Schwanendreher
  • Vagn Holmboe
    • Viola concerto #1, M. 141, 1943 (once called Chamber Concerto No. 5)
    • Viola concerto #2, M. 357, 1991–2
  • David Hunt
    • "Sicut Lilium" for viola and orchestra
  • Gordon Jacob
    • Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1925)
    • Viola concerto #2 (1979) ([11])
  • Victor Legley
    • Viola concerto, op. 78 (1971) ([13])
  • Zdeněk Lukáš (born 1928) (Kabelac student)
    • Viola concerto (1983) [14]
  • Darius Milhaud
    • Viola concerto with orchestra of soloists, 1929, opus 108 (a revised version — a version for larger orchestra was premiered by Monteux, conducting, Paul Hindemith, viola in Amsterdam)
    • Concertino d'été, 1951, opus 311
    • Second viola concerto, 1955, opus 340 (for William Primrose) (see [15])
  • Paul Müller-Zürich
    • Viola concerto opus 24 in F minor (1934)
  • Thea Musgrave
    • Lamenting with Ariadne for viola and chamber orchestra
  • Marc Parella
    • Viola concerto (2007)
  • Julius Röntgen
    • Triple concerto in B-flat major, for violin, viola, cello and strings (1922)
    • Triple concerto for violin, viola and cello (1930)
    • Introduktion, Fuge, Intermezzo und Finale for violin, viola, cello
  • Hilding Rosenberg
    • Viola concerto (three versions - 1942, 1964, both for viola and strings, 1945 for larger orchestra) ([17])
  • Gil Shohat
    • Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
  • Anton Stamitz
    • Concerto in B-flat major (recordings on Panton and on Koch Schwann CDs, and on a 1980 Supraphon LP. A score was published by Schött in Mainz and New York in 1972.)
    • Concerto in F major for viola and strings (1779) (Score published by Schött in 1970. Referred to as concerto no. 2.)
    • Concerto in G major (published by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1971. Referred to as concerto no. 3. See also the comment under Carl Stamitz.)
    • Concerto in D major (published by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1973. At least one of Anton Stamitz' concertos was published earlier by Sieber in Paris during the 1700s.)
  • Carl Stamitz
    • Concerto in C major
    • Concerto in D major (1774) (also, possibly at least one other. It is possible also that, as stated in the article Viola d'amore, these works were intended for that instrument primarily or as alternatives.)
  • Johann Stamitz
    • Concertos (at least one, in G major, published by Litolff in 1962. May have been meant for viola d'amore.)

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