Could someone point me toward unsung viola concertos (which aside from Bartok and a few others is probably most of them!). Thanks very much!
York Bowen's concerto, which comes coupled with an excellent concerto by Cecil Forsyth on Hyperion. Fine playing from Lawrence Power. A real find, and not just for viola players and their groupies.
David
In my cd collection I have Viola Concertos by:
Samuel Adler
Kalevi Aho (with chamber orchestra)
William Alwyn (Pastoral Fantasia with string orchestra)
Sir Malcolm Arnold (with chamber orchestra)
Stanley Bate
W.H. Bell('Rosa Mystica')
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett('Lady Caroline Lamb': Elegy)
Michael Berkeley
Ernest Bloch (Suite and 'Suite Hebraique')
York Bowen
Benjamin Britten ('Lachrymae' with strings)
Geoffrey Burgon ('Ghosts of the Dance')
Arthur Butterworth
Frederick Delius('Caprice and Elegy')
Cecil Forsyth
Benjamin Frankel
Steven R. Gerber
Morton Gould
Eero Hameennniemi
Howard Hanson('Summer Seascape No.2' with strings)
John Harbison
Paul Hindemith ('Der Schwanendreher' with small orchestra, 'Trauermusik' with strings, Concert Music, op. 48 with large chamber orchestra, Kammermusik
No.5 with large chamber orchestra and Kammermusik No.6 for viola d'amore)
Alun Hoddinott (Concertino with small orchestra)
Vagn Holmboe (Chamber Concerto No.5 with chamber orchestra)
Gustav Holst ('Lyric Movement' with small orchestra
Herbert Howells('Elegy' with string quartet and string orchestra)
Gordon Jacob Viola Concerto No.1, Viola Concerto No.2 with strings, Concert Piece, Three Pieces and 'Passacaglia Stereophonica')
Joseph Jongen (Suite and 'Allegro Appassionato')
Viktor Kalabis('Tristium'-Concertante Fantasy with strings)
Giya Kancheli (Liturgy-'Mourned by the Wind')
Erland von Koch
Elizabeth Maconchy ('Romanza' with small orchestra)
Bohuslav Martinu(Rhapsody-Concerto)
David Matthews(Concertino 'Winter Remembered' with strings)
John McCabe (Concerto funebre with chamber orchestra)
Darius Milhaud (Concerto No.1)
Gosta Nystroem ('Hommage a la France')
Paul Patterson
Krzystof Penderecki
Allan Pettersson
Walter Piston
Miklos Rozsa
Edmund Rubbra
Ahmed Adnan Saygun
Alfred Schnittke
Ralph Vaughan Williams (Romance and 'Flos Campi' with wordless chorus and small orchestra)
Sir William Walton
Most of these are fairly modern works and not sure obviously what your taste might be :) If any of them strike you or might interest you then I am happy to make particular recommendations.
The Stanley Bate is gorgeous however :) :)
there's also an unrecorded 2nd viola concerto by Holmboe.
Some others (some of these are at IMSLP):
2 by Joseph Küffner (early Romantic era. The one at IMSLP is no.2.)
Emil Kreuz op.20 (turn of the 20th century)
Szeremi opus 6 (published ca.1912)
Frederick Charles Hay (pub. 1928.)
Malipiero - Dialog V (1956)
Andrey Arends viola concertino op7
Ferdinand Manns - romanze for viola
Hans Sitt (romance, op.72)
Concertpiece, op.27b by Kudelski
Don't forget the Romance in F for viola and orchestra, Op. 85 by Max Bruch. Wonderful work. There's also a Gran Sonate for viola and orchestra by Paganini.
Quote from: tcutler on Friday 30 September 2011, 20:24
Dundonnell, which of these concertos you listed are more romantic in style? Thanks!
For 'romantic' I would suggest:
Alwyn
Bate
W.H. Bell
Bloch
Bowen
Butterworth
Delius
Forsyth
Hanson
Howells
Jongen
Rozsa
Vaughan Williams
Walton
:)
Stanley Bate's is terrific - a lovely work. Maybe the influence of his teacher Vaughan Williams is not as assimilated as in his wonderful Third Symphony (actually an earlier work) - but it is still a very fine work. I much prefer the Walton Viola Concerto (hardly unsung perhaps) to his better known Violin Concerto and your old friend Edmund Rubbra also comes to mind.
No doubt you'll be rushing out to buy the York Bowen 8)
William Schuman, Concerto on Old English Rounds for Viola, Women's Chorus, and Orchestra. A large work. Recorded by Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic with the Camerata Singers under Donald McInnes.
Quote from: chill319 on Monday 03 October 2011, 01:28
William Schuman, Concerto on Old English Rounds for Viola, Women's Chorus, and Orchestra. A large work. Recorded by Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic with the Camerata Singers under Donald McInnes.
....and desperately requiring a new recording :)
What about Hubay's Viola concerto. Already recorded I think.....
Just recently. Actually a Morceau de Concert, Hubay's opus 20 (not, I think, called Concerto by the composer- a distinction considered important on IMSLP, at least) composed in two parts (1884-1888) and published by Hainauer of Breslau. (Julius Hainauer seems to deserve to have a full biography written of him, I think, judging from the various hats he wore and things he did that I have read about- not "just" a publisher of music he- or even just a publisher...; but that is more tangential than I have ever... never mind ...)
A real gem is the Klebanov viola concerto (Essay Recordings, Philharmonia Virtuosi New York) (http://www.amazon.com/Dmitri-Klebanov-Japanese-Silhouettes-Concerto/dp/B00000083X/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317736703&sr=1-1). Of course, there are also quite some fantastic viola sonatas (most notably the Shostakovich one). Igor Fedotov has recorded some rather unknown ones from USSR composers at Naxos (http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Russian-Viola-Music-Kryukov/dp/B0030UO9QS). On youtube, there are lots of recordings of viola concerts (well-known ones, but also e.g. Walton, Bunin, Gubaidulina). For contemporary viola concerts, check recordings and cd's by Nobuku Imai or Suzanne van Els. And for the Romantic sound, listen to Primrose :)
Mention of William Primrose, the great viola player.
Primrose wrote that the two hardest viola concertos to play were the Milhaud 2nd Concerto and the Peter Racine Fricker.
I have never-to my knowledge-heard the Milhaud. Has it been recorded? I do have a cd containing Milhaud's First Viola Concerto.
The Fricker was first performed by Primrose at the 1953 Edinburgh Festival. I have a tape recording of a later performance and should be able to make it available on here soon :)
It's Milhaud's opus 340 and I know of no commercial recording at any rate...
Milhaud's opus 340 has never been recorded commercially. However, there is a radio recording of the premiere Primrose gave with the German Radio Orchestra. In this interesting overview of 'recently' composed viola works, the brilliant American viola virtuoso Kenneth Martinson (check out his recording of the Milhaud works for piano and viola!) talks about Milhaud's output for viola and mentions that he has a copy of the radio recording (perhaps we should contact him and ask him to share it? ::)). Here is the link to the document: http://kennethmartinson.com/pdf/review_column_10.pdf. It also lists his contact info, so if someone is bold enough, go ahead and get us that recording ;)
QuoteMilhaud's opus 340 has never been recorded commercially. However, there is a radio recording of the premiere Primrose gave with the German Radio Orchestra.
I have a copy of the Primrose premiere broadcast. I'll digitize it this weekend and will upload thereafter. The performers, in addition to Primrose, are Hans Rosbaud and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, from Nov. 27, 1958.
Joly Braga Santos's Viola Concerto, op. 31, is recorded and can be had -- for a price: http://www.amazon.com/Joly-Braga-Santos-Divertimento-Concerto/dp/B003JHMF5O/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1318815141&sr=1-11 (http://www.amazon.com/Joly-Braga-Santos-Divertimento-Concerto/dp/B003JHMF5O/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1318815141&sr=1-11)
the Bate which has been mentioned I see was published by Schott (the Library of Congress has the 1951 miniature score).
Hrm, how about Andrey Arends' viola concertino (I see a piano reduction at IMSLP, I would have to seek out a full score if available...- well, it was published as Concertino pour alto-viola avec accompagnement de piano ou d'orchestre op.7, 1886, so it's not one of those student-concertinos whose accompaniment was always piano-only, certainly are those.)
Ah. Score and parts of the Arends at the Fleischer collection it seems - orch. for
solo viola, 2 flutes ,2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons ,2 horns, 2 trumpets (or 1 in the Ricordi edition?), timpani, strings.
So out of curiosity, what are 'sung' ones?
OP mentions Bartock, and there's Walton of course. Martinu maybe? Plus there's one by Telemann that's pretty popular, probably the only Baroque one as such. None in the Classical or Romantic period that I can think of, outside of Harold in Italy which doesn't really count.
I don't think the Telemann is a viola concerto in any case, though usually found in a viola arrangement. Viola d'amore concerto I think? Not sure. (Like those of the Stamitz family?) Hrm. Wonder if the manuscripts of Telemann's various viola works are at Dresden library scanned for perusal like many others, it would make checking this easier...
As to sung viola concertos, well, omitting the Bartók/Serly, putting the Telemann TWV 51:G9 on the back burner and the even more definitely not for the actual viola Stamitz likewise, major "Google hits" fwiw :) include viola concertos by Schnittke, Hoffmeister, Penderecki, Rozsa, McEwen (because of the new CD perhaps), Walton and - erm, don't know how Nigel Keay's work gets there... ?!?... even a few pages in Gubaidulina and Saygun (I have heard the latter but not the former.) (No hint of the Rubbra that soon in :) ) (Harbison and Gordon Jacob, yes. Hrm. Not a great way of measuring "sung" qualities, no. Nor "singing" qualities either, admittedly.)
I would list among the relatively sung ones Hindemith "Der Schwanendreher" (at least often recorded: I have four recordings of it) and "Trauermusik".
Two other unsung:
-Giorgio Federico Ghedini Musica da concerto for viola and strings
-René Eespere (1953, Estonian) Concerto for viola and chamber orch. (decidedly neo-romantic, CD ANTES 31.91129)
Quote from: eschiss1 on Wednesday 19 October 2011, 06:56
....likewise, major "Google hits" fwiw :) include viola concertos by Schnittke, Hoffmeister, Penderecki, Rozsa, McEwen (because of the new CD perhaps), Walton and - erm, don't know how Nigel Keay's work gets there... ?!?...
er...terribly sorry about that old chap, it seems I've missed my calling; perhaps I should've pursued a career in search engine optimization instead of writing stuff like that....
Quote from: Dundonnell on Friday 30 September 2011, 02:08
In my cd collection I have Viola Concertos by:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (Romance and 'Flos Campi' with wordless chorus and small orchestra)
Don't tell me you don't have the handful-or-so versions available of Vaughan Williams' Suite for Viola and Orchestra (1933/34). The viola was, after all, his own instrument. :)
I know, however, that you don't have the Portugalsom/Strauss cd with Braga Santos' lovely Viola Concerto. A shame for any self-respecting BSE, but there it is. ;)
Quote from: Christo on Friday 10 February 2012, 11:07
Quote from: Dundonnell on Friday 30 September 2011, 02:08
In my cd collection I have Viola Concertos by:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (Romance and 'Flos Campi' with wordless chorus and small orchestra)
Don't tell me you don't have the handful-or-so versions available of Vaughan Williams' Suite for Viola and Orchestra (1933/34). The viola was, after all, his own instrument. :)
I know, however, that you don't have the Portugalsom/Strauss cd with Braga Santos' lovely Viola Concerto. A shame for any self-respecting BSE, but there it is. ;)
Indeed I do have more than one version of the RVW Viola Suite but...no...I do not-yet-have the Braga Santos Viola Concerto :( Hopefully Naxos will record it soon ;D
Portugalsom needs to get a good distributor, they have some neat things (including I think two recordings of Vianna da Motta's fine A major symphony.)
The last century has seen quite a proliferation of Viola Concerti. Simon Bainbridge, Vytautas Barkauskas, Atli Heimir Sveinsson Konnun for viola and orchestra, Peter Paul Koprowski and a particular favourite, Tadeusz Baird's Concerto lugubre, all feature on cd.
Bax's Viola Phantasy (a concerto in all but name), my favorite ever!
Stanley Bate's Viola Concerto would get my vote.
How about the Elgar...?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Cello-Concerto-Viola-Schnittke/dp/B005LD9T9Y/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk?ie=UTF8&qid=1329477083&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Cello-Concerto-Viola-Schnittke/dp/B005LD9T9Y/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk?ie=UTF8&qid=1329477083&sr=1-1)
;)
Ah, well, if we go down the 'Tertis arrangements' route, there are quite a few, aren't there, some of them recorded. For example Delius' Double Concerto, with the cello part rearranged for viola, is available on Dutton and sounds, er, quite similar to the original version.
It's a pity the Tertis arrangement of the Elgar Cello Concerto isn't more unsung. The notion is entirely grotesque. Hurrumph! >:(
I have to say, I resisted the temptation to buy it. I generally disapprove of these things. I only bought the Delius because I couldn't easily source another recording of the concerto at the time.
Quote from: vandermolen on Friday 17 February 2012, 09:49
Stanley Bate's Viola Concerto would get my vote.
Mine too. :) All four of his major compositions released by now on Dutton - the Third and Fourth symphonies, the Second Piano Concerto and the Viola Concerto - reveal a highly gifted composer, IMO. One of the very few real discoveries that were made in the last few years.
Quote from: Lionel Harrsion on Friday 17 February 2012, 12:25
It's a pity the Tertis arrangement of the Elgar Cello Concerto isn't more unsung. The notion is entirely grotesque. Hurrumph! >:(
Well, I like it - but I know there's no accounting for taste ;)
A name that keeps popping into my mind is Chrétien Urhan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chr%C3%A9tien_Urhan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chr%C3%A9tien_Urhan). Besides being the viola soloist a the premiere of Berlioz' Harold in Italy, he is also mentioned in this Wiki as a quite prolific composer, although only chamber music was specifically mentioned in this context. However, a cantata was listed as well. He would be a good candidate for composing a viola concerto if one could be found. I wonder if there is a repository for his MS?
Australian Peggy Glanville-Hicks' Concerto Romantico, for viola (1957) has no available commercial recording.
I did think that there had been none at all but I found a note of a Walter Trampler's M-G-M recording E3559 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/concerto-romantico-for-viola-and-orchestra/oclc/37651825) Glanville-Hicks: Concerto Romantico; M. Richter: Aria & Toccata; B. Weber: Rhapsodie Concertante. TRAMPLER; Surinach, Winograd. A. Blue jacket. The ABC in Australia has a recent Australian concert recording but for some reason has decided it doesn't have the rights to make it commercially available.
You can download an older US concert recording from here (http://radiom.org/detail.php?omid=AM.1989.10.21.A) or go the Australian downloads folder for a direct option.
(This is Glanville-Hicks' centenary year, which appears not to be getting any attention in Australia. However as she was a collaborator with Lawrence Durrell (her exact contemporary in birth and death years) on the opera Sappho (http://www.sappho.com.au/), there is some extra-national attention.)
Well, she deserves some attention somewhere- more than a few places, and not just Vaughan-Williams-related groups (re: his symphony 4 and her The Transposed Heads, iirc).
Another to add to the list is Henk Badings Viola Concerto. One work for Viola & Orchestra that's never been recorded is Roy Harris's Elegy & Paen.
Alfred Hill: Viola Concerto
I'm searching for info on a Viola Concerto by Aubert Lemeland (Concerto pour alto). There is a recording on the Quantum label - does anyone have this? The work is in one movement but that's all I know, I'm just wondering about the duration, structure and character etc. Lemeland has only been mentioned on this forum a couple of times (once favourably by eschiss). I bought two CDs of his music recently and I'm rather impressed by it so I'm thinking that the Viola Concerto is probably going to be well worth getting to know.
Zdenek Lukas / Zdeněk Lukáš (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zden%C4%9Bk_Luk%C3%A1%C5%A1) (1928-2007), prolific Czech composer, best known for his choral work (writing and conducting). A number of his viola works have been recorded, although availability outside of Czech Republic is highly variable.
Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, Op.58 (1968)
Viola Concerto Op.185 (1983)
There are more than a dozen viola-centric chamber works in addition to these, a sampling of which are listed in the linked Wikipedia article.
Quote from: nigelkeay on Monday 07 May 2012, 12:20
I'm searching for info on a Viola Concerto by Aubert Lemeland (Concerto pour alto). There is a recording on the Quantum label - does anyone have this? The work is in one movement but that's all I know, I'm just wondering about the duration, structure and character etc. Lemeland has only been mentioned on this forum a couple of times (once favourably by eschiss). I bought two CDs of his music recently and I'm rather impressed by it so I'm thinking that the Viola Concerto is probably going to be well worth getting to know.
The Gérard Billaudot website states that it is for viola and strings and lasts 15 minutes. It is available for hire. You might want to visit their headquarters in Paris (rue de l'Echiquier, 10e) and have a look at the score.
Talivaldis Kenins's Canzona Sonata for viola and string orchestra (1986) can be heard on the Canadian Music Centre website, as well as the superb sonata for viola and piano. No sign of his later Viola Concerto, though.
Thanks for the info on the Lemeland Concerto. I had a look at the Billaudot site and it seems that not even the solo part is for sale, and there's no mention of any piano reduction (same with the Violin Concerto). Somewhat unusual, if that's really case with the solo part, but worth checking on. I know rue de l'Échiquier quite well - a movement of my own viola concerto (that I just uploaded to youtube in version vla/pno) was recorded in a friend's apartment in that street.