Chester-Music - Viola

Esa-Pekka Salonen's Pentatonic Etude for solo viola written in 2008 and revised in 2014. / Partitions classique / Cordes / Alto / CHESTER MUSIC

Anna Thorvaldsdottir?s Sola for solo viola and pre-recorded electronics was composed for Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti. The music, which features extended techniques, was inspired by the search for calm amidst chaos and turmoil.

The Chester String Series has been providing high quality musical works for developing String Players for over 60 years. Viola Book 2 contains eleven pieces covering the 1st-3rd positions including works by John Eccles and Henry Purcell. Every piece has been appropriately arranged and edited for Viola and Piano by the renowned Viola teacher and arranger Peggy Radmall.

This work for viola chorus and percussion was commissioned by the London Symphony Chorus and was first performed in October 1994 at the Barbican Hall London by Yuri Bashmet and the London Symphony Chorus conducted by StephenWestrop.The remarkable text of the Troparion written by the great Byzantine poetess-nun Cassiana was the inspiration of The Myrrh-Bearer. The text informed the architecture of the music. The viola solo represents MaryMagdalen as the cello solo represented the Mother of God on The Protecting Veil. This is where the resemblance between the two pieces ends.In The Myrrh-Bearer the Chorus symbolises ‘us’ the ‘sins of the world’ from‘stylized dictatorships’ to ‘the frivolous inane escapist vanities of the world ’ the to cries of ‘help’ after the cosmic catastrophe and finally reaching an apocalyptic climax in the words ‘We have no king by Caesar;’ adownright condemnation of God in the Earthly power.In a surreal way the Magdalen’s ‘sin’ shines through in the viola music because she recognises the Godhead and the endless ‘Kyrie eleison’ chanted by the semi-chorusrepresents her repentance and whatever is left of a ‘repentant’ world.The Myrrh-Bearer explores the whole range of the viola climbing from the depths up to the highest notes and then falling again at the end after theMagdalen’s recognition of the Risen Christ ‘Rabboni.’The last stroke of the gong in the viola’s final bottom C gives a deliberately ominous end to the piece.This is a special item which is made to order. Please e-mail ourMail Order Department for further information.

Notes From a Diary was jointly commissioned by Thórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir and the Hebrides Ensemble with financial support from Musica Nova the Ministry of Culture in Iceland NESTA and the Scottish Arts Council.Itwas first performed on 3 June 2005 by Thórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir (viola) and Kristinn Örn Kristinsson (piano) at the Ymir Concert Hall Reykjavik Iceland as part of the International Viola Congress.

'Five Sketches' was commissioned by Nicholas Logie and first performed by him on 31 May 1984 at the Wigmore Hall.Quoting Maconchy: I have always had a particular affection for the viola with its darktone-colour and its unlimited expressive range.I have tried in these pieces to explore that range and to make them well varied in rhythm and content.The note E which the work begins and endsserves as a sort of “point d’appui” all through.'

Tribute To Michael Berkeley is a piece written by Hugh Wood for solo Viola. It was composed as a farewell tribute to Michael Berkeley in appreciation of his work as Director of the Cheltenham Festivalfrom 1995-2004. The work lasts around 3 minutes.

This work was commissioned by Roger Chase. First performance on 16th February 2009 at the Stradivari Music and Arts Center Chicago.

The composer’s note on this copy of the autograph score has the following directions: ‘Out of the Night was written to be played in order to ‘greet the dawn’ outside St Catherine’s Monastery Sinai’ and it is recommended that the work be played outside or in a church or building with some resonance. The sound is Middle Eastern modal invoking the Orthodox Church with the Greek pronunciation of the single word ‘Alleluia’.Tavener was widely known as a composer of religious music and while this work does not fit any liturgical use it communicates the sacredness of a new day. Contemporary British composer John Tavener was that rare creature a composer of serious music andserious religious music who also achieved commercial success. He burst into the popular consciousness with the performance of his Song for Athene at the funeral of Princess Diana but had been a highly respected and frequently performed composer since the premiere of his dramatic cantata The Whale in 1968.