Nico Muhly: Drones & Viola: Viola: Instrumental Work

Drones & Viola was written by Nico Muhly for Thomas Bartlett and Nadia Sirotain in 2011. Every movement begins with either the Piano or Viola establishing a drone for the duration of the movement. Over the top of the drones very expressive delicate beautiful lead lines are heard.

POD-Nico Muhly's Stabat Mater Dolorosa for Soprano Baritone and Ensemble. Full score. My Stabat Mater is a very simply-constructed piece of music. I knew I wanted to write a duet a piece of religious music and something to go along with a bit of Birtwistle. My initial instinct was to base the piece on drones as Birtwistle's music has so very many notes but then I decided that an austere but ecstatic approach was the best to fill a coherent evening. I asked my friend Craig Lucas to paraphrase the Stabat Mater text - which describes the Virgin Mary weeping at the foot of the cross on which her son is crucified. The piece is organised byseparating each phrase of the text with a moment of silence with the exception of the last three which are joined with a frenzied chorale with improvised dynamics from the Harp Wind and Strings. - Nico Muhly Instrumentation: Soprano and Baritone voice Flute Clarinet in Bb Harp Violin Viola and Violoncello.