/

The Journal of the American Viola Society is a publication of that organization , and isproduced at Brigham Young Un iversit y. e 1985, ISSN 0898-598 7. The Journal welcomesletters and articles from its readers.

Ed itorial office: BYU Music, Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, UT 84602 , (80 1) 378-3 083Editor: David DaltonAssistant Editor: David Day

Advertising office: Harold Klatz, 1024 Maple Avenue, Evanston , IL 60202, (312) 869­2972. Deadlines are March I, June I, and October 1 for the thr ee annual issues.Inquiries can be made to Mr. Klatz. Copy and art work should be sent to the ed itor ialoffice.

Rates: S75 full page, S60 two-thirds page , S40 half page , S33 one-third page , $25 one ­fourth page .

For classifieds: SIO for 30 words including address; S20 for 31 to 60 word s.

Payment to "American Viola Societ y- c/o Rosemary Gl yde, treasurer, P.O. Box 558 Rt.22, Golden's Bridge, NY 10526.

OFFICERS

David DaltonPresidentBrigham Young UniversityProvo, Utah 84602(BOl) 378-3083

Louis KievmanVice-President1343 Amalfi Dr.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Harold KIntzSecretary1024 Maple Ave.Evanston, JL 60202

Rosema ry C lydeTreasurerP.O Box. 558. Rt. 22Go ldens Bridge, N Y 10526

M aurice IN: RileyPast President512 Roosevelt Blvd.Ypsilanti. MI 48197

txtamvt BOARD

Paul Dok torMilton KatimsDonald McIn nesRobert OppeltJoseph de PasqualeDwight PoundsThom as TattonMarcus Thom psonFrancis TursiKaren Tutt leAnn Woodw ard

COORDINAWR WITHCANADIAN VIOLA SOCIETY

A Baird Knechtel

IFOUNDER

Myron Rosenblum

HONORARY PRESIDENT

William Primrose (deceased)

.~Cf:Y Chapterof the lniernationale Viola-Gesellschaft

XVII INTERNATIONAL VIOLA CONGRESSJune 21-25,1989

The University of Redlands, Redlands, Californ ia

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 219:00-1 2:00 pm FINALS-Primrose Comp etition12:00- 3:00 REGISTRATION-Chapel Narthex

3:00 MASTER CLASS- Kare n Tuttle (onviola pedagogical techniques)

5:00 SOCIAL HOUR6:00 DINNER AND OPE NING

CEREMONY: Welcome, Phil ipSwanson, Director, School of Music;David Da lton, Presid ent, Ame ricanViola Societ y; guest speaker, GunterOjsterjek, President, InternationalViola Society

8:30 CONCERT-Csaba Erdelyi8:00- 9:30 pm Exhibitor set-up

THURSDAY, J UNE 227:30- 8:30 am Exhibitor Set-up-Orton8:30- 6:00 pm EXHIBITS OPEN DURI NG TH ESE

HOURS8:30- 9:30 BREAKFAST AND VISIT T HE

EXHIBITS9:30 CON CERT-Bernard and Naomi

Zaslav: The 20th Century Viola10:30 BREAK10:45 LECTURE-RECITAL-Dr. Pamela

Goldsmith: "The T ransition to theTourte Bow and its effec t on BowingArticulation (wi th demonst rat ions ofthe changes in the viola literature)

12:00 LUNCH AND VISIT THE EXHIBITS1:30 MASTER CLASS- Nannie Jamieson:

Preparing student s for compe titions3:00- 4:00 VISIT THE EXIIIBITS

4:00 CONCERT-Lucille Taylor-viola, JohnWalz-cello, including Lutoslawski:Bucolics; Beethoven: Eyeglass duo;new work: Miam i Jean VanAppledorn

5:00 SOCIAL HOUR AND VISIT THEEXHIBITS

6:00 DINNER8:30 CONCERTO CONCERT: with

Redlands Symphon y Orchestra, Dr./ Jon Robertson , conductor. Rosemary

Gl yde: Road to Hame lin by PaulRamsier for viola and narrator;Primrose Competition winner playsBohrnstedt Concerto Premier; MarthaStrongin Katz and Lyndon Ta ylorperform the Suite for Violin and Violaand String Orchestra Op. 19, No. I byKurt Atterburg, rev . 1946; RobertoDiaz performs Robert W. JonesConcerto for Viola and Orchestra

FRIDAY, JUNE 238:00- 6:00 pm EXHIBITS OPEN DURI NG T HESE

HOURS8:00 BREAKFAST AND VISIT T HE

EXHIBITS9:30 LECTURE-Hans Weisshaar, Violin

Maker10:30 BREAK10:45 CON CERT: Paul Coletti-Ame rican

music12:00 LUNCH AND VISIT TH E EXHIBITS2:00 LECTURE/MASTE R CLASS: Alan de

Veritch. Discussion will include a briefoverview of career paths ope n to theviolist with the primary focus onpreparation for an orchestral career.Session will also feature a master classcover ing some standard orchestra lrep ertoire fo r the vio list.

3:00 VISIT T HE EXHIBITS5:00 SOCIAL HOUR6:00 DINNER6:00 Exhibits close8:30 CONCERT- Yuri Bashmet , Russian

ViolistSATURDAY, J UNE 24

8:00- 5:00 pmEXHIBITS OPEN DURI NG TH ESEHOURS

8:00 BREAKFAST AND VISIT T HEEX HIBITS

9:30 LECTURE-David Sch wartz on therecording industr y and studio wor k

10:30 BR EAK10:45 MASTER CLASS AND LE CTURE­

Csaba Erdelyi12:00 LUNCH AND VISIT THE EXHIBITS1:30 LECTURE-Paul Siefri ed, bowmaker:

"What to Look for When Choosing aBow"

2:45 CONCERT- New International Musicfor the Viola: Clyn Barru s, Franco­Belgian music; Ro berto Diaz, LatinAmeri can music; Gun ter Ojs terjek(Int'l Viola Society Pr eside nt), Sonatafor Viola and Piano to FranzZeyringer ,Op. 12 ('58) by Yugoslaviancomposer Moroslav Milet ic

4:00 CONCERT OF EXHIBITOR'SINSTRUMENTS, Paul Coletti

6:00- 8:00 pm Exhibit Dismantling6:00 FINAL BANQUET-Speaker: David

Dalton , President of th e AmericanViola Society; Henri Temi anka, GuestSpea ker

8:30

8:009:00

10:3010:4512:001:00

CONCERT- "Look What I Bratsche!"Nick Ariondo, accordion , JohnAcevedo: Kalamatiano for accordionand vio la by Ariond o; Pam elaGoldsmith : Colgrass work for violaand percussion; Debussy Trio performsLe S olei! Mult icolore by JacquesBordon; June Sunrise. Blue S ky,Symphonic Study for 12 Soli Violas byKenneth Harding

SUNDAY, JUNE 2SBREAKFAST-CommonsMEETING: American Viola Societ y,Can adian Viola Societ yBREAKCONCERT-Martha Strongin KatzPICNIC LUNCH-QuadPLAY-ALONG CONCERT-6thBrandenburg Concerto, Stam itz Duets ,Bartok Duets, etc. Tom Tatton,coordi nator

vre i. e A S i X C O R D ES

Fee squc du vicux r-hd teau d e Forcb hei m , Frnnco nic[xrve ou xvc steele),

Program subject to change.

COMPETITION FINALISTS

The fifteen audition tapes for the Primrose Scholarship Competitio n were evaluated on March 12by a jury comprised of violists Pamela Goldsmi th , David Schwartz and Virginia Majewski. Thefollowing were selected as finalists by thi s panel of judges:

Dan iel Foster , age 19Obe rlin,OH

Student of Jeffrey Irvine at the Oberlin Conservatory

Lisa Mood y, age 21Vanco uve r, BC, Canada

Student of Ge rald Stan ick at th e University of British Columbia

Lisa Nelson, age 25Golden Valle y, MN

Student of Robert Vernon at the Cleve land Inst itute

Min g Pak, age 22Oberlin,OH

Student of Jeffrey Irvine at the Oberlin Conservato ry/

Kai Tang, age 25Honolulu , HI

No curre nt teacher or educational aff iliation

CONGRESS REGISTRATION

Name _

Add ress _

City/State/Zip _

Phone Present Posit ion _

'Are you an Amer ica n Viola Society, Canadian Viola Society, or In ternat ional Viol a Soc iety memb er ?==:-cYes (Include membersh ip verifi ca tion) No (A dded $20 required. This add itiona l fe ebr in gs to the ap plicant automat ic mem bership in the AVS.)

Re turn to:XVII INT ER NATIONAL VIOLA CONGRESS, Universi ty of Re dlands , School of Mu sic, P.O.Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373-0999 Phone: (7 14) 793-2121, ext. 3260

Check app ropriate regist ration fee . (Incl udes all events EXCEPT banquet)

Full Confere nce fees:

Regular: Before May IS: $75 S tudents: Befo re May IS: $40_ _ _ After May 15: $90 After May 15: $50

Dail y fees: Check ind ividual date(s) you play to atte nd.

___June 2 1 _ _ _ June 22 _ _ _Jun e 23 _ _ _June 24 _ _ ---'June 25

Regular: Before May IS: $25/day Students: Befor e May IS: $15/day_ _ _ After May IS: $30 / day Afte r May 15: $20/day

___ -.Mea ls for ent ire Congress: $85 (Wed. ba nque t thru Sun . lunch; br eaks/social hrs. extra)_ _ _ Opening Banquet / Cerem ony: $15- Wed nesday, June 21, 6:00 p.m., Orton Center_ _ - Closing Banquet $ 15- Saturday, June 24, 6:00 p.m., Or ton Center

_ _ _ Vege ta rian meals pr eferred

+If not attending all 4 days of the Congress, you may purch ase mea ls sep arately on cam pus at the Commons , Orange MillCafe or local restaurants .

On-camp us housin g fees: Age _ _ ---'Sex Roomma te _

_ _ , Single Room: $25 per night_ _ _June 2 1 June 22

_ _ _,Doub le Room: $20 per person/night_ _ _June 23 June 24

_ _1_ 1will bring my viola in order to pa rt icipa te in the pla y-along concert.

' To ta l Pay ment enclosed:$ (Re member to include the required ad dit ional$20 memb er ship fee if not a Viola Society member). Make che cks payable toUniversity of Redlands. No fees will be refunded after June I. Completeinformat ion will be sent upon receipt of registrat ion form wi th fee.

XVII CONGRESS AT REDLANDS

Redlands is nestled at the base of the San Bernardino Mountain Range sixty- five mile s east ofLos Angeles on Interstate 10 in Southern California. With an average high of eighty-five degreesand an average low of forty deg rees, it is an ideal location between deserts and beaches. OntarioInternational Airport is the nearest served by commercial airlines.

Transportation between Ontario International Airport and Redlands may be arranged wi thEmpire Airport Transit , (714) 877-4130, or Stage Coach Airporter , (714) 794-6066.

Housing Information

On-Campus hou sing is available on a first-come, f irst-served basis. If you desire on-campus,dorm-type lodg ing, please indicate so on your regi stration form. Include the amount in yourcheck and your space will be confirmed by return mail.

The following hotel information is presented for your convenience . If you prefer to stay of f ­campus, please contact facilities directly to secure a room. Those using off-campusaccommodations must make their own arrangements for transportation to and from the U niversityof Redlands .

Obi Sngl Obi Sngl*Inland Empire Hilton $59 $59 *Goodnight Inn $31 $26285 East Hospitality Lane 1675 Industrial Park AvenueSan Bernardino, CA 92408 Redlands, CA 92373(714) 889-0133 (714) 793- 3723

Best Western $43 $39 Mot el 6 $31 $251120 West Colton Avenue 1160 ArizonaRedlands, CA 92374 Redlands, CA 92374(714) 793- 2001 (7 14) 792-3175

Redlands Inn $34 $29offering 1235 West Colton Avenueparticipants Redlands, CA 92374valid (714) 793-6648

*The Inland Empire Hilton and Goodnight Inn arespecial rates for all those identifying th emselve s asin the XVII International Viola Congress. This offer is

Tuesda y, June 20-Sunday, June 25, 1989.

Above room pri ces are rounded and include tax . All pri ces are subjec t to change.

AVS MEMBERS AND JA VS SU BSCRIBERS, K INDLY NOTE :

You have all received a not ice throu gh the mail in February that du es for 1989 should be submittedimmediately to Rosemary Glyde, AVS Treasurer, P.O . Box 558, Rt. 22, Golden's Brid ge, NY 10526.If your dues are not rec eived by latest June I, your name won't be ente red on the mai ling list andyou will not receive the summer and fall issues of JA VS. Please send du es no w if you hav en't donethi s alre ad y. Your support is greatly apprec iated.

We have been assured by Barenreiter Publishers in Kassel , West German y, who produ ce the ViolaYearbook , that thi s publication will be sent to our members thi s spring.

APPLICATION FOR MASTERCLASS PERFORMANCE FORXVII INTERNATIONAL VIOLA CONGRESS

The International Viola Con gress sponsored by the American Viola Society and theUniversity of Redlands is featuring the following masterclass artists: Csaba Erdelyi fromHungary, now teaching at Indiana University, June 24; Nannie Jamieson of London, England,June 22; and Karen Tuttle from the Curtis Institute, June 21. In addition, Alan de Veritch,former principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will give a masterclass and lecture, June 23,on preparing orchestral auditions. Masterclasses are open to performers from the ages of 15-30.Each artist will be prepared to work with four to six students on a broad spectrum of repertoirefrom the different style periods.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of th is unique opportunity to perform for thesedistinguished artists and all violists will be inspired by watching them teach the performers.Please reserve your space in these masterclasses immediately by returning the followingapplication form .

Fee for performers: $25, or fee is waived to persons enrolled for the full congress, June 21­25, 1989.

Name

Address City/State

Phone

Zip

/

Send with this application a recent cassett e tape which reflects your performing ability.

Please indicate compositions you would like to pre sent for a masterclass and include atypewritten biography of your musical experience s, teachers, which competitions won , andrepertoire list for the past few years.

Make checks payable to University of Redlands

Mail to: Lucille Taylor, Viola CongressSchool of MusicUniversity of RedlandsP.O. Box 3080Redlands, CA 92373-0999

r nc c x e x r D "t: :..- CIf .'"

Tnomp ne de .I[ll.l:imilietl. p(lr Albert Durer .'( \" 1" ~i"·d (" , .

Oxford====================.1Subscribers I!IIjoy a special 20% discount

" Tllis volume is an inualu­able contribution to the strillgplayer's bookshelf. The claritywith which Mr. Dalton hasdistilled the ideas of the greatWilliam Primrose forms atoonderi ul basis for a technicalapproach a l l both violin andviola. As one who has had therare prioileg«of studyillg andperforming with the greatmaster, it was very much likea personal visit . .."- Joseph S ilve rs tein , aninent i 'io!i Il;::;I,

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Foreword by JA ;'\.'OS STA RK ER' .Ad'lln' the dea th , in ! lJi'\2, (If th e T(' 110\\" I1I'd\'joli st William Pnm ros e. David Daltonl' n g'l,g l'd th ...' m u sician in ,1 livclv ~l'ri ,,-'s IIIco nvcr sanous that tou ched \ )11 ;llmpsl ,IIIaSpl'Cb llf \'iO l'l tcch .uq uc. ~~l· r iorn l ,l ncl"

repertoire . r l'c IHd lllg , and Ill... torv Th i.. bOt'l-.rs ,rtranscnpuon o t tha t l h ,l !tl glll' , cont <llll l n .~

illum ina tin g ad t'ice o n hllld il\ l.; thl' viola .buwin g. ton e. Iinl;?l'r illg , and pr.ld idll~ , ,111s u p pprll' d b v CUPI11 1lSIllustra tio ll:' 'lIl dlllu.;ic.ll,e xamples . ,1'; I, d l .l";ill -:> ig h t";lll1n..-pcrtom- tor the \10 1,1- "a n in strumentwithout tradition "- ,l nd I' ll pcrtor m.uu'v-, 1.1the hfl',11n llll'"l' r tus bv B.1rlllk a n d \ \'.llh ' llPunctua ted wit h fr.l n kn l'sS and hurnor , thi..l-ook i-:> ,1 tr ihull' toom- ot lhl' g reat a rt i..t-, ofthi-cccn turv.

C o n te n ts:Ii.. the Rl',l ,!e r ' \ 'il.l,l \i.1 \ 'i,l1in? ' Ic-aclu-r andStud en t - T hv Lt.' ......ll ll · 011 Pr .ict i..in g ·Hold ing the \'ll. la · TI1l'.'\rt llt f${l\\1I1:-;' ~ lt l rl·

on Bll\\' ing and TOI1l" '1he \ 1.1t!I' r,.!FinJ,';l'r ing' Left -ha nd Tl'd 1t1il\Ul... . OI I1<'rLctt- h.md Con..idcr.i t ion.. • t\ lou tPl' rh ' rm in )..;·On St,'g<" TIll' I{('pl'rll'ire 'Pl' rlu rm,lIK l' I'r ,ld il'l ' and Inll'f p rd ,l t lOll 'I' rI1:-;r,1 I1lIll lllg ' Rl'lt.rd inhs: Hncv, ,1n<:l \ \ ·h .11to Ma ke (\1Them - Com petit ion... • TO I \ 'dfll ,1C Ul' l' r ' Eult .g l· - Ind v

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MILTON PREVESA Remarkable Musical Caree r

by

SCOTI WOOLL EY

"I should have done thi s long ago," saidMil ton Preves as we sat down in a smalldressing room below the stage of Ch icago'sOrchestra Hall . He has bee n wan ting forsome time to record some of the thousandsof memor ies of his career as one of thenation's leading orchestral musicians but"somehow I can 't make myself sit downand wr ite it all out." A gentlemanly andcongenial man approaching eighty, Mr.Preves was eager to reminisce about amusical ca reer that centered around hisfifty-two seasons, until his retirement in1986, as a ma instay of the ChicagoSymphony Orchestra's viola section . Anastonishing fo rty -seven of them were spentas principal violist . And reminisce he didabout CSO conductors from FrederickStock to Sir Georg Solti, about colleaguesand composers and soloists, about pla yingchamber music and teaching and all themyriad activit ies that occupied him duringhis long and productive career.

"Some of my colleagues have accused meof playing in the orchestra under TheodoreThomas (the founder, in 1891 of theChicago Symphony)," says Mr. Preves asour conversation begins with the questionof his tenure with the orchestra. In fa cthe was invited by Frederick Stock to joi~the viola section in 1934, and was appo intedprincipal violist five year s later after threeseasons as assistant principal. And thoughhe was not present during Mr. Thomas'sdirectorship , his fort y-seven years asprincipal const itu te, as far as anyoneknows, an unprecedented tenure in thatposit ion with a major orchestra. "Well, yes,1 thinkythat iset a record," he modestlyagrees.

A nat ive of Ohio and a Chicagoan fr omage twelve, Preves began his musicaltraining as a violinist, and attendedconservatories in Chicago as a teenager."One night, the cons ervator y orchestraneeded a viola player, so I tri ed to sit downand play the viola.... The clef was G ree kto me, but after that, I sort of went for it."He had found his nich e.

He never formally auditioned for th eCSO. Mischa Mischakov , the orchestra' sconcertmaster at the time, had ruffledsome feathers by going outside thesymphony to chose Preves as violist for hisquartet, and the "rookie" came to theattention of Frede rick Stock at a houseconcert given by Mischakov's quartet. (Thishouse concert, incidentally , was hosted byRalph Norton, an orchestra tru stee whoowned th e fine Montagnana viola Preve splayed for man y years.) Based ent ire ly onwhat he heard that night , Stock offeredPre ves the nex t vio la vaca ncy: "The y putme on the last chair. I was ver y insulted ,"he recalls. He laughin gly refers to that f irstseason as his stint as "concertmaster of thepercussion ," and he did not re mai n at theback of the sectio n fo r long.

Soloi st with th e CSOThe first of many appearances as soloist

with the orchestra is particularly memorab leto Pre ves, It was at the Ravinia Festival,then as now the north sub urba n summerhome of th e CSO, soon after hisappointment as principal. "Ormandy wasconducting Strauss's D Oli Quix ote, andFeuermann was the cello soloist. 1 was, ofcourse, a relative unknown, but I musthave done pretty well," because after theperformance Or mandy raved to theorchestra management abo ut this newviolist.

Pre ves naturally had man y opportuni tiesto solo with the CSO. He was an eloquentexponent of the Bartok Concerto, and citesa performance of it condu cted by CarloMaria Giulini, who serve d for a time as th eCSO's Princ ipal Gu est Conductor andremains one of Preves's favor ites as ahighli ght. He also not es that th~ lastinstallment of Fritz Rein er's completerecorded cycle of Bartok' s orchest ral workwas the recording of the Viola Concer towith him self as soloist.

The viola repertoire has been enr ichedby a number of compositions wri tten forPreves, notably some pieces by Ernst Bloch."During Kubelik's reign here , we had aBloch festival week where I per formed theBloch Suite and got a ver y nice mentionfrom him about how 1 did it, thankgoodness. At the end of the week I askedhim if he would conside r writi ng somepieces for viola along the lines of his Baal

9

CI\OI.lT H ... S IX (: O. D J:$

INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSICCharles H. Webb, Dean

VIOLA DEPARTMENT

Csaba Erde lyiProfessor of Music, Viola

Mimi ZweigAssociate Professor of Music, Viola

Abraham SkernickProfessor of Music, Viola

For more informationcontact:

Dr. John NagoskyDirector of

AdmissionsAssis tant DeanSchool of MusicIndiana UniversityBloomi ngton , IN

47405(812) 855 -7998

INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC OFFERS YOU:• Internationally recognized faculty• Over 900 performances annually by

students, faculty , ensembles• Four symphony orchestras, chamber

/ orchestra, new music ensemble, chamberrnusrc

• Complete programs of study leading toBachelor 's, Master 's, Doctoral and ArtistDiploma

• Scholarships, associate instructorships,graduate assistantships, and otherfinancial aid available

Shem suite for violin." Bloch responded ayear later with a suite called Five JewishPieces, three of which he later orchestratedas Suite Hebraique, Two of the five pieces,Meditation and Processional, are dedicatedto Preves. "I was very honored," he sayssimply. He also singles out an unaccom­panied suite for viola (1953) dedicated tohim by Alan Shulman, "a very fine compos­er" who was also a cellist with the NBCSymphony, which was composed afterPreves had for many years championedShulman's Theme and Variations for Violaand Orchestra, "a gem of a piece."

CSO Music DirectorsMuch of our conversation dealt with the

colorful series of music directors who stoodon the CSO's podium during Preves's career.He was effulgent in his praise for FrederickStock, whose tenure lasted until 1942. "Hewas a great conductor, and a great writerand arranger of music, which most conduc­tors don't do nowadays . In those days , hedid all the concerts: popular concerts,children's concerts--well, maybe he tooka week or two off during the season, buthe was here all year and was very civic­minded, which is another unusual thing.And in those days we had the reputationof having the biggest repertoire of anyorchestra in the country. Stock would startthe season, I remember, rehearsing with apile of newly composed music, and wewould just read it, and if he didn't likesomething he would drop it on the floor.But, a lot of music was performed. Hewould invite composers to conduct theirown works, as well--Milhaud, Stravinsky,of course, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov.... Hewas very strong in the standard Germanrepertoire, but he played French musicwonderfully, too . We went to New York onthe orchestra's fiftieth anniversary, and onecritic said 'a great German orchestra' andanother critic said 'a great Frenchorchestra." Stock was especially popularwith the musicians who played under himduring the Depression. The orchestra'sseason then was only twenty-six weeks peryear, and Stock went to great lengths toarrange as many extra jobs as he possiblycould for the mus icians.

Preves felt a particular kinship to Stockbecause Stock was a fellow violist. At onepoint there were weekly chamber musicevenings which Stock attended, and they

often played Mozart's string quintets. "Stockwould never play first viola. The famousG Minor Quintet has an eight-bar rest forthe second viola, and Stock would alwaysmiss his entrance. He said, 'There shouldbe a cue there!'"

Solti's SuccessorPreves offers mostly unreserved praise

for the musicianship of the CSO's musicdirectors under whom he played: DesireDefauw, Artur Rodzinski(whose one-yeartenure was "a stormy one"), RaphaelKubelik, and Jean Martinon, Sir GeorgeSolti's immediate predecessor, who was aviolinist and composer as well as aconductor, and whose Symphony No.4"Altitude" was composed to include soloparts for most of the CSO's principalplayers. But the years 1953 to 1963, underFritz Reiner (about whom more later),were for Preves a golden period, and theorchestra "has clearly reached its peak"under Solti , who is in his twenty-firstseason with the CSO and will retire afterthe orchestra's IOOth season in 1991. Hegives a warm vote of confidence, too, toDaniel Barenboim, whose appointment asMusic Director Designate and Solti'ssuccessor had been announced the daybefore our discussion (after having been abadly-kept secret for months). Barenboirnhas been a frequent CSO guest conductorfor twenty years, and Preves rejects theargument of Chicago's music critics, whouniformly and vociferously preferredClaudio Abaddo, that Barenboim, while afine pianist, is "unseasoned" as a conductor.Preves is highly optimistic about theorchestra's future under its new director.

Apart perhaps from Toscanini, FritzReiner has probably inspired the greatestwealth of anecdote of any conductor,mostly centered on his f iery temper. Evenwhen gently pressed, Preves is reluctant toadd to that lore, though he no doubt could.Instead, he offers a story to illustrateReiner's "very quick mind." "When guestconductors came, I wouldn't rub out ourbowings, but when any guest conductorwanted a different bowing, I would put itin parentheses above ours, and I wouldmake a note in the margin as to whichconductor had requested the differentbowing. Once, when Reiner was conductinga rehearsal of the Academic FestivalOverture, we came to a repeated figure of

11

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( IXe eieciet,

INTRODUCING:

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PATRICIA McCARTY, VIOLISTPrizewinn ing soloist wi th th e Houston Symphony, Bosto nPop s and l'O rchestre de la Suisse Romande. Chambermu sician and solo recitalist. incl ud ing perfo rmances at theMa rlboro and Tanglewood festivals. 1989 Solo Recit alistGrant fro m the National Endow ment for the Arts. Record ­i ngs o n No ne su c h a n d No r t h east e r n l a b e l s- GRAM APHO NE's " 1987 Crit ic's Choice" award.

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an eighth note followed by a sixteenth restand a sixteenth note, and we were using an'up, down-up, down-up' bowing thatReiner didn't like . He asked me, 'Where didyou get that bowing?', and I told him it wasfrom Krips, ' It gives me the creeps,' Reinershot back,"

Quartet PlayingWhile the Chicago Symphony was the

cente r of his career, Preves's work with theorchestra by no means precluded othermusical activities. As has been noted , h islove of ,quartet playing began early, andthe Chicago Symphony String Quartet,composed of the orchestra's principal stringplayers , afforded him ample opportunityto pursue that interest: for many years thequartet gave fifty concerts per year. Witha changing of the guard in the orchestraover the p~st several years, the membershipof the Chicago Symphony String Quartethas changed , but Preves, along withrecently retired co-concertmaster VictorAit.ay ~nd two current CSO players, ar eac tive in what they have named simply theSymphony String Quartet. They continueto pre sent a series of concerts begun overtw:nty years ago by the Chicago SymphonyString Quartet at the Chicago PublicLibrary.

As if a full-time orchestra position andactive chamber music schedule weren'tenough, Preves was also a popular teacherju ggling as many as forty students at ;time. He also conducted two amateurorche stras in the Chicago area for manyyears. That he was able to maintain sucha pace so energetically for so many years,and to do everything with good humor andtrue professionalism, is nothing short ofama zin g.

As has been demonstrated by his ongoingch~mber mu sic activity, Milton Preves'sretirement from the Chicago Symphony hasnot meant retirement from the musicalcommunity. He still maintains closerelati ons with his erstwhile colleagues andattends CSO concerts regularly. He obvi ous­ly intends to take an active part in the city'smusical life in the years to come. The pacemay have slackened, but the remarkablecareer of this remarkable man goes on andChicago is the r icher for it. '

Scott Woolley is an attorney who writesabout the arts whenever he gets the chance.His wife Alison Dalton , a violinist. joinedthe Chicago S ymphony shortly after Mil tonPreves 's retirement.•

MARKING ORCHESTRALSTRING PARTS

by

EDWARD PETTENGILL

In one of our local orchestras , a newpr incipal violist arrived who was a recentgraduate of a rather pre stigious school ofmu sic. As this person's stand partner I. . . 'rmtiated a discussion about marking theparts, I was cut off with, "I write books inmy parts!" After the rehearsal I wonderedif his school had also taught painting bynumber. This was the "last straw"--theculmination of years of frustrat ion withover-marked parts.

When I was first introduced to the violinmy teacher explained that the bow move;in two directions, up and down, and thatthe direction is indicated by two signs:Vand n . She also explained that the up ­bows follow down -bows, and down-bowsfollow up- bows. In the second lesson Ilearned that if a piece or phrase starts onthe f irst beat the bow goes down, and if itstarts on the last beat the bow goes up,unless marked otherwise. Judging by theway many seemingly competent professionalstring players overmark the bowing in the irparts, we can only assume they neverlearned their first lessons.

I was taught fingering by carefully goingove r each note in each position on eachstring and learning what finger to use ineach circumstance. I was also taught thata fingering was marked only to indicatewhat position started the piece, when achange of position was indi cated , or whena substitute fingering was needed. The waymany supposedly professional string playe rsoverf'inger their parts: ~

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it appears they never went further thantheir Suzuki books.

My marking of string parts is based onthe premise that any time a pencilledfingering or bowing is placed on the part,it means a change from what would beconsidered a normal ser ies of fingerings orbowings. The pencil mark triggers a re­sponse that there is a change. There arealso more concise ways to call attention tosignificant markings already printed in thepart. The way many players do this canonly be defined as "overkill." Let us getdown to specifics.

1I0verkilJ"When you mark a bowing, put the mark

directly above the note unless a staggeredbowing is called for. In that case, put itbetween the notes. As I stated before, it isnot necessary to mark n at the beginningof a phrase starting on the first beat. Thesame is true with pick-ups starting V . Ifthe section leader wants something abnor­mal in bowing, th en mark it.

Before going any further, I should statethat the best way to waste valuable re­hearsal time is to distribute unmarked partsand then expect the players to be musicalwhile scribbling bowings and cuts, orwaiting while the concertmaster and theprincipals (and sometimes the conductor)discuss a change. Then the change has tofilter through the sections and the batonhangs limp--at a cost of $25 to $250 ormore a minute for a paid orchestra.

A little about "hooking." When printed,hooked notes look like ,......,. or ~ . When

UUhooking is wanted but not printed, we candu plicate the printed method, but I preferthi s , v . Whatever method is chosen, one

t.:should be consistent. mark only a fewpatterns when several bars or lines have thesame pattern. It saves on erasers when theprincipal changes his or her mind.

When too many note s are either tied orslurred together and bow changes areneeded, all that should be marked is V orn. Scribbling out the printed slur or

over-marking another, shorter slur only

messes up the music and hides more notes.In general, keep marks as neat and simpleas possible. Use a #2 pencil and do notmake banner headlines out of any markings.Think of the next player who has to readthe parts, or the librarian who has to eraseyour markings. Remember, "Bow untoothers as you would have them bow untoyou ." (Pettengill 1:1)

When marking fingerings, outside playersput their marks on top of the notes andinsiders, underneath. I know I am redun­dant, but mark a fingering only when aposition change or a substitute finger isdesired. When a passage is to be played "SuiG ," make it simple and use a Romannumeral III (or IV for fiddlers).

tPz ac 50:"------~' reminds me more of sub­way graffiti than intelligent marking.

"Are you takingthis in two orfour?" is a fre­quently askedquestion. When

the conductor answers, we find all sorts ofhieroglyphics decorating the music. Per­sonally, I prefer the slash marks:

They are fast, neat, and guide us clearlythrough rhythmically confusing passages.Again, no banner headlines! Put the slashesabove the notes, not through them . Anotherplayer might think that some notes arecrossed out.

Since I have been repeating myself, letus deal with repeat signs. The main problemis from where one is supposed to repeat.Simple II" are the best reminders. liesame II' ·11 holds true for D.S., D.C.,and a . . Coda or two. Cro ss the semark ings "P out with a simple .11t if ne-cessary. '!

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Cuts"C . ;,(uts" can mean real mUSIC abusej[to

printed parts and compose~' i .with a light line tothe-end of the excisedsection 11 ) s-sufficient. V' pe will

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help you be recognized as a most know­ledgeable marker of parts. Never, neverscribble /J;v ~n1t- through the cut bars .Someone else in the future might want toplay all the music the composer wrote.

Behold the mighty arrows! Rememberyour Norton Scores with their ~? Adiagonal arrow is great for reminding us ofimportant printed markings we are proneto overlook. Which would you prefer: J

~? G' -----7$por s . rve me my arrows! Horizontal

arr ws are also great for indicating tempochanges -'and-. There is nothingwrong with rw't;or per"/' but the arrowsare faster and neater. Contrary to popularbelief (mine), I am not perfect. I tend tomake dumb mistakes, so I need a few key(no pun)ntended). words t.o keep me ontrack . L {1tf1t~ 11/11 «-, "7/I/Nt. 1j'Jrd- j/:s.should help us to eliminate th~ farci~al .

b~'I realize I have not covered every aspect

of music marking--one could write a smallbook about it.lnstead,1 have outlined whatI consider professional, neat, knowledge­able, concise, and considerate markings.What we do with our own music is Ourbusiness, but what we do to orchestral partsthat will be played by countless others overthe years is not merely our own business.Non-professional marking is selfish incon­siderate, and displays ignorance.' Let usclean up our marking and start a movementtoward neater music and, consequently,better performances.

Edward Pettengill graduated from theEastman School of Music , where he studiedviola with Francis Tursi. He has playedwith the Rochester Phi/harmonic Orchestra,and has also participated in some Eastman­Rochester Symphony recordings and con­certs. He lives in New York where heperforms with the Binghamton Symphony.B.C. Pops. and the Tri-Cities Opera. He isalso a piano technician.•

~ - - - - _ .....~

ON TEACHINGAn Interview with Csaba Erdelyi bythe British Violist Michael Ponder

Q: Tell me something about the way youteach?A: A student may come to me with theattitude, "I've paid my fees . I just wantyour knowledge, so give me your know­ledge . I bought your knowledge." Thiscannot work because in music the wholeperson is involved. When someone says"Please teach me technique so I can playmusic," it is not possible because ifsomebody has talent, the music is there apriori. If someone says, "I'm bursting withmu~ic but I have a problem," that's mucheaster to remedy. I can say, "Look, I wantto show you what you do again st yourself.Another way would actually be morenatural to you." That's technique.

The best way, I think, to teach a youngplayer is to make him realize that he isresponsible, that the teacher cannot do itfor him. He is already the most active forcein his own life and must learn to rely onthat fact. The teacher can show by examplebut must leave it to the student whosechoice it is to follow or not.

Q; Do you have a particular method ofviola teaching?A: I think one has to adapt the method tothe student and I do have a method whichis based on body gravity. Everything isconcerned with lifting and dropping weight.So, I am a.ware of our anatomy, and I havea clear picture of what the joints do inplaying the viola . I am very conscious offreedom in breathing as this makes thehandling of gravity and also hearing easier.Most of us who hold the instrument underthe chin are in danger of lensing our neck~n~ hea? muscles. When we do this, hearingIS impaired. The stereo effect of two earshearing in space is constricted. Freedom inhearing is a most important techn icalconsideration.

I have' played without a shoulder rest.Some students of mine have retained theirshoulder rests, and many of them havediscarded them and now play without. Ihave patented a chin-rest that is mostsuit~ble for playing without ashoulder rest .lt grves you the necessary engagement ofthe chin while still allowing free neck andhead movements and both shoulders to befree without concern. These chin-rests are

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Q: You don't like shoulder rests becauseyou fee l they restrict playing?A: I fee l there is much more joy in havinga pai r of arms free to make movementslike a pair of win gs than having a con­strained left and right hand.

Q: How do you help some students getove r the fear that the viola will fli ck outfrom under their chin?A: By showing that I can shif t on an ystring, an y distance, simply by using thelift of the left arm and the weight of thehead. Th e sound is much more open. Alltha t is necessar y is that on e accepts th atyou don't have to feel th e instrumentclamped securely betw een your shoulderand your head. People should realize thatthe ir vibra to is inevitably tight because ofthe restriction of the left arm, th at th eshoulder jo int holding the viola causes atensio n and an exaggerated arm vibratoinstead of a relaxed wri st vibrato. Fingersneed to align themselves with the fingerboard from above the shoulde r lever. Ifwe consider Pr imrose, he had fa ntasticposture. He didn't use any sho ulde r rest. Infact , he said that the ultimate aim is notto have a chin- rest and to be able to pla ywitho ut having the chin on the instrument.He could do it. So could Nathan Mi lstein .He could simply do it by balancing withthe left arm. It is possible and on certainday s, I can do it myself. Surely we don'tneed shoulde r rests for the secur ity of thehold. It' s secure without it.

Arches not AnglesQ: You've been talking about the shoulde rrest and symmetry- - gravity and we ight.You say that th is is the technical basis ofyourteaching, Would you want to enlargeon that into other areas like bowing?A: We mentioned circular shapes. I findit very important th at no part of the bod yshould be angular. We should use archesrather than angles. By the way, it is ver yimportant to distinguish between violin andviola technique. If th e player is talented ,a violinist can pick up a viola and make agood show of it up to a points But thebowing ar rangements that work for theviolin don't produce the best result s on the

viola. I remember in my Phil harmoniadays, I of ten fo llowed the cellos as to whatpart of the bow to use which caused someconsternation among thos e people whowanted to ape the concertmaster. Althoughwe hold the violas as the violin, abo veheart level , we often need to handle thebow more as a ce llist.

Using a high elbow on the violin cansometimes be successful whereas this wouldproduce a scratch on the viola. A violaplaye r in orde r to get the best bi te and theroundest sono ri ty out of the viola, needs tobend the wri st, needs to drop the elbow andraise the upper arm to that height wherethe armpit feels it would brush the stringsfrom above . That's where the whole armarrangement is light and powerful at thesame tim e. Th ese things can only be de­veloped by yea rs of viola playing.

Q: It's interesting you should say this.Have you heard Nigel Kenned y's WaltonConcerto, the record he made of the twoWaltons--the violin and the viola concertos?He' s got a very good left hand-i-he's a veryfine violinist. But in the viola co ncerto onecan hear very clearl y that he's a violinistplaying a viola.A: I actually wrote a letter of protest aboutthi s. First to the Controller of Music at theBBC, saying that I am a fri end and admirerof th is violinist, but I find it damaging andlackin g in understand ing of what the mean­ing of a viola player is in th is century . Ihave a fa ntas tic friend who is a double­bass vir tuoso, Wolfgang Gurtler. He canplay the Dvorak Concerto on the cell o butI don't think he would accept a contract torecord it.

It' s morally wron g fo r a vio lini st who hasmade a name as a solois t on the violin justto pick the viola up as a side ad venture andplay it publicly . It is absolutely wonderfulthat vio linists play viola. As for thoseviolists who refuse to play violin, I doubttheir competence. But it 's one thing to doit for enjoyment and another thing to makeit a pu blic eve nt whi ch ac tually obscuresth e ide nti ty of who is a viola player.

I thin k the viola is a string instru mentequal to others and with a unique sonority.It is not simply an excuse to fill a gap . Th eviola today is among stringed instrumentsthe most personal direct human voice. If itis played as an apology, it's j ust as bad asif it were do ne as a condescending tempor­ary excursion . The viola is a way of life and

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it is a heroic way of life, especially becauseof the deser t tha t surrounds it in somepeople's minds. Yet, when the viola isplayed in acco rda nce with its nature, andthe message is communicated with techn icalefficiency , it is equivalent to the violin orany other instrument, and the listener hasa unique experience. Many people f rom theaudience come to me and say they haveheard many violin recit als but that this wasvery special. They want more of it!

Viola TimbreQ: Why do you think that is? Is it beca useof the ti mbre of the viola?A: In trad itional classical music, thesoprano part was always the most domi na t­ing, most personal and beau tiful. At thattime the viola was mostly fi lling harmon y.Th is started to change with th e equalizationof voices within the orchestra. In theromant ic per iod , the viola was givenspecific ac ting ro les to descr ibe people'scha racters: in Harold , "The RomanticHero;" in Don Quixote, "the funny, busyguy who also likes to drea m." In PierrotLunaire the viola is given yet anotherspecial charac ter. Today, we have no moreheroes and no more prop he ts. Today is theage of the indiv idual who needs cou rageto express moral values, def ine problemsand also believe in ult imate success .

The viola is in my opinion the archetypalinstrument for the twentieth centur y, themost direct musical instrument that speaksto people. But people who want to live inthe past don' t reali ze thi s. People who wantto play safe won't reali ze it. People whowant to share presen t concerns about them­selves and the problems of th e worl d cometo viola recitals. They identify with it.

I give classes in many countr ies whi chatt rac t peo ple on th is basis. I'm glad thatmore and more young people, talen ted , andwho are real musicia ns of the ir own choice,choose the vio la because they simply likethe sound.

Q: Livi ng now in America, do you fi ndthe att itudes of musicians generally dif­ferent to what you found in England?A: Yes. They are more competi ti ve. Theygo for it!

Q: T hat is a symptom of our socie ty ,presume.A: If we take competi tion as a game, Ith ink it is healthy. If we take compe tition

as a goal to survive, it is soul-destroying.I th ink that competit ion is always exciting.It bri ngs out the best in people at a youngage. You see, a competitive societ y is anadolescent society. So it's a tragedy whenpeople who are gro wn- up still believe thata com peti tive society is the right kind be­cause they j ust want to maintain a feelingof comp ari son instead of relying on whatthey produce as being the ir best. I f ind thathuman nature is such that wh en one feelsthere is no disap proval and no fear , thenafter an initial period of uncertainty (thereis an in itial period of doubt, of feelin glost), you suddenly f ind that you can blos­som on your own. Those who believe incompetition can then learn something fromyou. You cannot put a price on the under­standing and acceptance of your ownvalues. With in the mar ket system, there isreally no pri ce fo r thi s kin d of value! Aslong as we are in a competi tive mode wesee an enemy in one another. As long as Isee an adversary in you, I cannot producemy best. I can make a very good effo rt tooutdo you, and yet I am going to feel rathertense and sick inside me while I am doingit.

Compact HandQ: I'd like to hear more about thetechn ical details of your viola teach ing...A: I f ind a compact left hand very im­portan t. Any disorganization within thehand must be elimina ted. I always establishthe whole hand in one position with thef irst and the fourth fingers down simul­taneously. A compact hand means that eac hfi nge r has to have an equal touch towardthe thumb and to the lowest point of theelbo w, th e elbow point. Goo d in tonati ondepends not just on the right finger beingon the right spot on the string, but also onthe oppositio n felt in mee ting the thumbthrough the wood , and the feeli ng that thefinger fa lls directl y int o the elbow throughthe tendo ns that run down th e fore arm. Soyour secur ity of position is reinforced byfee ling th is three point contact all th e time:f inge r, thumb, elbow. This way you willneither tw ist your elbow inward too muchor hang it out on the left side . Your elbowmust serve as a plinth to the hand.

I like to prac tice semi- tone shift ingwhi ch goes like this: 1-1-4-4, 1- 1- 4-4, etc.up to the octave on each string. You use thewhole arm to shift , yet you keep th e com­pac t hand together so that you never lose

21

\"II" : L ~: A C [:O;:I} C O R U E S

Por l"ilde I'ub buye de Saint -Denis

( XIlC s it-d e).

MEMBERSHIP ENROLLMENT FORM

The AVS is an association fo r the promotion of viola performance and research.

Our personal and financial support is appreciated. As a member. each year you will receive three AVSJournals and T he Viola. yearbook of the International Vio la Society . You will also receive thesatis f action of knowing that you are a member of a collegial group which is contr ibuting to thefurtherance of our instrument and its literature.

Please enroll me/my group as a member of AVS for one year. Begin my subscription to AVS Journalconta ining the Membership Directory, and an annual copy of The Viola.

My check for one year's du es, made payable to the American Viola Socity, is enclosed as ind icatedbelow:

Renewal Mem bership ( ) $20New Membersh ip ( ) $20Student Mem bership ( ) $10International Membership ( ) $25

( ) I wish to cont ribute to Th e William Pr imrose Memorial Scholarship Fund in the amount of$- ----- - - ,

TOTAL _

( ) I wish to make an additional tax- deductible cont ribution to the AVS End owment in the amountof $__--,""""""""'-.--- _

Please indicate appropriate membership catego ry below.

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Please send AVS your biographical material , photographs(clearly labell ed), brochures, concert pr ograms, posters ,press releases, clippings and other related material on aregular basis for our resource fil es and possiblepublications. We serve as a clearing house for man y violarelated requests.

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the 1-4 relationship. I adv ise prac ticingscales across the four strings in all posit ionsso that one can develop tonal hear ing aswell as getti ng used to the changi ng inter­vals within th e hand. I also like to go to theextreme in tensing the muscles so thatafterwards one can do maximum relaxat ion.This is a yoga principle. You can go to anextreme, like sticking out your left wristas far as possibl e and at the same time pullback your left sho ulder so there is anabso lute double stre tch. Hold and relax.Now do the opp osite. Brin g in the wris t asfa r as you can against the neck of theinstrument and push your shoulder forward.Feel the tension of the bice ps. Feel th etension of the shoulde r at th e back. Relax.Play whole bows and turn as far left aspossible whil e continuing playing. Yourknees remain the same, but eve rything elsestretches as far as you can. Then swing backto the opp osit e side, stretch and feel whathappens to the muscles in the back aro undthe shoulder blade s.

Finally, when you swing back naturally,you will find the best medium balance.Pract ice in f ront of a chair , standing. Th enjust bend your knees and continue playing.Alternate between standi ng up and sitt ingdown. Play continuously. Your bac k mustbe the same, whether you are in anorchest ra or quartet, playing solo, orsta nd ing up. If you are used to th is, muchback and neck ten sion disappears.

Regarding the right hand, I like toestablish in the student the feel ing that alltone is generated at the point where the armextends f rom the trunk. You need to feelthat you put your armpit directly onto thestring that is being played . Once you dothi s, you will find, like cellists, that theknuckles of th e right hand are more or lessparalle l with the bow and not fa vor ing theindex f inger. Even towards the tip , onesho uld tr y to maintain a parallel mediumposition of the knuckles over the bow .Play ing,! spiccato alt ernately touch ing thestri ng, and playing an inch above, silently,is a very good way to ensure that you arenot dependent on the string. Whether youare in the ai r or on th e string, make surethat the bow and hand are engaged in thesame actio n. Th en you are controlling thebow. T his is also very good for practi cinglong notes, piani ssimo.

The Mental ApproachS ometimes we don't like something in

our playing and we fee l we can't solve ourown problems. A way to overcome th is isto consciously do the wrong thing, toexag gerate what we don't like. If you arestif f and you don't have a relaxed wristvibrato, for instance, then exaggerate th.estiffness in the left ar m. Really make Itdou bly stif f ! Th en let it go. To accept aprob lem is a way to fi nd a solutio n for it .

Q: In your teach ing experience , have youfou nd that most of your students havereac ted in a similar fashion to yourteaching? Or , are you qu ite surp r isedsometimes by their level of acceptance?A: When I arrived at Bloomington lastyear , I was give n a class. Very few peopleknew me. It was a difficult peri od for allof us at th e beginn ing. I knew that whatI was teaching had worked in the past andI had trust in my approac h. There were afew students who were af ra id that what Iwas teach ing was goi ng to upset them andthat they would have to change. Basically,the re were two groups of people. Onegroup said, "I' m glad I'm here. I'm in therig ht place ." The oth er gro up, whic h wasmuch smaller, was somewhat d istu rbe d.

Q: What did you do?A: I explained that we share a commonpurpose and that it is a great joy andresponsibili ty to play the viola and bemusicians. That a teacher is not a BigDad dy who provides all the goods . Ateacher is an olde r colleague and the teach­er's responsibility is to respect a student'sabili ties and, when necessary, sugges tchanges based on experience. It is thestudent' s responsibility to conside r andaccept these changes even if the y may beunfamiliar. This acce ptance is proof of thestudent's tru st in the teacher. If that trustisn't th ere, then the student shouldn' t bewith that part icular teacher.

Q: Do you have any set studies wh ich youteach ?A: Yes, I do teach the Flesch scale system,Sevci k opu s 1, 2 and 8, and Schrad ieck lefthand techniques, and also the ten etudes inchanging positions by Lukacs, whi ch is afa ntastic treasure tr ove of diffe rent ways

23

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LAWYERING AND LEARNINGTHE VIOLA

I am a lawyer turned law professor andback and forth from professor to law yer.While those activities were going on Ibegan, seriously at the age of fift y, to takelessons, to learn to play the viola . Yes, asa youngster, I had about 150 lessons onthe vio lin. Then with some delight, I qu it.

25

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I );, ~ - I · .-I ; , · f d.- 1" ;g' l i ~ , ' d (> XIII-, ,'\'~ C ilh a d " .. :. \ 111'- .. i;·d,' . .

Armed with the experience of a violastude nt, I began try ing to apply th e musicalperforming process both to teachinglaw yering and to the practi ce of law.

At th at time , I read everything I couldget my hands on that desc ribed, di scussed,illustrated , and explained playing a stringedinstrument. Just recently, I read th eexcell ent book Playing the Viola: Conver­sations with William Primrose by DavidDalton (Oxford University Press 1988). Itried to find in the art of lawyering thegeneral principles of that musical art, and

Principles InvolvedThe law office in which I was a partner

at the tim e was a gro wi ng, developingoffice. I took on the responsib ility oftraining some of th e new lawyers. Thatwas, for the most part, a one-to-onerel ationship much like the relat ionship ofmusic teacher to stude nt. I was driven tofind th e general rul es and principles oflawyering just as I was d riven to acquireknowledge of th e general principles ofperforming a musical instrument.

What did that experience do for me , formy students, my clients, and my law yercolleagues? Playing the viola , or anymusical instrument, is a skill activity. Butfor me as an adult it is also a highlyint ellectual activity. It so happens that lawschool professors recognize certain intel­lectual pursuits of law, but generallydisdain the skill aspects of law yering. (Inthis short piece you will have to ta ke myword for it. ) When I was a student in lawschool many years ago, it was not uncom­mon to hear a professor remark that lawschcols are here to teach the students tothink. Stud en ts will learn "how to do," i.e .,perform as a law yer when they get outint o prac tice. Law professors still say thatalthough there ar e somev- rnyself included­- who have gotte n the idea that lawyering,like playing a musical instrument, involvesknowledge, thought, mental concentration,and j udgment.

A span of more than thirty-five yearssepara ted my lessons. So while busilyengag ed as a law teacher and practicinglawyer and wri ter of professional articlesand books, I experi enced the joys, pains,and difficulties of learning to play theviola.

by

LOUIS M. BROWN

I

of shifting . Each exercise teaches you adifferent shift ing technique and then acombination of these techniques. Eventuallyyou can play with ease fingerings that atfirst sight you would have felt were just nota part of your technique. You de velop amaste ry of the fi nger- board , playingLukacs. For teaching style I use Hoff­meist er and Carnpagn oli up to the contem­poraries Lilian Fuchs and Maurice Vieux.

Csaba Erdel yi received his early trainingin Budapest under Pal Lukacs. He laterstudied with Yehudi Menuhin and BrunoGiuranna. In 1972 he became the only violaplayer ever to win the Carl Flesch Inter­national Violin Competition. He was prin­cipal violist o] the Philharmonia Orchestrain London and a member of the ChilingirianSt ring Quartet. lIe was professor of violaat the Guildhall S chool o] Music and nowteaches at the Universit y of Indiana wherehe will be conducting a masterc/ass July 31­August 5.•

Q: Your predecessor at Ind iana Universit ywas Kim Kashkashian. Who preceded her?A: Ge orge Janzer. Although he retired asviola professor , he still teaches chambermusic. Before him , was Primrose. I'mteaching in Primrose's studio, wh ich is agreat honor. Recently, there was a stringcompetition and the finals were held inBloomington . The standard was very high.I heard six viola players who representedthe States and Canada from the west to theeast coasts . Everybody performed well. Itwas beautiful. There was a general feelingthat the viola is in good shape. I am lookin gforward to my stay in America.

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explain the parallels to young lawyers.Lawyering is not just doing, and practicingthe vio la is not just playing. It is play ingwith intelligence, understanding , and withinward drive. In fact, I soon learned thatpractic ing can be as bad as it can be good.The notion that one learns by practicing islargely a fal se notion. Practice can berepetition of mistakes. So, too, withlawyering. One does not learn by doingalone. One learns by applying the generalprinci ples of good law yering to the act ivi tyof law yer ing.

Of course, there are people who have aninnat e ability fo r playing a musicalinstruments as some lawyers do for lawyer­ing. I do not know much about my innatetalent for lawyering, but I do know that Ihave little innate talent for vio la pla ying.And maybe that, for me, has been a bless­ing in disguise because I have had to learnstep by step. I have had to break th ingsdown into small parts and learn each part.That may have been both a pain and apleasure to my music teacher , the lateArmand Roth, who was in the viola sectionof the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We bothenjoyed the mental exercise of findingthose small parts, those small steps, andputting them together to get the result thatper forming demands.

One of the vital performances of a lawyerin the law off ice occurs during the lawyer­clie nt relationship . I began in law teach ingto concentrate attention on that relationshipwhich, at the time, was something relativelynew in law school teach ing. How could Imake it par t of class work? Tw o techniquesin music educat ion came to my rescue . Onewas the class lesson which, to a limitedamount, I had experi enced. I could put mystudents through the experience of beinga "lawyer" for a "client" in a simulatedsetting. It became a class exercise when Iapplied the music performance classtechn ique. Each student was requ ired to beprepared to be a "lawyer" coun seling aclient in some general subject matter. Onestudent was called on to be the "lawyer"with othe r stude nts obser ving the act ivity.Th e stude nts learned in a kind of vicariousway much as do students in a class lessonin music.

CompetitionsN ext, the activity of music performance

competi tions intrigued me. So, through achai n of events, I devel oped a ClientCounseling Competition which essentiallyis the performance for successive consul­tati ons of the same client. That has grownto be an international competition involvingmore than half the law schools in UnitedStates, Canada, and England. The mostdifficult aspect of that activity has bee nthe development of the standards fo rjudging the performance of a lawyer. OftenI have alluded to the judging of musiccompetitions, the standards for which Ihave never seen. (Are ther e publishedstandards?) There are now publishedstandards for judging th e performances inthe Clien t Counseli ng Competit ion .

I have also foc used some atte ntion onlawyer perfo rmance in the law office notonly with respect to the highly significantlawyer- client counseling act ivit y but alsoto other aspects of lawyerin g. I regard thelaw office as a laboratory for study andresearch, and so I go back and fo rth fromlaw office to law school.

Not the least of the important observa­tions that comes directly f rom music is theart of listening, so important in musicperfo rmance. I learned to apprecia te itsimportance in indi vidual practice and inpla ying chamber music. Theart of listeningmust be stressed to lawyers in the lawyer­client con text. Almost from the start, thegrowth of legal counseling education haslaid claim to the importance of the tech­nique of listening which I have come tobeli eve is a complex act ivit y. In thiscountry we require graduation from collegeas a prerequisite to law school entrance.Although we do not specify or require anypar ticular courses or major in college, wegene rally ind icate that English, History,Political Science, Mathematics, Philosophy,and some other areas are acceptable orrecommend ed subj ects. I have never seenmusic performance listed among the recom­mended subjects for pre-law study,although it should be.

Th is opinion arose out of a persona lexperience in becoming acquainted with

27

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a law student who had been a major inviolin performance. I learned somethingthat should rea lly be self-evident, Theconcentration, the habit of practicing, theabili ty of self-criticism and some of theother qualit ies gained from a musicpe rformance background ar e quite sim ilarto the attributes of a good law stude nt.T hey are equally fine characterist ics ofgood law yering.

Louis III. Brown earned his A.B. f rom theUniversity of S outhern Cali f ornia. 1930;J.D. at Harvard University. 1933; and LL.D.f rom Manhattan College. 1977. He isProfessor of La w Emeritus. University ofS outhern Cali f ornia and in Counsel withSanders. Barnet. Jacobson. Goldman &Mask in Los Angeles.•

29

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From thePresidency

Dear Colleagues,

I look forward with great ant icipationto the XVII International Viola CongressJune 21-25, at the University ofRedlands, California. As you see fromthe advance not ice of the congress inthis edition of JAVS, a splendid programhas been put together by Lucille Taylor ,host chairman, Louis Kievman andDonald McInnes, our AVS representa­tives on the planning committee. Tothese colleagues is due special thanksand acknowledgement for the consider­able time and work they have devotedtoward this congress.

Besides the lure of the congress itself,the 1989 site is located in one of theprime vacation areas of our' country. Imention this because there seems to beevery reason for us to gather up ourstudents, family, and friends and go toSouthern California in June. For someyears, the administration of theAmerican Viola Society has sought ahost institution on the West Coast forour gathering, and now we have it.

When I took office as AVS presidentabout two years ago, there were three­hundred members. We now enjoy twicethat number. This growth is gratifyingand is attributable in part to theexcellent support of members of theAVS presidency and board. With greaterfinancial resources from which tooperate, we are able to strengthen theAVS Endowment, move from the brinkof penury, and contemplate undertakingsome worthwhile projects, such ascommissioning new works. Our membersgive encouragement and support of theseaspirations through their continuedmembership. Can members contributeeven more to strengthening ourorganization? Yes, and in a variety ofways. My class of viola students--fromteen-ager through college age- -allbelong to the AVS because I emphasizethat membership is really in their

interest as serious students of theinstrument. I try and interest any music­related businesses in advertizing inJAVS, and I know of other memberswho do the same. Then there are thoseof you who share your enthusiasm andendorsement of what the AVS is tryingto do, which results in new membershipsfrom among your circle of friends . Thisis all appreciated.

Membership solicitation fliers areavailable for your use from my office onyour request. Last year over one­thousand of these were sent out withgood response. This year we wish toconcentrate on and reach most violistswho play in U.S. orchestras, bothprofessional and amateur. Before I leaveoffice, I would be gratified to know thatmy successor would have the support ofan organization one-thousand strong.That is a goal and, I think, not anunreasonable one.

I hope to see a strong representationof our members at the congress in June.As I read through our membership list, Irecognized many names as closeassociates, friends, or acquaintances.Then there are those of you whom Idon't know. A congress is the place tomeet. Please give me the opportunity to

~~~David Dalton, AVS President

Of Interest

ZEYRINGER PORTRAIT

On 10 February 1989 in the MusikHochschule of P611au in the province ofStyria, Austria, a celebration was held inhonor of Professor Fran z Zeyringer,past president of the International ViolaSociety. Sponsors of the occasion werethe IVS and the City of P611au who werehonoring Zeyringer as the founder ofboth the International Viola Society and

31

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the Mu sic School in his hometown, andwho had recently retired from thed irect ion of both organizations. Thecelebra tio n, which too k on the form of amusical offering by friends andassociates, include d wri tten and spokentribu tes in recogn it ion of Profes sorZeyringer's contributions on a local andinternational basis , and were given bythe Burgerrneister of Pollau andProfessor Gunter Ojstersek, president ofthe IVS.

It was suggested last year d irectly tothe Biirgermeister of Pollau by DavidDalton, AVS president, that a fittingme morial be established in thecommunity in behalf of Zeyringer, andthat with the approval of the AVSpres ide ncy, the AVS would make adonation toward that end. TheBurge rrneister replied that the ci tywished to commission a port rait ofProfessor Zeyr inger that would hangpermanently in the Musik Hochschulewhich he directed fo r over threedecades. The Canadian and West Germanchapters of the IVS also contributed tothis portr ait which includes a plague ofrecognition of th e contributors. Theevening' s comme mo ration in Februaryculminated in th e presentation of thepo rtrait of Zeyringer to the school.

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Li nco ln Symphon y Orch estrac/o Dr . Robert Emile, School of Mu sicUniver sity of Nebraska-Lincoln ,L incoln , NE 68588 USA

Virg inia Symphony Orc hestrac/o Robert W. Cross, Artistic Ad min.P.O. Box 26Norfolk, VA 2350 1 USA

Granada Chamber Orchestrac/o Centro 'Manuel de Falla' , Paseo delos Ma ntires, Granada, Spain

orth G er man Rad io Orchestrac/o Orchesteri nspekt or,Roth enbaum chau ssee 132- 134, 2000Hamburg, West Germany

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestrac/o Matthaikirchstrasse I , 1000 Ber lin30, West German y

33

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34 AUCTION RESULTS

S am & Rie Bloomfield Foundation 1,061 Hawkins "A General Historyof the Science and Practice

Collection of Violins and Bows sold at of Music"Sotheb y's , London, Wednesday, 23 2,972 Hill "Antonio Stradivari HisNovember 1988. Life and Work" (#1 of 100

cop ies)$ 140,118 Nicolas Lupot violin 2,335 Hill "Antonio Stradivari His1,103,960 Joseph Guarneri del Gesu Life and Work" (# 12 of 100

violin" copies)Nicolaus Kittel silver 1,698 Hill "Antonio Stradivari Hismounted bow Life arid Work" (#29 of 100

46,706 Francois Tourte silver cop ies)'mounted bow 2,547 Hill "The Violin Makers of

137,995 Jacob Stainer violin the Guarneri Family" (#92 of8,916 Remerus Kiessern, Baroque 200 copies)

violin bow 637 Hill "The Violin Makers of152,856 Francois Tourte gold the Guarneri Family First

mounted violin bow" Edition" (with signatures of

~~89,166 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume Yehudi Menu hin-Albert

vio lin (The Caraman De Spalding-Issac Stern-Benno~ Chimay) Ra binoff- Josef Gingo ld)

244,145 Premsyl Otaker Spid len "The Violin Makers of thev i er e ... C I ~ Q e c e e e e violin Gu arn eri Fa mily"\"itrnil de. Grand. Cordtliert de In rue

42,460 The Ex-Lipinski Francois 2,972 Hill An ton io Stradi vari Hisrtf! Lcure ine (u · . iklel.

Tourte silver mounted Life and Workviolin bow 382 Hjo rth "Danish Violins and

29,722 Francois Tou rte violin bow , their Makers"gold mounted 1,316 L'Esposizione di Luteria

97,658 Nicolas Lupot violin Antica a Cremona Nel 1937,31,8 45 Silver mounted Francois Cata logue of the 1937

Tourte violin bow (The exhibition in Crem onaEx-Sedlak) 679 Lutgenforff "Die Ge igen undGo ld and Tortoise shell Lautenmacher"Nicolaus Kittel violin bow 1,130 Lyon and Healy "Th e Hawley

435,2 15 Domenico Montagnana Collection of Violins"Violi n 849 Max Moller "The Violin

36,091 Francois Tourte, silver & Makers of the Low Countries"tortoise shell mounted 1,103 Music Loan Exhibition, Theviolin bow (EX-Albert Retrospective catalogue of theSpalding) London 1903 Exh ibition

42, 460 Francois Tourte silver - 530 Poidras "Dictionary of Violinmounted violin bow (Ex- Makers Old and Modern"Tobin) 1,698 Roda "Bows for MusicalDoring "How Man y Instruments of the ViolinStrads?" Family" # 84 of 200

1,804 Doring "The Guadagnini 1,804 Vatelot "Les ArchetsFamily of Violin Makers" Francais" (2 volumes #103 of

40 Herbert Goodkind "Violin 250)Iconography Antonio 637 Vatelot "Les ArchetsStrad ivari" Francais"

530 Hamma "Die D'Egville-del 637 Werro '''Lady Blunt'Gesu" Stradivarius- Violine" (#3 of

424 Hamma "Meister Deuttsche 200)Geigenbau kunst" Werro "'Lady Blunt'

2,335 Hamma "Meisterwerke Strad ivar ius- Violine" (#29 ofItalienischer 200)Geigenbaukunst"

1,486 Wurlitzer "Rare Violins,Violas, Violoncellos of theSeventeenth, Eighteenth andNineteenth Centuries of theWurlitzer Collection," SpecialBinding embossed with thename of Nathan Posner

637 Seventeen separate volumesrelated to Violin TechniqueFourteen volumes related toViolin TechniqueSeventeen volumes related toViolin Technique

679 Thirty Volumes relating tothe Violin World,Biographies and bookswritten by Violinists

637 Twenty-Nine Dictionariesand Volumes relating to theLives of Violin Makers andtheir Techniques, theirInstruments and referenceWorks related to the ViolinMaking SchoolsTwenty-One volumesrelating generally to ViolinHistory, trade andconstruction

637 Twenty-Two volumesrelating to Violin History,trade and construction

637 24 Volumes relating toViolin History, Trade andConstructionFive Volumes on Fiction andGeneralFour MonographsTwenty Catalogues

2,972 W.E. Hill & Sons SatinwoodViolin Bow Case for sixbows

*These represent the highest prices everpaid for stringed instruments at anauction. Previously a "Lady Blunt"Strad ivarius violin from the same ownerhad garnered the highest price.

Submitted by Louis Kievman

Please patronize our JAVS advertiserswho help make this publication possible.

About Violists

THE VIOLA TODAY,IN GREATER L.A.

Is a violinist who plays Mozart'sSinfonia Concertante with two differentviolists in less than a month, pro­miscuous? Kathleen Lenski did it andin public, too; first on 8 October 1988with Brian Dembow (that name keepscropping up a lot lately) and the OrangeCounty-based Mozart Camerata chamberorchestra, at the seedy but greatacoustics Santa Ana High SchoolAuditorium, and second, 12 November1988, with Janet Lakatos and the LosAngeles Mozart Orchestra, at theWilshire-Ebell Theatre.

Between the first part of October andthe first part of March, no fewer than adozen string quartets have given concertsin the Los Angeles area: the TalichQuartet (whose violist is named JanTalich) and The Panocha Quartet, bothfrom Czechoslovakia, a second-genera­tion Fine Arts Quartet, (with JerryHorner, violist) a Quartet from thePacific Symphony, and one from theL.A. Philharmonic Chamber MusicSociety, the New World Quartet, theEm erson Quartet, to name a few. Acynic might say that the same 150 peopleare scuttling around town providingaudience for all these groups, but itprobably shows there is a thrivinginterest in the art of chamber music inSouthern California.

One of the more entertaining series isChamber Music in Historic Sites, whichpresents concerts in different locationsaround the city. On November 13th, theAngeles Quartet , a new group, (KathleenLenski and Roger Wilkie, violinists,Brian Dembow, violist and StephenErdody, cello) played an Historic Sitesconcert in the Chandelier Room of theTurf Club at Santa Anita Race Track. Itmust have taken nerve, but they pro­grammed Haydn's "Horseman" andMozart's "Hunt." On 8 February 1989,on the same series, The Tokyo Quartetwhose violist is Kazuhide Isomura, gave

35

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a resounding Schubert program,including the C Major Quintet, withCarter Brey, cellist, in the CrystalBallroom of the Biltmore Hotel.

In late February and early March, theSchoenberg String Quartet played all theSchoenberg string quartets at theSchoenberg Institute as part of theU.S.C. Schoenberg Festival. Somehow,it's hard to imagine a Schoenberg"Festival."

On November 20th, under theauspices of the Laguna Beach ChamberMusic Society, the Debussy Trio (AngelaSchmidt, flute, Christopher Redfield,viola, and Marcia Dickstein, harp)performed, appropriately enough, theDebussy Sonata for that combination. Itis not heard often, and , of course, has aluscious viola part.

Samuel Rhodes, violist of the JuilliardQuartet, won critical recognition forexcellence in performing the JanacekSecond Quartet and was singled out forcritical praise for his performance onFebruary 26th, at Cal Tech.

Los Angeles has been treated to fourviola recitals this season. Milton Thomasopened with a U.S.C . appearance onNovember 6th. Ayke Agus was thepianist and a new work by Paul Chihara,S ymphonia Concertante for violin andviola, was presented with YukikoKamei, violinist.

In a new theater, Pierson Playhouse,in Pacific Palisades, Peter Hatch gave hisannual viola recital on January 29th,with Francesco Bencivenga, pianist. Mr.Hatch has been doing this for some yearsnow and shows real bravery inprogramming. This year's line up:Vieuxtemp's Sonata and Elegy; Joachim'sHebriiische Melodien; Enesco's ConcertPiece . The "straight" work wasHindemith's Sonata, Opus 11, No.4. Hetitled the concert "The Magic of theViola."

On February 22nd, at the Leo S. BingTheater of the Los Angeles CountyMuseum of Art, Cynthia Phelps,principal violist of the MinnesotaOrchestra, was heard in recital assisted

by pianist Kirsten Taylor. This recitalwas, evidently, not reviewed by the L.A.Times, which gives cause for concern.When a corps of critics who are oftendeprived of pulchritude in the course oftheir duties, decline to review the effortsof two ladies who look so good and whoplay so beautifully, one could justifiablyquestion basic good judgement. Perhapsthey thought Miss Phelps' publicitypictures were of someone else.

On March 5th , again at U.S.C.'sHancock Auditorium, Milton Thomas isscheduled for another recital , this one toinclude the Sixth Brandenberg Concertoby Bach.

A group called American ChamberPlayers, affiliated with the Library ofCongress Summer Chamber MusicFestival was scheduled to give a localdebut program at the Bing Theater onWednesday, January 18th. When theircellist fell ill, last minute changesincluded violist Miles Hoffman playingthe D Minor Cello Suite by Bach. Ofcourse, violists play these Suites all thetime, but not often in public concert.

Finally, is it possible that HeiichiroOhyama, the peripatetic principal violistof the L.A. Philharmonic, will have toturn in his viola button? During thefirst two months of 1989, he has led theorchestra in two complete sets of regularsubscription concerts. That's a lot ofpodium time for an Assistant Conductor.Congratulations are in order.

Courtesy of Thomas C. Hall.

The Editor is looking for other cor­respondents who will report regularly onhappenings of interest to violists inmajor cultural centers of the U.S.A.

Rosemary Clyde, AVS Treasurer, playedon March 13 a recital at Alice TullyHall, Lincoln Center. Diana Kacso,pianist, collaborated in works by J.C.Bach , Shostakovich, Brahms, Kreisler,and two transcriptions by Ms. Glyde ofpieces by W.H. Squire and Zarzitsky.She also offered the premiere of Shatin'sDoxa.

Karen Ritscher gave a recital at MerkinConcert Hall, New York City, on March19 with Jeffrey Cohen, pia nist, andSylvia Rosenberg, violinist. Theprogram featured 20th century music byPersichetti, Harbison, Martinu,Hindemith, and the premiere ofAdolphe's Dreamsong:

Paul Neubauer, principal of the NewYork Philharmonic, will be leaving thatpost after this season to pursue hiscareer as a soloist and chamber musician.

Donald Mclnnes and Brooks Smith,pianist, played a Primrose MemorialConcert and conducted a master class atBrigham Young University on April 6/7.Works featured were by Marais, Britten,Hindemith, Brahms-Primrose, Haydn,and Loeffler (the latter with DonnaDalton, soprano).

Lynne Ramsey, teacher of viola atOberlin College since 1986, has beenappointed to the Cleveland Orchestra asassociate principal.

T he Aspen Music School announces theappointment of new viola faculty:Rosemary Glyde, Patricia McCarty. EllenRose. Yizhak Schotten. Heidi Castlemanwill conduct a week long series ofspecial viola master classes. (MsCastleman will be joining the faculty ofthe Cleveland Institute of Music.) Otherviola faculty at Aspen are Atar Arad ,Lawrence Dutton, Lillian Fuchs, JohnGraham, and Masao Kawasaki.

P hilip Clark reports from Ithaca, NewYork of Viola Extravaganza ll: VivaViola which he organized. Twenty-sevenviolists found themselves on Barnes Hallstage of Cornell University to performas they/did last year works for violaensemble. These teachers and students ofviola, mostly from the public schools,perform in the Cayuga ChamberOrchestra, Syracuse and Binghamtonorchestras, or teach or are enrolled atIthaca College, Cornell University, orSUNY, Binghamton.

Works performed on the prog ramincluded Telemann's Concerto for Four

Violas (transcription), June Sunrise byKenneth Harding, Gordon Jacob's Suitefor Eight Violas, the Sixth Brandenburg,Irish Melody by Hampton, and others.

Editor's Note: Announcements regardingthe professional activities of violists isappreciated.

New WorksTwo from the West Coast

Sonata lor violas·ano. opus 44( 1986) by James eale. Publisher:American Compose lliance, 170 West74 Street, New York, NY 10023.

T wo pieces for viola, dating from1986, by American composers based onthe West Coast, could hardly be moredifferent. Sonata by James Beale isrooted in the Brahms-Hindernithacademic tradition and is defined byfo rmal principles which identify it as asona ta, albeit one wit h two movements.Kalamatiano combines the accordion andviola, which is cer tainly not a commonoccurrence, and is a folk - dance relatedfantasy with an urgent, unpredictableand explosive personality.

The Beale Sonata is interesting,logical, well-crafted music, couched in asolid twentieth-century idiom. Atonal,with obvious exceptions, dissonant, butnot self-consciously so, motivically andmelodically rich, it is exceptionally well­planned from the standpoint ofensemble. This is real Viola Music, withthe piano part functioning almost likeaccompaniment. The piano texture isthin enough so that the viola does notstruggle to be heard.

Despite some awkward leaps anddouble-stop progressions, the work ispleasantly accessible to the violist for anumber of reasons, not the least ofwhich is the rhythmic content. Therhythmic texture is full, rich, and variedin the twentieth-century tradition, butthese rhythms are notated with simplic­ity and clarity, so that the player doesnot need advanced mathematical skills tobe sure of the composer's intentions.

37

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The first movement is almost a three­part song form, and ends strongly in thetonality of C. (There is a strikingresemblance between this end ing and theclose of the Shostakovich Sona ta, opus147.) The viola part exploits wideregister changes, combined with areiterated ascending whole-step , high onthe A-string. The second movement isessentially an allegro. It uses, as thematicmaterial, a tune we had heard as asurprise near the end of the f irstmovement, and we are treated to somecautiously approached fingeredharmonics as well as effect ive mute use.

The work is sixteen minutes long, andcould be usefully presented as thetwentieth-century member of a recital.The audience will not leave "hummingthe melody," but it should enjoy womewell-written viola music .

Kalamatiano: a piece for viola 11

bass accordion (1986) by Nick 'A rionAvaila ble from the composer at: ""-Jl.<. \.<U

W. Avenue 41, Los Angeles, CA 90065.

K alamatiano, by Nick Ariondo, isinscribed "for violist John Acevedo," amember of the Pacific Symphony inOrange County, California, and awonderfully accomplished, f1eet­fingered player . The compos er expla inedthat the title is derived fr om a Greek 'folk-dance, kalamatianos, a populardance performed both north and southin Greece, where many of the dances areconsidered reg iona l. It is said that th isdance, which explo its a limpling 7/ 8rhythm, comes fr om the city ofKalamata which suffered seve reearthquake damage last year. Indeed ,there is much of the sound of shaking inthis piece.

The most interesting aspect of thework is the timbre of the comb ination ofaccordion and viola . The sound iscomplimentary, homogeneous, andsomehow "interesting." Extremes ofdynamics are unexpectedly possible, andperhaps overused.

Concerning general style, this issometimes called "event music"...thelistener is taken from one musical eventto another. The basics of composition

(repetition, harmony, melod y, counter­point, etc .) are not used to providecontinuity or musical interst. We rely onunexpected sonic occurrences, oftendeli vered in spasms of dexterity atnanosecond speed. This is a fine exampleof the "What was that?!" style.

The relationsh ip between the dancerhythms imp lied in the ti tle and therhythms which actually occur is some­thing of a mystery. Occas ionally, the 7/8rhythm is sustained long enough to beperceptible. Rh yth mic content, if notcompletel y free, certainly gives theimpression of being rhapsodic. Theharmonic vocabulary is almost triadic;there are tonal centers, and the workbegins and ends in C, without question.Still, there is no obvious formal plan.

Kalamatiano lasts something overseven min utes, and it projects an urgentenergy and instrumental fluency withunusual sonorities. Mr. Ariondo haswritten other pieces for accordion andstrings, so performance possibili tiesmight increase in the future, but theavai lability of accordionists with thetechnical equipment to perform hisworks, must be generally slim. Ofcourse, Liszt and Paganini had the sameproblem.

Reviewed by Thomas G. Hall, ChapmanCollege.

This piece was apparently written in1974 but not pub lished until the present.Its basic musical language is simplisticand tonal with polytonal elements. Thefirst movement has a motoristic driveand a perpetual motion effect. Thesecond movement is a largo in changingmeters somewhat rem iniscent ofShostakovich, with a peculiarjuxtaposition of slow and suddenly fastmoving notes . The last movement,Figurat ionen iiber einen KroatischenVolkstan z , returns to the drivingrhythms in a presto dance. The work isdedicated to Franz Zeyringer. [P.G.)

La Choumine, Poem for Viola and Piano.By Jay Reise. Merion Music Inc./Presserce., 1986. $6.50

This interesting short work for theserious violist offers contemporarymusical ideas combined with melodicappeal and aesthetic value. It ismoderately difficult, requiring skill inclef changes, mixed meter, and advancedbowing techniques.

This single-movement work maintainsa soft and ethereal air throughout andconsists of four sections. The first,marked "Fairly slow, always singing," isvery soft and flowing, ending with aburst of sound in forte. A second, faster,section retains the soft mood andincludes the effective use of grace notes.It also ends with sudden loudness. Thethird section is a "quasi cadenza" forboth instruments. The composition endswith soft tremolo and seven measures oflong flautando notes .

The piano plays an important role bymaintaining rhythmic consistencythroughout the sustained passages in theviola part. This striking piece can be auseful learning tool for college-age oradvanced high school students as well asfor the professional in search ofinteresting new recital works. [K.M.S.)

Lyric Movement, fororchestra. By GustaUniversity Press, 19 chestration: FI,Ob, CI (in Bb), Bn, Strings. Duration: 10minutes. $12.75 (full score only)

Gustav Hoists' last work (like those ofBartok, Shostakovitch, and others) wasfor the viola. Lyric Movement waswritten in 1933 for Lionel Tertis andwas fi rst performed two months beforethe composer's death in 1934. Thesketches remained unrevised untilHolst's widow, Imogen, published acorrected viola and piano reduction forOxford in 1971.

This edition is the implementation ofImogen's corrections in the previouslyuntouched full score. Careful compari­son of the two editions shows meticulous

application of these corrections, which,according to Imogen's notes, areprimarily adjustments of dynamics andaccidentals. The Lyric Movement exhibitsa characteristically British sound withbeautifully flowing melodies, effectiveuse of duple against triple meterpatterns, and lush chamber orchestralwriting. The piece lies well on the violabut requires a degree of skill to managethe double stop sections and upperposition writing. Most importantly, theperformer must possess a high level ofmusical maturity to make the mosteffective interpretation, particularly inthe quasi cadenza passages pepperedthroughout the work.

Oxford University Press should becommended for its efforts in updatingits orchestra score of this significantpiece in the viola repertoire. Hopefully,this publication will inspire moreperformances of the piece. (K.M.S.)

Reviewed by Pamela Goldsmith,California State University, Northridgeand Katherine Mason-Stanley, Universityof Colorado-Boulder.

Courtesy, American String Teacher.

PLAYING THE VIOLA

by Alison Milne

In her introduction Miss Milne setsout the purposes of this admirableStudents Book, which encompassesintelligent practicing and quick reactionto the printed language of music throughcarefully graded and interesting smallchallenges from exercises to the worksof contemporary composers such asHugo Cole, through Walton, Piston andBartok. The chamber music ofBeethoven and Schubert is alsorepresented in these fragments. Certainlya very useful guide, not for the childbeginner, but for any aspiring violaplayer. Well printed and with clearexplanations, there is a comparisionbook of piano accompaniments. TrevorWilliams.

Courtesy, The Strad.

39

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40

RecordingsHINDEMITH: SONATAS FOR

SOLO VIOLA & PIANO

KIM KASHKASHIA (VIOLA)/ROBER LEVI (PIA 0 )

ECM LP 1330-32

F rom a purely technical standpoint, Ican think of few composers sothoroughly prepared as Paul Hindemith.It has been said (perhaps apocr yphally)that he wrote sonatas for ever yinstrument in the orchestra and couldplay every note he wrote on theinstrument he wrote it for.

Be that as it may, Hindemith'srelationship with the violas was, to saythe least, more than a one nig ht stand!As one of that neglected Cinderalla'smost impassioned advocates of thegeneration that led to the Primrose path,he playe d in the Amar Quartet and in anow legendary string trio with SzymonGoldberg and Emmanuel Feuermann.Furthermore until about I939--thevintage date of the last work of thisformidable collection--he was alsoactive as a soloist. These sonatas coincidewith the composer's playing career, and,like the violin music of Kreisler and thepiano music of Rachmaninoff, they wereunquestionably tailored to his own play­ing style and reflective of his technicaland aesthetical preferences.

Hindemith's famous directive for thethird movement of Op, 25 No. I,composed in 1922 composed in 1922:Rasendes Zeitmass: Wild, Tonschiinheitis Nebensache (Raging tempo. Wild.Tonal Beauty of seconday importance)has given rise to a somewhat erroneousnotion that Hindemith's own violaplaying was wildly abandoned andabrasively scratchy. When one goes tothe source--fortunately, there arerepresentative recordings of his solo aswell as his ensemble work-s-onediscovers a player of considerable tonal

and technical finesse. True, Hindemith'splaying (and compositional!) styleeschewed the kind of opulent tonalglamour practiced by William Primroseor Pinchas Zukerman, and--this is a bitsurprising--his treatment of theaforementioned movement of Op, 25 No.I (as recorded for Columbia) is anythingbut wild , the tempo is more lackadaisical(flexible?) and caution goes arm-in-armwith an agreeable, if never particularlylustrous, sonority. The conclusion fromthis listener is that although Hindemithmay have regarded tonal beauty assecondary, he was certainly not insensi­tive to its adornments when used tofurther a musical point. Casals, Szigetiand Huberman were probably more akinto Hindemith's way of playing than, saythe acerbic Adolf Busch (though thereare certainly analogous traits betweenthose two as well) .

Some of the Hindemith viola sonatasare here recorded for the firs t time. Theothers have appeared before, inperformances that range from service ­able to really distingu ished. For the mostpart, the first generation reco rdi ngs (e.g.the composer's own accounts of Op, 25No. I and the 1939 Sonata; Primrose's ofOp. II No.4) are not particularlymemorable. Part of the problem is thelacklustre, drably percussive pianism ofJesus Maria Sanroma in the twoaccompanied works. But Primrose'sfreewheeling, rather casual-soundingrubato also misses the point, while thecomposer's sturdy way with 1939 andOp, 25 No. I seem a mite prosaic incomparison with what some laterpractitioners have been able to build onthis ed ifice.

I recall a truly memorable Op, II No.4 from Francis Tursi and Jose Echanizfor Concert Hall in the early days of LP,and roughly a decade later, came finelywrought performances of that trulylovely work and its 1939 successor byWalter Trampler and Ronald Turini thatsomewhat undercut the admirablecontemporaneous recording of O p , I INo.4 by Harold Coletta and RobertGuralnik (coupled with Coletta's equallyforthright Op. 25 No. I; tonally veryclose to Hindemith's own). Theviola/piano Sonata, Op. 25 No.4 was

only recently pu bl ished (in the late1970s). T ra mple r gave some outst andingperformances of it at tha t time, but thef irst- - and until now, onl y--recordingwas made by Yizh ak Sch otten andKatherine Collier (still available on LPas CRI 450 ). I ha ve only passingfamiliarity with the Hindemithrecordings by se veral Czech violinists-­L. Czerny, J. Kodousek, K. Spelin a- ­who all play with a more prono uncedRomantic cast and are resonantlyrecorded; and none whatsoever with anItalian LP of Op. 25 No. I by therenowned Bruno Giuranna. The mostconvincing and vir tuosic Op. 25 No. I,taken ' live' from a 1973 Carnegie Hallco ncert and pressed on a privatelyci rc ulated LP , was by G uiranna's (andTrampler's) one time pupil, No bukoImai. A recent performance by Imaisugges ted that even she can no longerap proximate that high-water mark.

The American violist, Kim Kash­kashian , has a striking affinity forHindemi th's idiom. He r p laying hasexcellent technica l assu ra nce, andalthough a far greater colourist than thecomposer himself, he r musical aesthetichere resists the temptations to over­ro ma ntic ize (or over prettify). She makesan excellent case for the fanciful, neo­Bachi an (but thoroughly conternporaryl)Op, 31 No. 4--which she plays with animpish, ma nic excite me nt an dirrepressible enthusiasm. One can hear inthis work-s-particularly its secondmoveme n t- - allusi ons to, and evenquotat ions from , the better known Op.25 No . I of two years earlier (Op. 31 No .4, still unpublished--Kashkashian isplaying f rom a facsimile of th eautog ra ph-s-was written in 1924) . T heot he r unknown sonata was allegedlycomposed in 1937 while Hindemith wastravell ing from New York to Chicago bytrain. He performed it a few days later!The composer's st yle is reputed to havechanged drastically in the interveningdecade, bu t I hear only a moderatetransformation: the ar dour andspontane ity of expression are no w moremuted; the German "Expressionism" hasbecome a mite more dogmatic (ordo gged?). I was most ta ken with themovement in pizzicato. Again,Kashkashian plays from autograph

facsi mile an d proves a splendidadv oca te .

In the works where she hascompetition, Kashkash ian always holdsher own admirably, even if shesometimes is a mite overmatched by th ebest efforts of her predecessors. She isfinely partnered in the accompaniedwo rk s by R obe rt Levin, an Americanpian ist who has earned deserved famefor his Mozart scholarship. Levin'sbright cryst alline so und clarifies .Hindemith's knotty co mplexies andelucidation is also hel ped by hisadmirabl y secure rh ythmic sense. Eitherfrom his own inclination towardsastri nge ncy and th e mode of recording(probably a combi nation of bo thfactors), the pi an o tone emerges assomewhat 'pingy'--no liability at all inmusic if innate acerbity, especially asLe vin , like Kash kash ian , is notinsensitive to co lour.

My onl y q uibble in one varia t ion inOp. 11 No .4: Hindemith's ins tructionfor No. VI is Fugato , mit bizarrerPlumpheit vorzutrage n and the nimblegrace of the Kashkashian/Levintreatment, hardly coincides with myunderstand ing of ' b iza rre un gainl in ess'(T rample r/ T urini came far closer).Indeed, I find the present treatment ofthis par t icular son ata , as a who le, j ust asha de facile an d ligh tweigh t th ou ghcertainly lyrical and intelligent in itsway.

The works are distr ibuted over threeLPs and- -more conveniently- -two CDs,one of which contains the four soloworks, the othe r, the three duo sonatas,ECM's br ight , airy sound is a fu rtherad ornment on this not- to-be missedcompendium: Everyone concerned cantake pride in this important recordedmilestone. Harri s Goldsmith

Co urtesy, Th e Strad .

See nex t page for more Ilew record ings.

Graphics from Laurent Grillet: Ancetresdu Violon . Librairie G enerate des ArtsDecoratifs, Paris , 190 I.

S ,\ n c x G I F.

41

42

:L U \ O Il

BERLIOZ: HAROLD IN ITALY;ROB ROY; LE CORSAIREPinchas Zukerman (viola)/

Montreal Symphony OrchestralCharles Dutoit

CD Decca 421 193-1, LP 421 193-2 ,TAPE 421 193-4

BRAHMS: VIOLA SONATAS,OP. 120; SCHUMANN:

MARCHENBILDER, OP. 113Nobuko Imai (viola)/

Rober Vignoles (piano)Chandos CD ABRD-1 256,

LP CHAN-8550 TAPE ABTD-1256

THE RUSSIAN VIOLA:WORKS BY RUBINSTEIN,

GLINKA, GLAZUNOV,STRAVINSKY AND SHOSTAKOVICH

Nobuko Imai (violaj/Roland Pontinen (piano)

Bis LP 358

BRAHMS: VIOLA SONATAS,OP. 120; VIOLA TRIO,

OP. 114Yuri Bashmet (viola j/

Valentin Berlinsky (cello)/Mikhail Muntyan (piano)

Olympia LP OCD-175

BACH: ADAGIO;BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN CONCERTO &SONATA NO.8; SCHUBERT: ' DUO'

SONATA IN A; GRIEG: SONATA IN CMINOR; BRAHMS: VIOLIN

CONCERTO; KREISLER: STRINGQUARTET & SHORT PIECESFritz Kreisler (violinj/LondonPhilharrnonic/Barbirolli/SergeiRachmaninoff (piano)/Thomas

Petrie (violin), William Primrose(viola) & Lauri Kennedy

(celloj/Michael Raucheisen(piano)

Biddulph LP LAB 001/3

~

ep~r~(L')

GIFT SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORMOrder a gift membership

at the rate of $20.00for three AVS journals and

the annual Die Viola

D YES, I want to give a year's membership in the AVS to the individuals named below.

D In addition to gifts, D or in place of gifts,

please renew my own for 1988 at the regular rate of $20.00.

I enclose my payment totaling $,___ for __ gifts or my renewal.

First Recipient's Name

Address

City

Gift Card to Read

Second Recipient's Name

Address

City

Gift Card to Read

State

State

Zip

Zip

Third Recipient's Name

Address

City

Gift Card to Read

Fourth Recipient's Name

Address

City

Gift Card to Read

State

State

Zip

Zip

We will send a card to you acknowledging your gift plus a letter to each recipient informing them of yourthoughtfulness. The gift membership will start with the annual Spring issue. Many thanks.

Rosemary GlydeTreasurer

P.O. Box 558,Rt. 22Golden's Bridge, N.Y. 10526