Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-12
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS

THE appearance last week Of Louis
i Bailly, the viola player of the Flon =
zaley Quartet, as soloist with the Phil
adelpha Orchestra, in the disappointing
suite of Ernest Bloch for viola aud
orchestra. calls attention to the fact
that the solo literature for this instru-
ment is smaller than that of almost anv
other instrument of the orchestra, and
this applies TO the compositions for viola
with piano accompaniment as well as
with orchestra.
As Il matter of fact, the compositions
Tor viola and orchestra might almost
be counted on the fingers of one hand.
First of all on general familiarity. II
not in merit, is the Harold in Italy"
Of Berlioz, composed for Paganini when
that demon violinist acquired new
Stradivarius viola and. found no music
adapted to show 1t OF. But in this
work the viola also Is more in the
nature Of an Obbligato than Il pure
solo.
Only a few composers have written
for the viola as q solo instrument, with
the natural result that there is today
no outstanding work for the instrument
with orchestra. Ferdinand David wrote
a conccrtino, Hans Slit, viola player of
the Brodsky Quartet, composed con-
certo and concert piece" none of
which Is ever heard, and Mozart
wrote symphonic concertante for
violin, viola and orchestra, probably
the best work ever written in which
the viola stands as d solo instrument
AS the title. indicates, the viola part is
on an exact equality with that Of the
violin.
IN PURELY orchestral works the
1 viola was not used in solo passages
until comparatively recent date, Il
though Haendel, Gluck, Sacchini and
Others have in few of their choral
works used 1t occasionally with telling
erect 1t was Mozart who gave the
Nlola It's first real recognition, both as
an orchestral and as q chamber music
instrument.
one OF the earliest places in which
tne viola appears as an orchestral solo
instrument Is the slow movement of the
FIRTH symphony" of Beethoven, where
It doubles the cellos In the announce
ment of the melodious first theme. From
this time on the viola has steadily gained
as an orchestral solo instrument. Schu-
pert uses it beautifully with the bas-
00hS' hS' in the first movement of the
diminished Symphony" and Wagner
tDoK iulI advantage of its tonal pos
holIiti"S' but more frequently as an
solo one
TschaIkowsky gives the violas the
opening theme in the first allegro (after
the introductory in the Symphony
rathetique' and Richard Strauss has n
1elo viola take the part of Sancho
irs Tan1a in his tone poem 'Don Quixotc."
Inc modern writer's for orchestra in
taeir trce use of the characteristic tone
W the viola for solo purposes have thus
made up for the neglect of the instru-
incnt by the earlier composers.
NHE literature for the viola solo with
- plano shows the same paucty as
'ndl lor viola and orchestra. None of
e .ne composers of the first rank wrote
Ior the instrument except Schumann,
turCS, "
. hubinStCiu, however, wrote really
I,he sonata for viola and pinuo, un-
uouDtedly the best work of its kind yet
MoGuced, and Joachim composed set
VI iour or five Hebrew melodies which !
are encrtivc. But outside Of these
lure are few instances Of fine compo-
ment
- mere Is a mass of literature for
nIola' but most of the works are "ar- !
rangementS. The compass Of the |
,tla ,Iola being exactly one octave higher |
snall that of the ccll0- it is easy to ar
,anse ,se cello compositions for viola |
hM,.nout changing the key, and thus
%tlng to reprint the piano part, |
,'I,h mnlcn Is nccessary in the case of COM
EEVs''t"hS Tor the violin being arranged |
,or 'he viola, where both solo and piano !
'"''" must be transposcd a fifth lower. |
Rul there is sound musical reason |
l.. Tor this seeming neglect of the viola |
a. 'n' greatest composers, and thar |
- mat the viola is essentially |
Gu g.. ensemble and not solo in
S,Fumrnt. When it is played alone
th WIN only piano accompaniment,
sOo oo zone is thin and ineffective and
WI otc"mrS monOtonous, Il fact which
noaod mas cNldrntly realized by the best COM
t,USerS, VINO would have otherwise writ
LIi, nolos Tor an instrument the posi-
oii'cS ,~oI OF which they understood so
"elI' aS shown by their elaborate
''r,mH'Stra' ,H parts for it.
,,oe ine Hloln is an anomalous instru-
r' "umt. Its compass is fixed by strlct
mus"al requirements and, being pitched
o. octave above the cello, the size of the
a1otrum"nt therefore should be about
,JnI nan that of the latter. But If the
r"o0 no'a W"r" built large enough to answer
"a 'uSl'Tally to its compass, that Is,
produce the tones with the same
"egree Of power ms the corresponding
uEUeeS ,ES ON the violin, II would be So large
nl ,onl u could only he played like the
Mo. No. heId between the knees. So, as II
",h ds lgS"r seriously proposed to play it
S,"er ,.. than as the violin, II compromise
y,oi os necessary. The result is that the
wu as we know II today Is Il dwarf; its