Suite No. 1 for Solo Viola

Suite for Solo Viola, Op. 6. An early composition where I attempt to showcase the dark timbre of the viola in the most musical way possible.

Suite No. 1 for Solo Viola

Hey, Trevor. Welcome to YC!

I like that you explore many double/triple/quadruple stops in this piece (and since you're a string player you know they're all very playable). I can easily imagine that dark, rich timbre. I have to admit I had a hard time finding common threads in each movement and found some things confusing, even if I enjoyed them in the moment. For instance, 44-45 felt out-of-place (did you want 46-47 to be staccato again?), as did the sextuplets in 97, the pizz. in 108, and the harmonics in 109-110. These sections or techniques felt like they came out of nowhere and might work better if you reference the ideas again. Don't forget that tempo markings typically go above a single staff (like molto rit. in 99).

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed listening.

I'm finding it really gratifying to hear all the new music on here featuring the viola. It seems that attitudes regarding the instrument and its capabilities are changing for the better, and it's high time!

I concur with much of what Orpheus said. I found it melodic and amiable in approach, accessible in style and idiomatic to the instrument for which it was written, yet there were gaps in cohesion that I found difficult to bridge. Still, I'm keeping in mind that this is an early work, and as such there seems to be promise and potential in your writing.

It seems to me that a live performance might convey more of your intentions. Since you're a violist, is there any chance of you recording a live performance of it and posting it in lieu of the electronic rendering?

Welcome to YC, and we hope you'll stick around.

Thanks for the words of welcome! I went back and did some editing of the score... nothing to drastic as to preserve whatever was going through my head at the time. I made a few changes to make my intentions more clear.

The second movement I was implying a spiccato stroke, which has been marked. The slurred notes in 44-45 were just something a little different, and I have changed those to make a little more stylistic sense. I believe my original intention with the sextuplets was just a sense of urgency; a sense of moving forward into the big fortissimo at the end of the piece, but I now see that this sense of movement was offset by regular 16th notes a couple bars later. The pizz. at the end was primarily for the nice tone that the lowest three open string make when plucked together, and I always wanted to utilize that sound, but I suppose it was a bit random. It seems that they sound just as nice when bowed and let ring. The penultimate measure makes more sense to end on the actual chord as opposed to harmonics, so I changed that, but left the last measure as a harmonic, just to serve as a nice timbre for the end pf the piece.

Will post a recording soon... thanks again!