Konzert in F-Dur für Viola und Orchester by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf; Walter LebermannReview by: Louise RoodNotes, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Mar., 1961), pp. 314-315Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/891665 .

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CHAMBER MUSIC

Ross Lee Finney: Fantasy in two movements. For solo violin. (Ed. Peters, 6063.) New York: C. F. Peters, 1958. [15 p., $2.00]

Ross Lee Finney's Fantasy in Two Movements for solo violin is a virtuoso work of large dimensions. The two movements, "Statement and Variation," "Development and Conclusion," employ a tone-row of expanding, then contract- ing, intervals built on a contrary-motion scale line. This curve may be clearly heard in the variations which follow, variations which employ characteristic violin figures in an unconventional way. An extended restatement of the row in its original slow tempo acts both as conclusion of the first movement and as a link to the development. Here, the fantasia element of free rhapsody is to be seen in more fluid rhythms, more rapid changes of mood, and still a wider range of violinistic effects. The work concludes with a massive chordal state- ment of the row on a D-pedal, a tonality made clear throughout. Commissioned by Yehudi Menuhin for his World's Fair program at Brussels in 1958, this work makes great virtuoso demands but the virtuosity here exists not for its own sake but to serve purely musical ends. This is an important addition to the violinist's repertoire. Roberto Gerhard: Chaconne for un- accompanied violin. London: Keith Prowse, 1960. [15 p., 7161]

Another remarkable work, also written in serial technique, is this Chaconne for unaccompanied violin. Mr. Gerhard is a Spanish-born composer now living in England who is far better known in Europe than in this country, where he assuredly deserves a wider hearing. The Chaconne requires the highest possible violinistic skill. It bristles with difficult chords, artificial harmonics, left-hand piz- zicatos and bowing problems. Each of the eleven sections which follow the Chaconne's initial statement is character- ized by a particular instrumental effect. The variations also utilize widely con- trasted rhythmic patterns. The theme itself is in 7/8 time; even the con-

paratively straightforward triple meter of the third section is full of subtle cross- accents; the sixth part uses 10/8 in every possible subdivision; and, by way of still further contrast, the tenth sec- tion renounces meter and bar-line. If this work presents a challenge to per- former and listener alike, its varied moods and novel sonorities make an im- mediate imDact. Sandor Szokolay: Sonata for violin solo. Budapest: Editio Musica; U. S. A.: Boosey and Hawkes, New York, 1959. [11 p., $1.00]

The Sonata for violin solo by Sindor Szokolay is effective violin music in clear form and equally clear tonality. The first movement is in compact sonata- form. Its characteristic interval of a diminished octave, as a simultaneous major-minor chord, is exploited through- out, with a briefly stated second theme of more melodic character as contrast in exposition and recapitulation. The slow movement presents a cantabile theme with a variation in richer texture and heightened rhythm as middle sec- tion, returning to the mood and tempo of the first part. The last movement combines scherzo and finale; with fast figuration in shifting meters, its rondo- like returns after brief contrasting epi- sodes conclude with references to the diminished octave and final cadence of the first movement. This, then, is a short work violinistically conceived. For the listener, it is music of Hungarian flavor pDosing no enigmatic cruestions.

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf: Kon- zert in F-Dur fur Viola und Orches- ter. Erstmals hrsg. von Walter Lebermann. Klavierauszug. (Ed. Schott, 5054.) Mainz: B. Schott's Sohne; U. S. A.: Associated Music Publishers, New York, 1959. [Score, 27 p., & pt., $3.75]

The Dittersdorf Concerto in F Major may perhaps come as a disappointment to those players who associate the Sonata in E-flat with the name of this com- poser. (It has been suggested that the attribution of the Sonata is not solidly established.) The disappointment may

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arise in part from insufficiently contrasted material and figuration to sustain inter- est throughout its many repetitions and echo-effects. Scored for two horns and strings, the opening tutti presents a wealth of figures upon which the solo part, using its own variants, ruminates at leisure. A brief excursion to the relative minor with extensive sequences constitutes- the main interest of the de- velopment. In the recapitulation, new variants appear but in a welcome change of register. As can be seen from the prevailing use of treble clef, the solo part consistently lies on the upper strings. The Andante contains a variety of deco- rated lines in square phrases; here again, tutti and solo are tenuously connected. The finale seems especially discursive although the phrases are of more inter- estingly varied length and the harmonic color is of greater richness than that of the Andante, which is chiefly restricted to primary chords. After its initial state- ment in the solo part, the theme never reappears, being replaced by arpeggios in different forms and rhythms. Perhaps judicious cuts might make this period- piece more enjoyable for- player and audience. Darius Milhaud: Deuxieme concerto pour alto et orchestre. Reduction pour piano et alto. Paris: Heugel; U. S. A.: Theodore Presser, 1958. [Score, 66 p., & pt., $6.00]

The Second Concerto of Darius Milhaud, written in 1955, is a four- movement work. The first, "Avec entrain," resembles a Baroque concerto with the ritornello in the solo part: a rapid, steadily-moving figure developed in varied rhythms with a few contrasting lyric moments. The second movement, "Avec charme," develops from a small chordal motive into a sustained dialogue between solo and orchestra. The scherzo-like third movement, "Avec esprit," opposes a tutti theme with shifting accents and a square-cut viola figure, combining them in contrapuntally ingenious ways. "Avec gaite," the finale, is a gigue with alter- nating staccato and legato figures in a tightly-woven linear texture. This work is neat, economical, and of astringent effect, er-pecially in its use of the viola.

Walter Piston: Concerto for viola and orchestra, 1957. Reduction for viola and piano by the composer. New York: Associated Music Pubs., 1959. [Score, 33 p., & pt., $4.00]

The Concerto by Walter Piston was written in 1957. In three movements, the first begins with a long melodic line whose germinal figure of a neighboring- tone reappears in the second, scherzoso section. With development and return subtly merged, the movement comes to a quiet close in the mood of the be- ginning. The second movement is the high point of the concerto; like a chorale fantasia, the rhapsodic solo line, in dialogue with the ritornello, evolves in ever-broadening arches. The jaunty finale, with a variety of incisive figures ranging from the opening brass fanfare through the scale-motive of the strings to the syncopated solo theme which again makes use of the neighboring-tone, culminates in a brilliant cadenza. The solo part is technically demanding but realistic. This is a work designed to put the viola in its finest light. William Flanagan: Chaconne for violin and piano. New York: Peer International; distr.: Southern, 1959. [Score, 11 p., & pt., $1.25] Tibor Sarai: Humoresque for viola and piano. Fingering and bowing by Pal Lukacs. Budapest: Editio Mu- sica; U. S. A.: Boosey and Hawkes, 1958. [Score, 10 p., & pt., $1.50'] Robert Ward: Arioso and Tarantelle for cello or viola and piano. New York: Highgate Press; distr.: Gal- axy, 1959. [Scores, 7, 17 p., & pts. (cello); $1.25, $2.00; vla. pt. avail.]

Recently issued short works, useful for performer and teacher, include Wil- liam Flanagan's Chaconne, for violin and piano, a melodically conceived set of variations in a modally flavored harmonic idiom; Tibor Sairai's Humoresque, for viola and piano, a light-hearted piece in conventional style; and Robert Ward's Arioso and Tarantelle for cello (or viola) and piano. These are carefully wrought pieces, expressive and effective. In all four of these short works, the piano is given a role of equal partnership.

LOUISE ROOD

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