Solos for the Viola Player with【Piano Accompaniment】

【PREFACE】
The purpose of this anthology is to make available to the viola player a substantial body of work which can best help him to bring forth the peculiarly expressive nature of the viola as a solo instrument, and the special eloquence of the modern style of viola playing. A definitely new con-ception of this instrument's place in the world of musical art in general, and of string performance in particular, is making its way among musicians and audiences alike. The special genius of the viola is expressed in the word cantilena or bel canto, a style for which its sonorities are magnificently suited. With this in mind I have chosen the music for this anthology from the great arched phrases of Bach to the American folk song Shenandoah. The aim is the same: to produce the singing style, the plastic phrase, the dynamic of song-speech. This, of course, doesn't mean that compositions of faster tempi have been ignored. On the contrary, the player will find some lovely works which disprove some old-fashioned judgments that the viola is merely an instrument to portray melancholy, mourning, tears and sighs. The viola player who cannot put sunshine into his playing is not giving full scope to his instrument.