| The Viola |
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What is the Viola?
| Let's Listen to the first great Solo Violist of the 20th Century, William Primrose(1904-1982)to find out... Videos 3 and 4 are wonderful performances by Los Angeles Violist Evan Wilson. Videos 5-7 are of my good friend Violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama. I am honored to share them with my students. Please enjoy! The last two are from an all Rebecca Clarke recital I did in 2003. The first piece is Passacaglia on an old English Tune for Viola and Piano followed by a chamber work for Violin, Viola and Piano entitled Dumka. Clarke is my favorite composer for the Viola. Enjoy! (Click the button that's second from the left for a visual list of videos to click on.) |
The Viola can be thought of as the Alto Violin; it's deeper voiced cousin. It's tone is rich and mellow and is often compared to
the human voice. Why should you consider choosing the Viola for your child's instrument rather than the Violin? It's warm
tone is more pleasing to some students who prefer deeper tones compared to the extremely high range of the Violin.
The also Viola presents great opportunities for young students than ever before. Our youth orchestras are suffering from a
crisis of huge proportions. There are too many violin students to support our areas ensemble groups. Without Violists, there
can be no orchestras or string quartets. Violists are in extreme high demand at a very young age. What does this mean for
your child? Well, instead of being turned away from an orchestra they'd like to join, they could virtually be guaranteed a spot
just because they play the Viola! This is true for College Orchestras as well. Scholarships are more readily offered when
violists are needed.
I invite you and your student to consider the viola for musical study: go to a viola recital at the Eastman School of Music, buy
a CD of famous violists (for list, see the important links page). You won't be sorry. You just might fall in love with the Alto
Violin!
the human voice. Why should you consider choosing the Viola for your child's instrument rather than the Violin? It's warm
tone is more pleasing to some students who prefer deeper tones compared to the extremely high range of the Violin.
The also Viola presents great opportunities for young students than ever before. Our youth orchestras are suffering from a
crisis of huge proportions. There are too many violin students to support our areas ensemble groups. Without Violists, there
can be no orchestras or string quartets. Violists are in extreme high demand at a very young age. What does this mean for
your child? Well, instead of being turned away from an orchestra they'd like to join, they could virtually be guaranteed a spot
just because they play the Viola! This is true for College Orchestras as well. Scholarships are more readily offered when
violists are needed.
I invite you and your student to consider the viola for musical study: go to a viola recital at the Eastman School of Music, buy
a CD of famous violists (for list, see the important links page). You won't be sorry. You just might fall in love with the Alto
Violin!