# Viola question



## IamTim

My wife and I are looking at a viola for our daughter who plays viola and Piano. 

Can anyone give me any information about a viola (15) made by Friedrich August Meisel, Klingenthal, 1893.

I can find many violins on line that he made that are incredibly expensive but very few violas with a price on them, they are all listed as sold. We have one that we can purchase that is about 1/2 the price of the violins I am seeing and I am wondering anyone can shed some light on this maker and his violas for me.

Thank You


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## aussiebushman

Q What is the difference between a violin and a viola?

A The violin burns faster

As a lover of the viola, I promise this is not a serious comment


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## Judith

A shame the viola seems to be the "blacksheep" of the string family. It has a beautiful sound in its own right. I know there are many pieces arranged for viola but has anyone composed an actual viola concerto or sonata?


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## aussiebushman

If you have not heard it, listen to the Shostakovich Viola sonata - his last composition from 1975 The gramophone review reads (in part)

"Like all his late music, it's dark in tone and unsettled in mood, but tempered by an air of resignation, most strongly felt in the slow finale, with its haunting references to the Moonlight Sonata".

The Hyperion review reads:

" Following his own wishes, the Sonata was first performed by its dedicatee Fyodor Druzhinin, violist of the Beethoven Quartet (in succession to Borisovsky), who played it in private on 25 September, which would have been the composer's sixty-ninth birthday, and in public on 1 October to a packed audience in the Small Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic"

I have two recordings of this wonderful work - and the three versions on YouTube are worth exploring. Start with:


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## Judith

aussiebushman said:


> If you have not heard it, listen to the Shostakovich Viola sonata - his last composition from 1975 The gramophone review reads (in part)
> 
> "Like all his late music, it's dark in tone and unsettled in mood, but tempered by an air of resignation, most strongly felt in the slow finale, with its haunting references to the Moonlight Sonata".
> 
> The Hyperion review reads:
> 
> " Following his own wishes, the Sonata was first performed by its dedicatee Fyodor Druzhinin, violist of the Beethoven Quartet (in succession to Borisovsky), who played it in private on 25 September, which would have been the composer's sixty-ninth birthday, and in public on 1 October to a packed audience in the Small Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic"
> 
> I have two recordings of this wonderful work - and the three versions on YouTube are worth exploring. Start with:


Thank you. Will do


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## Classicalinheart

aussiebushman said:


> If you have not heard it, listen to the Shostakovich Viola sonata - his last composition from 1975 The gramophone review reads (in part)
> 
> "Like all his late music, it's dark in tone and unsettled in mood, but tempered by an air of resignation, most strongly felt in the slow finale, with its haunting references to the Moonlight Sonata".
> 
> The Hyperion review reads:
> 
> " Following his own wishes, the Sonata was first performed by its dedicatee Fyodor Druzhinin, violist of the Beethoven Quartet (in succession to Borisovsky), who played it in private on 25 September, which would have been the composer's sixty-ninth birthday, and in public on 1 October to a packed audience in the Small Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic"
> 
> I have two recordings of this wonderful work - and the three versions on YouTube are worth exploring. Start with:


Shostakovich's Viola sonata really sounds amazing and you can really hear the authenticity of the viola


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## Steve Mc

Judith said:


> A shame the viola seems to be the "blacksheep" of the string family. It has a beautiful sound in its own right. I know there are many pieces arranged for viola but has anyone composed an actual viola concerto or sonata?


Hi Judith!
I know of three rather interesting viola concertos. They are all rather recent works. One is William Walton's, the second is Miklos Rozsa's, and the third is one written by John Williams, though only availale on YouTube as a reduction for viola and piano.

Berlioz's _Harold in Italy_ features the instrument very prominently as well.


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## aussiebushman

Have to add that Walton was arguably one of Britain's finest composers and the Viola concerto is one of his best compositions.

Although it uses the three-movement concerto format, the tempos are more Prokofiev than the conventional styles. The second movement here is more like a scherzo: 
Andante comodo
Vivo, con moto preciso
Allegro moderato

I have a couple of wonderful performances on LP but the following on Youtube are superb:


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## Alfredo

Hi Judith there are a lot, I like very much Rebecca Clarke's sonata


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