# Lovely viola pieces?



## Annessa

I play the viola because I prefered the rich tone rather than the high pitched sound of the violin. I know that the viola does not enjoy the wide solo repertoire of the violin but I do know that there should be quite a few solo pieces for the viola like Schumann's Fairy Tale Pictures... Please list out all the solo pieces you know. Thanks.


----------



## Argus

Brahms Viola Sonata Op 120 No2 although originally written for clarinet sound great on the viola.
















I recently watched a set of documentaries about Brahms Violin and Viola Sonatas with performances by Pinchas Zukerman and Marc Neikrug but can't seem to find them on Youtube.


----------



## symphonicrevolution

Walton's Viola Concerto is really a great piece, and I'm also particularly fond of Rebecca Clarke's works for viola (such as the viola sonata).


----------



## Ignis Fatuus

I really like Ligeti's viola sonata:





 (mvt 1)


----------



## Jeremy Marchant

Once again, don' forget Berio. In this case _Sequenza VI_


----------



## webfreak

Carl Stamitz - Viola Concerto in D major, Op.1


----------



## Annessa

Thanks so much!
They are all lovely pieces.
Thanks for posting links too.
I really liked Viola Concerto in D major, Op.1


----------



## gmt

You seem to be more into classical and romantic music, so do try "Harold en Italie" by Hector Berlioz, a symphony where the "narrator" is embodied by a solo viola.
Bartok's viola concerto is beautiful. Also try pieces by Arnold Bax.

Oh, and Kenins's late sonata for viola and piano is magnificent and has some Schumann undertones.


----------



## Sebastien Melmoth

Annessa said:


> _Please list out all the solo pieces you know. Thanks. _


Robert Fuchs wrote a number of very nice stücke which include viola, including a Viola Sonata:

Trio in f#-minor for violin, viola, and piano, Op.115
Fantasy Pieces for violin, viola and piano, Op.57
String Trio in A-major, Op.94
Piano Trio in C-major, Op.22
Piano Trio in B?-major, Op.72
Terzetti (for two violins and viola) Opp. 61 nos. 1 in e-minor, 2 in d-minor
Terzetto in c#-minor, Op. 107

Duets for Violin and Viola, Op. 60

Viola Sonata in d-minor, Op. 86
Fantasies for viola and piano, Op. 117


----------



## Chi_townPhilly

Annessa said:


> I play the viola...[p]lease list out all the solo pieces you know. Thanks.


Based on the positive reaction to the concerto & concertante works already mentioned, it seems fair to add Hindemith's _Trauermusik_, a memoriam composed (pretty much immediately) upon the death of England's King George V in 1936- written AND first performed within a span of less than two days.


----------



## PicklePepperPiper

Haha, this thread is a joke right?

Sorry! Couldn't help but slip in a viola bashing :-(
I'm sure there's nice pieces out there, unfortunately all I've heard is the Bartok Viola Concerto.
-PPP


----------



## World Violist

Annessa said:


> Please list out all the solo pieces you know. Thanks.


Um...

...

How about just composers... You can ask about individual composers if you want and I'll tell what I know.

Aho
Bartok
Bax
Berio
Berlioz
Bloch
Bowen
Brahms
Bridge
Britten
Carter
Clarke
Colgrass
Enescu
Forsyth
Hindemith
Hoffmeister
Hovhaness
Kaliwoda
Kancheli
Kurtág
Ligeti
Nørgård
Pärt
Penderecki
Piston
Rozsa
Rubbra
Schnittke
Schumann
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Stamitz
Telemann
Tertis
Tuur
Vaughan Williams
Walton

and that's the tip of the iceberg. And if you want to know about transcriptions... I don't even want to go there.

If this post doesn't put the lie to that idiotic idea of there being a dearth of viola repertoire, I don't know what will.


----------



## Captain Resolve

Max Bruch has written some nice stuff for the viola, and I am playing some of the Beethoven piano trios where the viola takes the 'cello part - it works quite well. I find the piano part of the two Brahms clarinet/viola sonatas very difficult to play but well worth the practise involved. Indeed there is really plenty of viola music out there but some of it is not all that easy to get hold of.


----------



## Wolfgang

Telemann's Viola Concerto in G Major


----------



## Annessa

Thank you all sooooo much!!!  I can go and spend my time listening to them now.


----------



## elgar's ghost

Don't forget Shostakovich's Viola Sonata - virtually the last work he managed to complete so there is extra poignancy there.


----------



## Taneyev

Seems that nobody mentioned the IMO most important composer for the viola of the 19th.century: Vieuxtemps.


----------



## Stroopwafel

Something amazing is "romance from the gadfly suite by Shostakovich" the viola starts of solo and then the orchestra comes in - it is beautiful. Also you should listen to "Faure - sicilienne" - not originally for viola but it is beautiful. Also bach Brandenburg concerto no.6 because there are no violins the violas have the tune. Also something else you might like - "Schumann - MarchenBilder" the last movement is the best - this piece is a set of 4 movements written for solo viola + piano acmp


----------

