Classical Music | Music for Viola

Arthur Bliss

Sonata for Viola and Piano  Play

Karin Elizabeth Brown Viola
Matthew Hagle Piano

Recorded on 02/12/2008, uploaded on 01/23/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Sonata for Viola and Piano                     Arthur Bliss

Moderato; Andante; Furiant; Coda

The Viola Sonata by Arthur Bliss, stands out in the repertoire for its profound romanticism as well as its immense technical demands on the performers.  Bliss found his inspiration for this work in the great British violist Lionel Tertis, whom he met in 1915.  Eighteen years later, Bliss composed a sonata for viola that Tertis premiered, first at a private gathering, and then at a BBC Chamber Concert in November of 1933.   The first movement is intricate yet lyrical, coloristic exploration shifts between the major and minor modes.  The second movement highlights the dark, rich timbre of the viola, both in its use of muted pizzicato playing and sonorous melodic content.  The third movement, marked Furiant, is fast, bold, and virtuosic, and makes use of the entire range of the instrument.  Regarding the ascending run at the conclusion of the movement, Tertis once remarked that the "Lord alone knew" how he managed it.  The Coda, the Viola Sonata's final movement, is emotionally weighty, and features cadenza-like passages for both the viola and the piano.      Michael Cansfield