Unsung Viola Concertos

[Lionel Harrsion]

It's a pity the Tertis arrangement of the Elgar Cello Concerto isn't more unsung.  The notion is entirely grotesque.  Hurrumph!

[Jimfin]

I have to say, I resisted the temptation to buy it. I generally disapprove of these things. I only bought the Delius because I couldn't easily source another recording of the concerto at the time.

[Christo]

Stanley Bate's Viola Concerto would get my vote.

Mine too.  All four of his major compositions released by now on Dutton - the Third and Fourth symphonies, the Second Piano Concerto and the Viola Concerto - reveal a highly gifted composer, IMO. One of the very few real discoveries that were made in the last few years.

[Alan Howe]

It's a pity the Tertis arrangement of the Elgar Cello Concerto isn't more unsung.  The notion is entirely grotesque.  Hurrumph!

Well, I like it - but I know there's no accounting for taste 

[JimL]

A name that keeps popping into my mind is Chrétien Urhan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chr%C3%A9tien_Urhan.  Besides being the viola soloist a the premiere of Berlioz' Harold in Italy, he is also mentioned in this Wiki as a quite prolific composer, although only chamber music was specifically mentioned in this context.  However, a cantata was listed as well.  He would be a good candidate for composing a viola concerto if one could be found.  I wonder if there is a repository for his MS?

[MikeW]

Australian Peggy Glanville-Hicks' Concerto Romantico, for viola (1957) has no available commercial recording.

I did think that there had been none at all but I found a note of a Walter Trampler's M-G-M recording E3559 Glanville-Hicks: Concerto Romantico; M. Richter: Aria & Toccata; B. Weber: Rhapsodie Concertante. TRAMPLER; Surinach, Winograd. A. Blue jacket. The ABC in Australia has a recent Australian concert recording but for some reason has decided it doesn't have the rights to make it commercially available.

You can download an older US concert recording from here or go the Australian downloads folder for a direct option.

(This is Glanville-Hicks' centenary year, which appears not to be getting any attention in Australia. However as she was a collaborator with Lawrence Durrell (her exact contemporary in birth and death years) on the opera Sappho, there is some extra-national attention.)

[eschiss1]

Well, she deserves some attention somewhere- more than a few places, and not just Vaughan-Williams-related groups (re: his symphony 4 and her The Transposed Heads, iirc).

[suffolkcoastal]

Another to add to the list is Henk Badings Viola Concerto. One work for Viola & Orchestra that's never been recorded is Roy Harris's Elegy & Paen.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Alfred Hill: Viola Concerto

[nigelkeay]

I'm searching for info on a Viola Concerto by Aubert Lemeland (Concerto pour alto). There is a recording on the Quantum label - does anyone have this? The work is in one movement but that's all I know, I'm just wondering about the duration, structure and character etc. Lemeland has only been mentioned on this forum a couple of times (once favourably by eschiss). I bought two CDs of his music recently and I'm rather impressed by it so I'm thinking that the Viola Concerto is probably going to be well worth getting to know.

[MikeW]

Zdenek Lukas / Zdeněk Lukáš (1928-2007), prolific Czech composer, best known for his choral work (writing and conducting). A number of his viola works have been recorded, although availability outside of Czech Republic is highly variable.

Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, Op.58 (1968)
Viola Concerto Op.185 (1983)

There are more than a dozen viola-centric chamber works in addition to these, a sampling of which are listed in the linked Wikipedia article.

[ttle]

I'm searching for info on a Viola Concerto by Aubert Lemeland (Concerto pour alto). There is a recording on the Quantum label - does anyone have this? The work is in one movement but that's all I know, I'm just wondering about the duration, structure and character etc. Lemeland has only been mentioned on this forum a couple of times (once favourably by eschiss). I bought two CDs of his music recently and I'm rather impressed by it so I'm thinking that the Viola Concerto is probably going to be well worth getting to know.

The Gérard Billaudot website states that it is for viola and strings and lasts 15 minutes. It is available for hire. You might want to visit their headquarters in Paris (rue de l'Echiquier, 10e) and have a look at the score.

[ttle]

Talivaldis Kenins's Canzona Sonata for viola and string orchestra (1986) can be heard on the Canadian Music Centre website, as well as the superb sonata for viola and piano. No sign of his later Viola Concerto, though.

[nigelkeay]

Thanks for the info on the Lemeland Concerto. I had a look at the Billaudot site and it seems that not even the solo part is for sale, and there's no mention of any piano reduction (same with the Violin Concerto). Somewhat unusual, if that's really case with the solo part, but worth checking on. I know rue de l'Échiquier quite well - a movement of my own viola concerto (that I just uploaded to youtube in version vla/pno) was recorded in a friend's apartment in that street.