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Suite for Viola Alone

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Suite for Viola Alone The American Viola Society suite for viola alone Quincy Porter (1897-1966) AVS Publications 008 Preface The American composer Quincy Porter (1897–1966) completed his Suite for Viola Alone on October 15, 1930, during a three-year stay in Paris funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship. Porter premiered the work at a critically successful recital devoted to his music at the Salle Chopin on February 18, 1931; this concert greatly furthered his reputation as both a composer and violist. After his return to the United States, Porter held teaching and administrative posts at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Vassar, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Yale. Highly committed to the development and promotion of American music, Porter was among a group of composers who co-founded the American Music Center (Aaron Copland and Howard Hanson were two of his notable colleagues in this endeavor). While Porter’s music exhibits a twentieth- century tonality, he eschewed many of the avant-garde experiments of his fellow composers and focused on writing well-crafted music in traditional forms. The Suite for Viola Alone is a model of Porter’s superb compositional craftsmanship: idiomatically written for the viola, the suite’s four tightly constructed movements display a mixture of styles and harmonic consonance and dissonance. The first movement, Lento, explores the viola’s color palette and leads directly into the frenetic Allegro furioso, with a pulsating rhythmic drive that suggests a locomotive. The lyrical third movement, Larghetto espressivo, is a calm and serene moment of repose before the boisterous Allegro spiritoso, an impressive feat of fiddling that reveals Porter’s American roots. This AVS edition is made possible by the generosity of the Quincy Porter estate. Please see the Critical Comments for additional details on the sources for this edition. David M. Bynog, editor October 2015 Suite for Viola Alone Quincy Porter Edited by David M. Bynog Lento 48 q » II I III II 2 2 1 1 ≥2 1 ≥ 1 0 ≤ 2 1 0 - , 2 o œb œ œb œb œn œ# œ œ œ œ# œb œb . œ ˙ B 4 w œb J 3 J œ J J J œ- œ- 4 œb . 4 3 œb œ F P ∏ p p 1 π 2 3 3 1 2 3 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 3 6 3 1 , 2 0 1 > # >œ œ œ œ# œ œ - - - j j œ œ œ œbœ nœ 4 œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ 3 bœ œ bœ œ œb œ 4 B œb œ# œ n œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ & œb œb œ 4 œ œ œ œb œ 4 cresc. œ 3 J f > poco ritardando a tempo 3 3 3 II 3 ≥ 1 I ≤2 2 1 9 1 j 3 1 1 j j j ≤3 3 1 œ œ œb bœ bœ œ œ œ œ 4 œb œb œb . B œb œb 3 œ 4 œ œ ˙ ‰ œ 3 œb œb œn œ œ œn & 4 J 4 bœ œ œ œb 4 œ ˙ & J 4 œb œ œb œ œ œ. œ œ poco a poco cresc. œ F dim. π p poco accelerando 1 1 0 2 rit. 3 1 2 2 ≥ 2 3 2 14 0 ≥ 3 2 1 1 - 1 2 1 2 3 ≥ 3 2 1 ≤ ≥ >> - œ# œ# œ œ >œ.. œ œ œ. & œ# J œ œb œb œ œ# œ#- œœb œb œ œ bœ œbœ œ œ# J J J J œ œ0 œ0 œ œb > > œb > œ# ƒ poco ritardando a tempo 2 II 4 4 19 1 2 2 1 3 4 1 œn- 2 2 œb -o o œ œb œb œ œb œ œ#- œn- 2 œb œb 3 œ œ ˙ 18 & œb œ œ œ# œb B œ# œb 4 4 16 P dim. π Allegro furioso 144 poco a poco accel. e cresc. * ek » 1 2 24 2 3 ≤ 3 2 B 18 œb . œ. œ. œ ≈ ≈ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ 16 œb œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œb œ œ œ œ œ π œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 1 27 1 2 œb œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ 15 > > > > > 12 B œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ 16 œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ 16 œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ ( poco a poco cresc. )* 3 1 30 1 > > > œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ B 1612 bbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 169 œ œ œ œ œ œ 1618 b œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ *See the critical comments regarding the location of this crescendo ©1937 Quincy Porter Estate ©2010 AVS Publications, AVS 008 Reprinted 2015 2 168 ek » 2 1 o 1 2 2 3 33 3 2 œo 2 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ B œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . œ. œ. œb .œ. 15 œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œbœ œ œœ œ œœ. œ. œœb . œ. œ. œ. 16 œ œ œ œ œ dim. - - - - poco- a poco- cresc.- - f P 2 1 3 2 36 > > 2 > > > > ≈ 1 > > > > œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ B œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ - - - - - 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 39 2 œb œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 18 B œb œ œ œ œ œ 16 - - - > > 3 2 1 1 o 3 0 2 41 ≤>œ . œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ >œ. b>œ. j ≤ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ.œ>œ. >œ.>. ≥ B 1618 b œ. œ œ œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œb œ. 1612 œ. œ œœ œœ bœ œ. œ. œ. œ. > œb œ œ ƒ F > > > 4 2 3 4 2 4 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 2 3 0 1 2 2 1 2 44 ≥ 1 2 > ≥ 1≤ >>œ . >b>œ . œ≤. 2 >œ. 1 bœ. >œ. bœ. œœ. œ. 15 œn . œ. œ# . œ. œ. œn . œ. nœ. œ. œ. #œ. œ. B œ. œ. 16 œb . œ. œb . & b œ. œ. œ. œ. #œ. œ. œ. œ. > œn . > > # œ. > œ. ƒ > œ. > 4 4 0 48 ≥ ≤ ≤ ≥ 1 1 3 >œb 1 2 4 1 ≥ #œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . >œn . >. >œ œ > œ > œb > >œ ≤ >œ >œ > & # œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 1618 œ œ# œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœœ 1612 œ# œ œ œ œ. > œ > œ > œ > œ cresc.> > > > > 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 1 51 3 4 2 3 3 4 0 > œb ^nœ œ œ œ œb ^nœ œ œ œ œb ^ nœ œ 12 9 B 15 œb œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œb œ & 16 bœœœœ œœ œ œ œb nœ œ œ 16 bœœœœ œ œb nœ œ œ 16 > > œ > > > œ 4 2 2 4 54 3^ > > > > 1 3 œ# œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #>œ œ bœ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ B œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 169 b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 1618 dim. poco a poco Porter - Suite for Viola Alone 3 1 1> 1 2 56 2 > > > 2 ^ ^ 18 œb œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ. 21 bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 12 B 16 œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ 16 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 16 > > œb œ > œ œ 0 1 58 2 1 2 2 0 1 1 12 ˙ > > 18 œ œ 15 B 16 œb .œ œ œ œ∫ œœ œœ œ œ œ 16 œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 16 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ > œ œ œ œ > œ œ œ œ œb . œ. œ œ. œ. œ œ. œ. œ œ. œ. œ œ. œ. œ > . 2 3 4 3 61 1 poco a poco ritardando 1 1 12 B nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 16 bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ.
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