American Viola Society (formerly Viola Research Society) American Chapter of theInternationale InternationaleVIOLA FORSCHUNGSGESELLSCllAFT November NEWSLETTER 15' 1978 AN INTERIM· REPORT I f you noticed something different 'at the top of the page, you were right. We've had a name change. Since the inception of the Internationa.l Viola Research Society in Germany almost a deca.de ago, the American chap­ ter ha.s called 1 tselt Viola Research Society. It became apparent over they yearsthat ILmany violists and potentia.l members did not Join the society in the mistaken belie! that the thrust of the organization was 8cholarly and had little to do with other Qspecta of musical life, particularly perform­ ance. The ioclety baa tried to achleve~a healthy balance of musicoloE1cal and performance activities related to the viola, and I think we have been fairly Bucces8(ul in this as witnessed by our unique and musically luperlor viola congresses and informative newsletters. But the fact remained, that, 1n spite of a large membership (the largest of all the chapters in the internat1onB.l ore-anlzatlon), we were not reach1ng enough violists. Perhaps, we were reaching them, but they refrained from joining for the aforemention­ ed reason. With that in mind, the Board of Directors agreed that a name change wo~ld be in the best lnteresta of the society. Nothing else has changed; we are still the American chapter of the Internat10nale "t{i.ola Forschungsgesellschaft and will continue to do our best to make the viola prosper before the musical public and ofter as many services as possible to you, our members. You can help Ulil also. As teachers, players, luth1ers, and musicians who come into contact with other violists, you can make our society known to these potential members and ur~e them to join. The 8uocsa8 of any organizat1on depends 1n part on the size of its bank aec·oant. We nope you will inform your colleagues, students, and all potential members about the society, ita congres8el, ita publications, and its services to v1011ats and to the world of music, and urge them to join. And please don't ror~et to aend in your dues. We need the lupport of everyone. AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY:(pr. Myron Rosenblum, President, 39-23 47th Street, Sunnyside, N. Y. 11104;)Dr. I\I~a.urlce Riley J Vice-President, 512 Roosevelt Blvd. t ypal1ant1, MI. 48197; f.1"arna street, Secreta.ry, "3 Allegheny Center, Pitt.a­ burgh, Pa. 15212; Dr. Ann Woodward, Treaaurer, PO Box 1134, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. Ed1tor of the American chapter Newsletter: Myron Rosenblum. International. Viola Forschungsgesellachaft (IVFG): A-5020 Salzburg, c/o Hochechule tt Iv10 za rte um rr, A ust z-1a • -2- \ \ '. For those of you who may not know who have served on the Board of Directors, hare they are (in alphabetical order): William Primrose, Honor-ary Cha1rma,n, Paul Doktor, Lillian Fuchs, Jacob Glick, Louis K1evman, William Linear, Dons-ld McInnes, IIJ1aur1ce Riley, Rober·t Slaughter, ltlaltar Trampler, Francis Tursi, Karen Tuttle, and Ernst Wallf1sch. The late Henry Barrett was an enth1aastlc member of our Board ~nd we mourn h1~ loss. A special t~lbute to him appears in this newsletter. Dr. Louise Goldberg ,Vice President of the Amari can Viola Society', has reo'ently resigned from this .position, owing to her large comDJltmsnts s.t the Sibley lulusl.c L1braryofthe" Eastman School. We appreciate all she. h~s done and regret her decision. The Board of Directors has elected Dr. Maurice Riley to that position for the remainder of her tenure. Ivlaurlce has been an enthusiastic and vibrant rtember of the Arterlcan chapter since its begill:ningj has written many articles on the viola, its music and history; ·ls just completing a book on the history of the viola; has. served on t.he Board of Directors; and recently becarne Prore.seor Emeritus (of violin and viola) at Eastern I1dch1gan University.· We congr~tulate ~~urlce and look forward to his contributions. ~~yron Rosenblum 1979 VIOLA CONGRESS: The next viola congress will take place on July 12-f'4-;--r'91"9at-Brigham Young Un1ve rsitJ, Provo, Utah. Dr. Da.vid Dalton, the Chairperson of the congress, has been work1ne very hard in formulating the program•. On the basis of the confirmed soloists J lectur'ers, master class leaders, and other participating artists, this congress should prove to be an except1anal one. To whaty·ou.r"sppetlte a blt--here are just some of the artists expected to take part in the congress: recitals by' David Dalton, JosePh de Pasquale ,Y1zhak Schotten, Karen Tuttle, Emanuel Vardl, and Franz zeyrlnger; master classes led by Joseph de Pasquale and Milton Thomas; lectures by Suzanne Bloch, Guillermo Perich, Ma.ur1oe Riley, and 1N1111am Primrose; a concert by the v10la section of the Utah symphony; conoerts by.tha U.S. A.lp Force Orchestra; a concert of Primrose transcriptions, performed by students of Wil11am Primrose. other events of interest include a TV documentary on William Primrose and an exhibit of violas sponsored by the Violin Society of America. You should be receiving a brochure from Brigham Young University in the near future. We will have a .more complet'e report on the program 1n the spring newsletter. PUBLICATIONS BY THE SOCIETY: As you know, one of the AVe's goals 1s to rtake-v101amUBlo;record1'ngs, booka", etc. aval1~ble to y.ou. Those of you who ordered the recording of the ShostakovichShostakovlch Viola and Piano Sonata performed by Fyodor Druzh1nlna.nd Michael Muntyan should have received 1 t already. The Telemann Scherzi Melodlch1, volumes I and II, that some members expressed interesr-In obtaining and which by error were shipped to spain, finally a.rrlved. For those who ordered the Telemann, Freudenthal's 12.Varlat1ons for oboe and viola, and sauter's Sonata. for viola alone, you wfflS'oon b'e billed for these and recelve the music soon after. We apologize for the delay. WALK ON THE NORTH SIDE by William Primrose was published by Brlp:ham Young UUniversityss in the sprins of this year.It 1s an important and fasclnat1ne book by one of the 20th century's outstanding musicians and a must for vlo11s'ts the world over. We have arranged a special price for members of the American Viola Society with BYU Press. The -3- prices are: 17.77 for cloth and $4.77 tor, the paper edition. Utah realdents must add 41 per cent tax to their orders. Th1s price includes shipping and handling costs if paid in advance. If you w1sh to order your copy of this book, return the form and your check found at the end of this newsletter. FUTURE PUB1,ICATIONS OF THE IVFG: Dr. Wolfgang Sawodny has informed us that prans 'for aaartIonal viola music in print are going ahead. In addi­ tion to the Telemann Scherzi Melodlchl tor violin, viola, and basso con­ tinuo; the aforementioned Sauter Sonata and Freudenthal 12 Variations, the t following are presently available: Att1110 Ar1ost1, 3 "stockholm ' Sonatas tor viola d' amora (or viola) and basso continuo and Andrea,s' Lldel' a} Duets for violin and viola. In preparation are: Jan Zdenek Bartoa, Conoerto da Camera for viola and string orchestra (1970); Florian Gassmann, 2 Trios for 2 violas and bass; Leopold Horfmann, Trio for viola, cello, and double' baSI; Lr1fld r'ch Wilhelm FIlet, SODlta. for yio1a and lyte (or c'embalo" one movement only); Johann Andreas Amon, Quartet for solo viola and string trio; Johann Vanhal, Sonata tor viola and plano, OPe 5, no. 3; and Franz Aumann, Divertimento for violin and viola concertatl and basso. The con­ tinued p~bl1cat1on of these and future pUblications d,epend on the sales volume of the currently available editions. We hope you will aupport this valuable project and insure its continuation. You will be informed as works in preparation become available. WORLDWIDE MUSIC SERVICES, 1966 Broadway, H.Y.N.Y. 10023 has the follOWing editions currently in stock: G. Papini, Quartet for violas; A. Wran1tzky, Cas88,t10 in F for Violas; Rolla, Rondo in G for viola a,nd orchestra (score and parts); Rolla, Trio for 2 clarinets and viola; ana.··:'ROlla~. Concert-o in B flat for viola and piano. In preparation are Gordon Jacob's Suite tor 8 violas; Romberg's Trio, OPe 38 for v1ola, cello, and double bass; and Richard Kugler's Trio for piano, v1olin, and viola. Worldwide w1ll give members of the loclety a 10% d1seount if you mention it in your order. INSTANT ~roSIC PARTNERS: An 1ntriguing new teaching aDd 'study tool for string piayera has been released by Instant Music Partner.:, 4903 Battery Lane #3, Bethesda, Md. 20014. Geared for beginner to advanced violin and viola students, the 1nnovation here 18 a series of casette recordings of specific pieces to help acoompany the young string pup1l as he learns a piece. The viola works currently available on cassetes are: Bach, Arloso from Cantata No. 156; Bach, Air on the G string; Stam1tz, Viola Concerto in D; Telemann, Viola Concerto in G; and SChumann's Mlrchenbl1der for viola and piano. THE STAFF MUSIC PUBLISHING CO •• 17 w. 60th st., N.Y.N.Y. 10023, has re­ leased MaurIce Gar~ner'8 Tr1cln1um for solo viola and Allesandro Gardano' • ..Variations on "The King's HuntIng J1gg" (theme by John Bull) for solo viola. NEW VIOLA CONCERTO BY EZRA LADERMAN: The world premiere or Ezra Laderman's viola concerto, commissioned by To15y Appel, was given by Mr. Appel with the Sa1nt Paul Chamber O~cheBtra, Dennis Ruesel Davies, conducting, on April 13, 1978.