Bartók and the Viola

Laki, Péter (2025) Bartók and the Viola. STUDIA MUSICOLOGICA: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 65 (3-4). pp. 195-204. ISSN 1788-6244

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Abstract

On at least two occasions during his work on the Viola Concerto, Bartók expressed doubts about the extent of his experience with the instrument. These uncertainties may seem surprising to us today, yet they show that Bartók was keenly aware of the special problems posed by the viola, an instrument that had a very limited concerto repertoire at the time. The years have shown that the passages that may have seemed “uncomfortable or unplayable” (Bartók) no longer present any difficulties to professional players. A survey of Bartók's viola parts in his string quartets and orchestral works demonstrates that the composer had very definite ideas about the instrument, which he invested with a personality all its own. Tibor Serly, a Hungarian-trained composer and violist who had written his own Viola Concerto in 1929 and knew Bartók well, was uniquely qualified to undertake the completion of Bartók's work after the latter's death. Despite any errors or oversights that subsequent editors have sought to correct, Serly revealed to the world a work that can be definitely recognized as a work of Bartók.

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