The viola, with its middle-register sonorities, typically does not project well above an orchestra, making concertos or other works for solo viola and orchestra by major composers relatively uncommon.
Composition History
Michael McLean's Suite for Viola and Orchestra was commissioned by the album's soloist, Roger Myers, as a musical memorial to his mother, Leone Stredwick.
Composition History
Dmitri Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, Op. 147, is his final work, completed only four days before his death, and is dedicated to Fyodor Druzhinin, a violist in the Beethoven Quartet.
Instruments
Roger Myers, the violist on this recording, plays a rare and beautiful J.B. Guadagnini viola made in 1763.
Album & Artwork
This album aims to address the widespread neglect of the viola and orchestra genre, showcasing the rich and mellow sonorities of the solo viola within orchestral frameworks.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Shostakovich's Viola Sonata is considered one of his most personal compositions, as he felt freed from the constraints of pleasing the Soviet regime, making it his intimate and soulful final musical testament.
Composition History
Two of the three works on this album, the Schumann and Shostakovich pieces, are transcriptions of chamber or recital music for viola into orchestral works, a process described as "almost unheard of" until recently.
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