{"id":4647,"date":"2010-05-11T17:23:49","date_gmt":"2010-05-12T00:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=4647"},"modified":"2010-05-13T07:47:29","modified_gmt":"2010-05-13T14:47:29","slug":"the-hurt-locker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/11\/the-hurt-locker\/","title":{"rendered":"the hurt locker"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve decided to keep track of pieces that are excruciating for violists to play. \u00a0There seems to be an evolving canon (a pantheon, if you will)\u00a0of works which violists seem to universally dislike playing. \u00a0Usually this is due to the physical demands of the piece. \u00a0The viola needs a bit more effort to get the strings to speak, and combined with more weight and a longer reach than the violin, and the lack of a way to play it while set on the floor like the cello, makes for some pieces which are literally the musical equivalent of waterboarding. \u00a0Feel free, fellow violists, to add your nominees to the Hurt Locker via the comments section below, and I’ll update the list as needed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tchaikovsky – Fifth Symphony
\nBruckner – Fourth and Seventh Symphonies (though all could be enshrined)
\nGorecki – Third Symphony
\nChopin – First and Second Piano Concertos
\nBeethoven – Sixth and Seventh Symphonies
\nSchumann – Third Symphony
\nRossini – Stabat Mater
\nMendelssohn – Elijah
\nDvorak – Cello Concerto, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies
\nSchubert – Incidental Music to Rosemunde, Unfinished Symphony, Symphony No. 9 “Great”
\nNielsen – Second Symphony, Fifth Symphony
\nBrahms – First and Second Symphonies
\nRespighi – Pines of Rome
\nSmetana – Ma Vlast (or just Moldau)
\nWagner – Ring Cycle (esp. on “wagner” viola!)
\nSibelius – Second Symphony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve decided to keep track of pieces that are excruciating for violists to play. \u00a0There seems to be an evolving canon (a pantheon, if you will)\u00a0of works which violists seem to universally dislike playing. \u00a0Usually this is due to the physical demands of the piece. \u00a0The viola needs a bit more effort to get the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,22],"tags":[3660],"class_list":["post-4647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","category-viola","tag-viola"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1cX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":253,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/26\/violists-are-a-multi-talented-bunch\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":0},"title":"violists are a multi-talented bunch","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Just caught this photo from the Baltimore Symphony musicians' website - enjoy! My orchestral repertoire class was taught by the great Rick Field, principal viola of the BSO. courtesy of the BSO musicians page","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/violas_0051.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2785,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/30\/viola-audition-alert\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":1},"title":"viola audition alert","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Just saw this message on Edmonton Symphony music director William Eddins' facebook page: ATTN ALL VIOLISTS - The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is holding International auditions for our Section Viola opening on Monday, 28 September, 2009. Guaranteed clean audition, wonderful orchestra, one of the best halls in North America. Come one,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "auditions"","block_context":{"text":"auditions","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/auditions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":437,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/09\/19\/proof-that-violists-are-coordinated\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":2},"title":"proof that violists ARE coordinated","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Just picked this up off of Sheridan's blog - too good to pass up. It really is viola playing in a nutshell - you watch and listen, waiting for the seemingly inevitable car wreck... Sheridan, by the way, was a classmate of mine at the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/S7qgrovYC4M\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":142,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/12\/13\/oso-holiday-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":3},"title":"OSO Holiday Party","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We had the great fortune that two of our newest musicians, violists Jen Arnold and Leah Ilem, had the inspiration to put together a huge holiday extravaganza for us this year (please note that there were violists responsible the merriment). It's been a long time since the symphony musicians have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"the troublemakers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/321047411_f5837e1818.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12604,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/19\/bso-marathoners-honor-marathon-victims\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":4},"title":"bso marathoners honor marathon victims","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is just a cool story - and you'll note that three of the musicians are violists, naturally! \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":" Photo: Stu Rosner\/Boston Symphony Orchestra","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bso_musicians-500x282.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1119,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/09\/11\/news-dear-to-a-violists-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":4647,"position":5},"title":"news dear to a violist’s heart…","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Just saw this over at the Exploration of Portland Food and Drink blog, then read the story at WWeek - the South Park Block #5 will have a new restaurant built over part of it - called - VIOLA (!)\u00c2\u00a0 Wonder if they'll have special prices for all the violists\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "food & drink"","block_context":{"text":"food & drink","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/food-drink\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/2750944841_7cd4a6197d_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}