{"id":4768,"date":"2010-06-10T22:20:51","date_gmt":"2010-06-11T05:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=4768"},"modified":"2010-06-10T22:21:04","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T05:21:04","slug":"bartok-viola-concerto-a-tale-of-three-editions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/10\/bartok-viola-concerto-a-tale-of-three-editions\/","title":{"rendered":"bartok viola concerto – a tale of three editions"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a few days since I first posted on the quandary that violists find themselves in when approaching the various editions of the largely incomplete Bart\u00f3k Viola Concerto.\u00a0 Let’s take an example from a passage from the end of the first movement (just before the Ritornello<\/em> that transitions from the first to second movement).<\/p>\n

Here’s how it looks in Bart\u00f3k’s manuscript:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
click on image to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s a little hard to make out, but the passage to pay attention to is highlighted in the red box (in this minimal score, the music is divided into two systems, each consisting of three staves: the solo viola part and the piano score version of the accompaniment, with an empty stave in between them).<\/p>\n

Now let’s take a look at what Tibor Serly made of this passage in his version:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
click image to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you look closely at the manuscript, you can see that Bart\u00f3k has put the notation 8va above the 2nd measure of the line.\u00a0 This means that the pitches should be played an octave higher than notated.\u00a0 Serly chose to put the passage in the original octave, perhaps because the 8va notation appeared to have been partially erased.\u00a0 In addition, Bart\u00f3k does not fill in the passage, merely indicating that it should continue from where it leaves off to the next printed notes.\u00a0 Serly sets himself a problem with his initial octave decision, as he causes a major jump upwards in tessitura to be necessary to get to the G (marked mf<\/em>) in the octave necessary to make it fit into the low register of the viola.<\/p>\n

Here’s the solution as arrived at by Nelson Dellamaggiore and Peter Bart\u00f3k:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
click image to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It solves the register issue towards the end of the passage, but presents the challenge of a huge register jump from the lowest stopped note on the instrument (almost, it’s a low ‘D’) to the highest note in the concerto, a high ‘G’.\u00a0 It works, but it’s a bit jarring, and I prefer Serly’s solution to the Peter Bart\u00f3k in this case, even with the necessity of the octave displacement.\u00a0 it’s a more elegant solution.<\/p>\n

Finally, let’s see what Csaba Erd\u00e9lyi does in his recent edition:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
click image to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He takes nearly the same tack as the younger Bart\u00f3k in this case, with slurred articulation in the second measure of the downward run. He gives some performance advice with the liberamente<\/em> marking at the top of the run, implying that there should be time taken over the bar line before the extreme leap, and also that an accelerando<\/em> should be taken on the way down to the low ‘D’.<\/p>\n

More coming soon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a few days since I first posted on the quandary that violists find themselves in when approaching the various editions of the largely incomplete Bart\u00f3k Viola Concerto.\u00a0 Let’s take an example from a passage from the end of the first movement (just before the Ritornello that transitions from the first to second movement).<\/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_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":[148,22],"tags":[2307,2311],"class_list":["post-4768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-viola","tag-bartok-viola-concerto","tag-peter-bartok"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1eU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4755,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/08\/bartoks-viola-concerto-a-tale-of-too-many-options\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":0},"title":"bart\u00f3k’s viola concerto – a tale of too many options","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Bart\u00f3k's Viola Concerto remained unfinished at the time of his death in New York City in September of 1945, with its dedicatee William Primrose awaiting a call to meet the composer that would never come.\u00a0 The story of the completion of the concerto is well-known, with Bart\u00f3k's former composition student\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/bartok.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5549,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/09\/new-performances-on-instantencore\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":1},"title":"new performances on instantencore","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a heads up that I've got two new performance recordings up on InstantEncore.com. They're both from this past summer's 2010 Max Aronoff Viola Institute, which I co-founded 20 years ago and have served on the faculty ever since. The works are the Bart\u00f3k Viola Concerto and Daniel Ott's Parting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4906,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/25\/mavi-first-rehearsals\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":2},"title":"mavi – first rehearsals","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"MAVI - the shorthand moniker for the Max Aronoff Viola Institute - the string camp that I helped co-found 20 years ago with University of Puget Sound viola professor Joyce Ram\u00e9e - is starting this coming Sunday up at Bastyr University, so it's time for the pre-festival rehearsing to begin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4925,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/28\/mavi-day-one-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":3},"title":"mavi – day one report","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The first day (half-day really) of the 20th Max Aronoff Viola Institute went quite well.\u00a0 Heather and I drove up from Tacoma, arriving around 1 p.m. at the Bastyr University campus.\u00a0 We got our stuff moved in, and then I started to warm up for my 2 p.m. dress rehearsal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2647609008_8d7e82e6b0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13228,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/18\/pyp-presents-adventurous-enviable-program-on-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":4},"title":"pyp presents adventurous, enviable program on saturday","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Being a member of the Oregon Symphony, while being, essentially, a job, is often a joy as well. I get to play some of the greatest music ever written with my amazing colleagues. We have a wonderfully musical music director, and a hard working staff, without whom we would not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "concert preview"","block_context":{"text":"concert preview","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/concert-preview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_4589","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7322\/12608838184_0249f8aa9b_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7322\/12608838184_0249f8aa9b_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7322\/12608838184_0249f8aa9b_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4814,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/16\/horrors-of-maiden-performances\/","url_meta":{"origin":4768,"position":5},"title":"horrors of maiden performances","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a well established fact that the first performance of any piece, no matter how simple or complex, is one of the most terrifying things that a performer can do.\u00a0 I'm not necessarily talking about a premiere, just the first time that one adds a piece to one's performing repertoire.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/21_11_79_prev-266x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768","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=4768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}