Ways of shaping the concert repertoire for the viola in the 17th–19th centuries

Abstract

Statement of the problem. In the study, an attempt was made to highlight the process of the viola repertoire shaping, which occurred due to the improvement of the viola as a solo concert instrument. In view of the increasing popularity of the viola in the 20th century and the growth of scholars’ attention to modern viola practice, the previous stages of the development of viola art need new evaluations. Such a review and reassessment turned out to be especially relevant for the national musicology, which has been in informational isolation for a long time; therefore, the involvement of little-known sources determined the expediency and certain scientific novelty of this attempt. The purpose of this work was to analyze the process of shaping the concert repertoire for the viola during the 17th–19th centuries in the context of the viola performance development. As a result, the factors that contributed to a radical change in attitude towards this instrument on the part of composers, performers and listeners during the selected historical period were identified. The main sources for making conclusions were the catalogues by V. Borissovsky, and V. Altmann “Literaturverzeichnis für Bratsche und Viola d’amore” (Altmann, Borissovsky, 1937), the researches by D. Havrylets (2012) where for the first time in Ukrainian musicology the evolution the viola concerto as a genre is covered from the origins to the present; and M. Kugel (2009), where his rich performance experience is summarized. Results and conclusion. Based on the analysis of the sources, systematization and generalization of its results, the path of the viola performance development is traced up to the beginning of the 20th century, from the work of G. Telemann, brothers Antonin and Carel Stamitz, I. Holzbauer, L. Lebrun, E. Eichner, through the creative work of F. A. Hoffmeister (the 18th century), A. Rolla, H. Sitt (the 19th century). It is emphasized that the leading viola players, most of whom were composers, made a decisive contribution to the transformation of the viola from an accompanying instrument into a full-fledged solo instrument. The circumstances of the cultural life of the society, which influenced the change of attitude to the viola, and the following factors of the development of the concert viola repertoire in the 19th century have been marked: the emergence of virtuosos, intensification of touring, music business, development of pedagogy, formation of sustainable performing trends, schools, the tradition of viola playing in the composers environment, etc., which led to the rapid development of the viola repertoire in the 20th century