Elaine Fine's Thematic Catalog: viola solo

Showing posts with label viola solo. Show all posts

All the weather, all at once

You can find a PDF on this page of the IMSLP.

Transcription: To A Wild Rose for Solo Mandolin, Solo Violin, or Solo Viola

You can find a PDF on this page of the IMSLP, where you will also find an arrangement I made for string quartet.

Eleven Miniature Studies for Viola Solo

[March 24, 2024]

This is a viola adaptation of Eleven Miniature Studies for Violin Solo. You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP.

Advanced Viola Scale Studies

You can find the music on this page of the Mel Bay website.

Nathan Groot is in the process of recording them all. You can watch and listen here.

Aphantasia and Fugue State for Viola Alone

You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP.

Rock Crystal for Solo Viola

The music is available on this page of the IMSLP, and you can listen to Paul Cortese's excellent recording here.

You can read a little "backstory" about this piece here.

I am also fond of lonely islands for solo viola

You can listen to Paul Cortese play this piece here (on YouTube). And you can find the music on this page of the IMSLP, and it is streaminig on various formats:

I have been keeping most of my music and arrangements in the IMSLP since 2006, and in celebration of this tremendous resource I have made a list of all my solo music and chamber music there that includes viola. You can find everything on this list through this page, as well as through links to other pages in this cataloog on the sidebar.

You can find a larger (or at least zoom-in-able) version of this list here.

Dancing on the Fingerboard

[October 15, 2021]

The first eight pieces in this set use guiding fingers to help shift between first and third position. “Cloud Nine,” introduces harmonics in order to remind the hand and arm of the physical distance from first to fourth position. “Second Hand,” and “What’s on Second” explore second position, and “Who’s on Third?” incorporates third, and re-introduces the harmonic. “Fourth Dimension,” “Can I Have a Little More,” and “Second Chance,” use the first four positions.

“Fifth Business I” and “Fifth Business II,” marked “Serioso” and “Scherzando,” introduce fifth position. The titles refer to the Robertson Davies novel with the same name, and the character (tempo) markings suggest masks of tragedy and comedy. “Sixth Sense” and “Six degrees of Separation” introduce sixth position and a little bit of half position. “At Sixes and Sevens,” is a transposed version of “Six of One,” the first piece in “Half a Dozen of the Other.” It introduces seventh position, and is ironically calm in character.

2026 UPDATE: Now we have a new transcription for cello!

You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP.

Half a Dozen of the Other: Six Studies for Solo Viola (or cello)

[September 9, 2021]

The pieces in this set of solo viola studies are in the more "unusual" keys of F-sharp major, G-flat major, B major, F minor, C-sharp minor (and major), and G-sharp minor. You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP.

UPDATE: Now for cello, on the same page of the IMSLP.

Weights and Measures: Scale Melodies for Recorder (and other instruments)

Twenty-four one-page scale studies in all of the major and minor keys, in versions for soprano recorder (c fingerings) and alto recorder (f fingerings). They can also be played on just about any melody instrument.

I also made transcriptions of the recorder version for viola and for bass clef instruments of every stripe (the lowest pitch is F).

You can listen to performances of some of these here.

The music for this set of scale pieces is available on this page of the IMSLP.

May 2021 UPDATE: I have set these pieces as duets (recorder and violin)! You can find them through the IMSLP link, or through this post.

2023 UPDATE

Any and all of the versions work perfectly well on the viola d'amore!

Arrangements: A Silent Night's Journey (solo) and Silent Night for String Orchestra

For solo violin or solo viola:

For string orchestra (2024):

You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP.

Arrangement: Shchedryk (Ukrainian bell carol) for solo violin, solo viola, or solo cello

"Shchedryk" is Ukrainian for "Bountiful Evening." This traditional New Year's Eve song is about a sparrow who flies into a household and brings news of a good year to follow.

The Wikipedia article about Shchedryk has a lot of interesting information.

You can find these arrangements of Mykola Leontovych's continuation of the opening four-note motive of the traditional melody set for solo violin, solo viola, or solo cello here now, or later on this page of the IMSLP.

Dreidel Fantasy for solo cello or solo viola

You can listen to a cello performance here, and find a PDF file (along with a version for solo violin) on this page of the IMSLP.

A Cellist's (or Violinist's or Violist's or Bass player's) Garden of Verses

This is a set of solo pieces that lie mostly in the first position. You can find the music on this page of the IMSLP. There are also versions of this set of pieces there for solo violin, for solo viola, and for solo double bass.

Here's a great performance of the whole set by cellist Diane Chaplin:

I love this recording of the set put together by Sam Araya and his students at Sam's Cello Studio in Urbana, Illinois. It has Stevenson's poems, artwork by kids, and excellent, thoughtful, heartfelt performances by his students.

2026 UPDATE: The Schoen Duo (flutes, violin/viola) have put together a series of video recordings that incoporate text, stage performances, readings, images, and "field" video. You can find their project here.