Viola Concerto No. 1 [Mov. 1] Rhapsody

Instrumentation

Viola solo, Symphony Orchestra

Recording, download - 9.18MB

Score, download - 26.58MB

Other Information

This concerto was written in 1955 for Winifred Copperwheat [seen left with Frank Stiles] and was tailormade to suit her brilliant and romantic style and to exploit the range of the viola. The work is in three movements; the first, Rhapsody, is in sonata form with an accompanied cadenza. It is followed by a brilliant Scherzo with a contrasting trio. The final Passacaglia is a set of continuous variations which bring back and develop material from the previous movements.

It was in 1957 that Winifred Copperwheat began to rehearse Frank´s Viola Concerto no. 1 which lead to a ´wonderful´ performance by her and Sir Adrian Boult [below left]. The distinguished violist, Walter Trampler [below right], took it up and gave the first American performance. 

In the recording accompanying this entry the performers are Henry Myserscough [viola], Priory Concertante of London with Adrian Leaper [conductor]. Movements 1 & 2 are given in full but movement 3 is a truncated version. Visitors to this site are reminded that copyright exists on all the recordings on the CCA site.