Viola Concerto No. 1 [Mov. 3] Passacaglia

Instrumentation

Viola solo, Symphony Orchestra

Score, download - 31.44MB

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 [pictured below left] began to rehearse Frank´s [pictured left and below right] Viola Concerto no. 1 which lead to a ´wonderful´ performance by her and Sir Adrian Boult. The distinguished violist, Walter Trampler, 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.

If the complete recording is required [strictly for private study] it, and the score, may be acquired at cost by contacting the CCA directly.