The Viola Had Suddenly Become a Voice
Chester Biscardi
About this work:
The Viola Had Suddenly Become a Voice, for viola and piano (2005)
Published by Biscardi Music Press: No. B48-05-1
The Viola Had Suddenly Become a Voice was written in memory of Jacob Glick, internationally recognized violist and teacher. He was principal viola in many groups, and as a chamber music coach his inspirational and kind guidance was legendary. He championed the music of the 18th century in his performance of numerous works for the viola d’amore, and he was an advocate of contemporary music and of living composers, premiering over 200 new works as a performer and encouraging the study and performance of new music as a music festival director and as a college teacher and coach.
The Viola Had Suddenly Become a Voice takes as its departure a quote from the last movement of Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 (1842), and includes self-references to Di Vivere, for clarinet in A and piano, with flute, violin and violoncello (1981), a work of mine that Jacob Glick admired. In The Viola Had Suddenly Become a Voice one thing becomes another: there is a transformation from Schuman to Biscardi; the viola moves out of a chamber texture into a solo role; and a musical legacy is transferred from father to daughter, acknowledging the work of soprano Judith Bettina, Jacob Glick's daughter.
Residencies in 2005 at The Bogliasco Foundation’s Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities in Italy and at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, United Kingdom, supported the writing of this work.
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:04:30
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Keyboard plus One Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Viola