Classical Music | Music for Viola

Recorded on 09/11/2007, uploaded on 01/17/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Adagio and Allegro for Viola and Piano, Op.70           Robert Schumann

Schumann's Adagio and Allegro evokes a wide range of expression within a very brief period of time.  The piece was originally written for the valved French horn, at that time a recent development that allowed the playing of a full chromatic range.  Schumann took advantage of these expressive possibilities by writing lines of great chromatic flexibility that cover the full range of the instrument with both wide leaps and narrow diminished intervals hitherto impossible on the natural horn.  Schumann made note in the manuscript that the work could also be played on a string instrument, and the viola is very well suited to the qualities of the music.

The German marking of the Adagio is Langsam, mit innigem Ausdruck (Slow, with inward expression), and with a searching lyricism exchanged between the viola and piano, the music creates an emotional landscape at once broad and intimate.  The Allegro (marked "fast and fiery") bursts out after a tranquil resolution to the Adagio in an exuberant transition.  After a somewhat more self-assured reprise of the Adagio, the Allegro returns, this time ending the piece in a triumphant and unabashedly joyful mood.      Jonathan Vinocour

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.