Tips on writing a viola concert?

Hello !....

I would like to hear advices on the best way to write a viola concerto, regarding to instrumentation, double stopes, and writing virtuoso passages, I am a violist and almost everything that i compose is for my instrument, I have composed some things and i'am currently completing a Fantasia for viola and orchestra, and I would like to know opinions on how you write something for viola.

Thank you...

p.d: Sorry for my english

Let your mind go, that helps me. Listen to lots of music that is in the direction of what you would like to write, if you're a violist you should be half way done.

I hope your work gets lots of performances when it's finished, but bear in mind that the first few times it's played nobody much will be familiar with the solo line, and that can affect perceptions of balance. This has been my own experience anyway. If the accompaniment is dense then the ear needs to know the pitch range to focus on. In other words keep the instrumentation fairly light.

If you are a viola player yourself then perhaps simply write for your own capabilities and learn the solo part in the process of writing - that will give you a good feel for what is needed.

In other words keep the instrumentation fairly light.

Agreed. As with any instrument, you have to take into account it's pitch area, and tone quality. It's easy to write piano concertos because no instrument sounds like a piano. It's easy to write flute/violin/trumpet(soprano instrument) concertos because those instruments can sit at the very top of the orchestra (range wise) and play a melody while a score of things happen underneath them and they will still be heard clearly. The orchestration doesn't necessarily have to be light, as long as it's out of the playing range of the viola, which is an 'alto' sort of voice. As nigel said, you want to be able to hear the soloist over the orchestra, and similar voices to the viola will make things muddy for the listener. Do what you want with the lows, and with the highs, but tread lightly in the middle voices, which will include things like english horn, high register bassoon, low-mid register clarinet, high cellos etc.

Good luck!

HERE: get into the SOUL of the viola. Write for the instrument! Humm the tunes... deeply!

If you listen to standard viola concerti like Walton, Bart

Agreed. As with any instrument, you have to take into account it's pitch area, and tone quality... It's easy to write flute/violin/trumpet concertos because those instruments can sit at the very top of the orchestra.... happen underneath them and they will still be heard clearly....

Thank you very much...

Wath i'm triying to do is not surregate the orchestra to second plane and thats the tricky part of witring for viola,

the orchestration is not so heavy, but amost always whit counterpoint and i try to do a lots of little duets with the horns and fagot...

but still the range of viola gets lost some times..

I hope your work gets lots of performances... that the first few times it's played nobody much will be familiar with the solo line, and that can affect perceptions of balance...

Thank you very much

I do hope somebody gets interest to.... Thats other of my problems, to make the music understand and be play the way i want, but in the other hand what is the point of denied the interpretet to do what is ment to do, (is interpretation)

If you listen to standard viola concerti like Walton, Bart

The work i'm compusing is a fantasia ,whit leng of aprx 15 min and it meant to be a type of a concert , has a lot of hard passages and a lots of the viola high range.

two questions

1. can you give a list of good combinations viola-other ,,,

2. it is nesesary to play all the pieces you compuse,,(because i'm not able of play some of the difficult parts of my fantasia)

PD... When i finish my work i be more than happy of send anybody a copy of the score...

P.D2 : by the way you can cheak out my first work posted here http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/concerto-viola-strings-baroque-manner-19776.html

really thank you alll!