Happy National Viola Day!

Did you know January 30th is National Viola Day? Let’s take some time to celebrate my favorite instrument today!

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

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When is National Viola Day?

National Viola Day is January 30th. It’s a great time to celebrate the alto instrument of the string family!

In honor of National Viola Day, I thought I’d do a Q&A all about the viola. Let’s get started!

Why Do I Love the Viola So Much?

My first instrument I learned was the piano at five years old, but I always wanted to play the violin. When I was in second grade, a local youth string orchestra played a concert at my school, and soon after I began taking violin lessons with the teacher there!

Later on in that youth orchestra, I heard another student play Bruch’s Romanze on the viola, and I fell in love. The next day, I borrowed a viola and started teaching myself at 11 years old. I then took lessons from the older student who’d played Romanze, and then when she went away to college, I started taking lessons from her teacher.

Once I caught up to the level I’d been on violin, I knew that the viola was the perfect instrument for me. The tone and range are so beautiful, and I love being able to weave in and out of the melody in orchestral and chamber music.

Honestly, my least favorite part of playing the violin was the loud E string that would blare right in my face. I was so happy to trade in the E string for a low C string!

About My Viola

My viola is a 16 inch Ivan Dunov made in 2007. It’s a mass produced brand, but I’ve been told many times that this instrument has developed an incredible sound, and I’m still very happy playing on it.

Violas are measured in inches or millimeters, and 16 inch violas are very standard for adult women. A lot of people believe that violas smaller than 15 inches don’t produce a great sound, and that the larger the viola, the better.

It’s a little deceiving, because overall, the viola isn’t optimal proportionally. The violin and cello both have perfect proportions to vibrate and produce the best tone. The viola, however, would have to be much larger to produce the most optimal lower sound.

So it is actually really hard to play the viola! It’s large and difficult for most to play on comfortably, and yet it’s not large enough to create a beautiful sound easily. We have so many factors working against us!

My Favorite Music Written for the Viola

My favorite concerto is the Walton Viola Concerto. I played this throughout college, and performed it at my senior recital. I love how lush and romantic it is, and I always find myself coming back to this piece.

My very, very, very favorite piece for the viola is Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata. I have a mug from Alto Clef Gifts with the beginning of the piece on it, and it’s one of my favorite mugs! (P.S. – I have a coupon code for Alto Clef Gifts! Use ELIZABETHKNAUB for 10% off your order.)

I played this Sonata for my junior recital, and I would love to play it again someday. The whole piece is beautiful, and I love that since Rebecca Clarke was a violist herself, she really knew how to write for the instrument.

If you’d like to hear me play excerpts of the Walton and Clarke, check out the video!

My Favorite Composer for the Viola

Going off of my favorite pieces, I’d have to say that my favorite composer for the viola is Rebecca Clarke. She knew the viola intimately, and I really think she wrote for it so well.

I love that her musical inspirations were Debussy, Vaughan Williams, and a bit of Ravel – they’re some of my other favorite composers, too!

I absolutely love her writing, and I wish she’d been able to compose, perform, and even record more of her works. I know she wrote diary entries about recording, but I’ve never been able to find anything. If you know where to find recordings of Rebecca Clarke playing, please let me know!

My Favorite Chamber Music for the Viola

Two of my favorite pieces of chamber music are Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet, and Debussy’s String Quartet. These are simply because of the awesome viola parts (and because the music is just so good!)

Towards the end of the second movement of Shostakovich 8, the viola has the melody, and I played it way up on the C string when I learned it. It was so difficult, but SO MUCH FUN! I just got to dig into the instrument and I felt like a total rockstar.

I’ve never played the Debussy String Quartet with others, but there are so many beautiful viola moments, and a lot of the quartet is written on the C and G strings, so you can really bring out the naturally beautiful viola sound.

I also really love Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat Major. There are so many beautiful viola moments in this one as well, and I really enjoyed playing the viola part in that quintet.

An honorable mention that I forgot to talk about in the video is of course Dvorak’s American Quartet!! The viola solo right at the beginning is iconic.

My Favorite Orchestral Works for Viola

This maybe isn’t what you’d expect, but I love Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story! I got to play the viola solo in Somewhere as the principal a few years ago. It was so beautiful, and I felt amazing playing it. I love West Side Story (I’m a big fan of musicals!), so I always love playing theatre music in an orchestral setting!

The viola solo in Somewhere turns into either a quintet or a sextet, and making chamber music within the orchestra was such a cool moment. The solo is also written in a great range for the viola, mostly on the G and D strings. It really brings out the natural sound of the viola without stretching too high!

Another orchestral piece I really like for the viola is Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony. I played this all the way back in my freshmen year in youth orchestra! Honestly, I couldn’t play half the part back then.

It doesn’t have any huge viola moments, but I think the range of the writing is just really nice, and it was just really fun to play as a violist!

Do I Have a Favorite Violist?

I don’t know if I necessarily have a favorite violist, aside from those I’ve worked with personally, like my teachers.

Of course I look up to the greats like William Primrose and Lionel Tertis since they did so much for the viola.

I just don’t have one famous violist that I’m a huge fangirl of, whereas on the violin, I love Hilary Hahn. If I’m going to listen to a violin piece, I always look to see if she has a recording.

I think one of the reasons why I’m not obsessed with any one violist in particular is because I have so many strong opinions about how I like the viola repertoire to be played. So I can listen to someone’s recording of the Rebecca Clarke Sonata and think “oh I would’ve shifted there,” “I would’ve taken time there,” and then I don’t love the performance or enjoy it quite as much because it’s different from my interpretation.

It’s easier for me to have a favorite violinist because, since I don’t know the music as well, I’m not analyzing each recording as deeply, and I can just sit back and enjoy more. Plus, I always looked up to Hilary Hahn growing up!

What Else Would You Like to Know About the Viola?

I’d love to make a more general video of viola facts, so if you have any questions, please let me know!

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If you’d like to read more viola content, check out Violists Only. Happy National Viola Day!