Four Pieces Quasi Sonata

Description

Viola, Piano — Many of my chamber compositions have featured viola, often melding in combination with other instruments: with the mezzo-soprano voice and alto flute in Four Songs with Ensemble; with harp and flute in Offering; and in two string quartets. With piano, the veiled warmth, and the mournful quality of the viola offered both the discovery of new and poetic joinings, and also the challenge of imagining passages of more virtuosic character which today’s players make the instrument capable of singing.Four Pieces Quasi Sonata for viola and piano was composed in the summer of 2006, and is dedicated to the violist Jonathan Bagg. The work was made possible with a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation, Harvard University. With a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation, Harvard University, Jaffe has penned four divergent movements for violist Jonoathan Bagg. "With piano, the veiled warmth, and the mournful quality of the viola offered both the discovery of new and poetic joinings, and also the challenge of imagining passages of more virtuosic character which today’s players make the instrument capable of singing," says Jaffe. For advanced performers. Duration: 17'.