FEB 5 2023 UPDATE: "A Special New Work In Progress for Solo Viola" (A Continuing Preview)

Final pages of seven total measuring 30" X 30" for new work for solo viola.  There will be two scores that will be used during the performance, this one consisting of seven 30" X 30" pages and the other bound score of 16" X 6" color scores (see examples below).  The 16" X 6" will also contain a special prelogue which showcases a new tablature system consisting of banded circles.

Final four pages of seven total measuring 30" X 30" for new work for solo viola.  There will be two scores that will be used during the performance, this one consisting of seven 30" X 30" pages and the other bound score of 16" X 6" color scores (see examples below).  The 16" X 6" will also contain a special prelogue which showcases a new tablature system consisting of banded circles.

Example page from the 16" x 6" score

Several weeks ago I posted the beginning pages of score for a new work for solo viola.  Below are updates and continuations of this multifaceted work. 

 It will be comprised of two separate score documents, one document consisting of a 16"x 6" page dimension and the other 30" x 30".

Performance guidance will include instructions as to how the two scores are interlaced and will define further detail as to the treatment of the various neologisms, symbology and notational elements found on the staff.

The 16" X 6" score document will also contain a prelogue of which this is the opening page.

The above pages measuring 30" X 30" will consist of 7 pages in total and will be used in conjunction with the smaller score during performance.

For the last six months I have been working on a special piece for Solo Viola. People ask why I have so many solo instrument works in my ouvre.  Simply put, as a teenager I was deeply inspired by Berio’s Sequenzas.  The beauty of an isolated instrumented performing in ways never previously heard were profound to my ears.

The central theme in this work is that of virtuosity, evident not only in the technical difficulties presented, but also in the treatment and writing style for the Viola.

In this new work, I employ a different type of tablature; a new musical lexicon which is inspired by Enrico Castellani and Paolo Scheggi along with my own foundational knowledge as a neologist and composer. 

Each page of the score is measured at 16” X 6”.  It embraces imagery (mostly of a partly metallographic in nature, (hence the nod to Castellani) as well as neologisms which are intended to shape the performer’s characterization of the work.  The neologisms are intended to act as an intransigent, emancipatory narration of the notational elements.

Fortunately, I have received funds to implement several recordings of the work which, when the work is completed next year, I will reach out to three of the most unmatchable violists in the world to each perform a rendition of the work. 

I would like to start with Renee Baker of the AACM, as I render her profound substaunce and conceptual genius as a perfect example of what this work should represent.  An intelligible communication of the work demands increased accuracy from the transmitter, and I can think no one more formidable than Ms. Baker to carry out this mandate.  Nils Mönkemeyer and Tabea Zimmermann are two other remarkable talents I will pursue for this adventure.