Saturday, April 28, 2012
Mendelssohn's Viola Joke?
Look at this nasty passage (that begins in the third line and gets repeated) in the key of B major from Mendelssohn's incidental music for his pocket version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nobody writes exposed passages like this for the viola in truly viola-unfriendly key of B major. After tearing out some hair and fighting with scales and double stops in B major for a while, I finally realized that this passage is a variation on the "Bottom" theme (i.e. the donkey). In order to give it that certain donkey-esque je ne sais quois, Mendelssohn gave it to us, in this key, and in this register. Now there's a smart composer. And one with a sense of humor. It takes a sense of humor to play it too.
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4 comments:
Please explain "viola-unfriendly" key? From my experiences in music, all players and singers should be able to deal with all keys and ranges as necessary. What about B major specifically in unfriendly?
The viola sounds at its best when the open strings can resonated sympathetically with the pitches that are "stopped" by the fingers. The open strings of the viola are C, G, D, and A, and the key of B major is organized in such a way that none of these notes are present at any time, because the key signature calls for C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, and A sharp. This passage is particularly difficult to play in tune because in order to play it up to speed you have to shift position every few notes.
We still play in all keys, but some of them naturally sound better than others on the viola. Mendelssohn was very clever to use these pitches in this register to get the desired comedic effect.
Wandering back after a while, I thank you for the response. Now another question, courtesy of that response. Since the cello tunes as does the viola though an octave lower, does the issue of open/stopped strings and an unfriendly B scale affect the cello as it does the viola? Curious as to your take....
Since I don't play the cello, I can't answer from practical experience, but I can say that everything sounds better on the cello, in all keys, including B.
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