Page "Viola" Paragraph 24

The viola plays an important role in chamber music.

Mozart liberated the viola when he wrote his six string quintets, some of which are considered to be among his greatest works.

The quintets use two violas, which frees them ( especially the first viola ) for solo passages and increases the variety and richness of the ensemble.

Mozart also wrote for the viola in his Sinfonia Concertante in which the solo viola and violin are equally important, a set of two duets for violin and viola, and the Kegelstatt Trio for viola, clarinet, and piano.

The young Felix Mendelssohn wrote a little-known viola sonata in C minor ( without opus number, but dating from 1824 ).

Robert Schumann wrote his Märchenbilder for viola and piano.

He also wrote a set of four pieces for clarinet, viola, and piano, Märchenerzählungen.

From his earliest works, Brahms wrote music that prominently featured the viola.

Among his first published pieces of chamber music, the sextets for strings Op. 18 and Op. 36 contain what amounts to solo parts for both violas.

Late in life he wrote two greatly admired sonatas for clarinet and piano, his Op. 120 ( 1894 ): he later transcribed these works for the viola ( the solo part in his horn trio is also available in a transcription for viola ).

Brahms also wrote ' Two Songs for Alto with Viola and Piano ', Op.

91, ' Gestillte Sehnsucht ' (' Satisfied Longing ') and ' Geistliches Wiegenlied (' Spiritual Lullaby ') as presents for the famous violinist Joseph Joachim and his wife, Amalie.

Dvořák played the viola and apparently said that it was his favorite instrument: his chamber music is rich in important parts for the viola.

Another Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, included a significant viola part in his quartet " From My Life ": the quartet begins with an impassioned statement by the viola.