related works
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Two or more different solo instruments and orchestra
Scoring:
3355 4341 2perc mar cymb 2hp man str(16.16.12.12.8.) h-pf-vl-solo
Sonate : altviool solo, 1948 / Wim Franken
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Viola
Scoring:
vla
Solo Song for Viola : Ten Lines / Ig Henneman
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Viola
Scoring:
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Elegia : for viola, 2002 / Willem Jeths
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Viola
Scoring:
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composition
Faithful : solo per viola, 1984 / Jan van Vlijmen
Other authors:
Vlijmen, Jan van
(Composer)
Contains:
Bevat een proloog en 28 variaties
Description:
Program note (English): The title is taken from the dedicatee's first name, Nobuko, which means 'faithful'; English was chosen because Nobuko Imai gave the first performance of the work at the 1984 Cheltenham International Festival of Music.
The work consists of a prologue (a lamento-like theme) and twenty-eight variations which continue without a break. The listener experiences the piece as a long - albeit whimsical - continuous line, and it is not always possible to hear the, sometimes subtle, differences between the variations.
The form of the work might be described as 'symmetrical'. The twenty-eight variations can be divided either into four sections of seven variations each, or seven sections of four variations. If we take the latter division, the first four variations (section 1) use the instrument normally, in single stopping. Chords in two, three and four parts are introduced in section 2. The four variations of the third section feature short notes, mainly pizzicato. The four variations of the middle section (section 4) are notable for rapid movement and tremolo. Halfway through the section, i.e. between variations 14 and 15, is the mid-point, where a kind of retrograde begins, although not in the literal, formal sense: from variation 15 onwards the various musical features are repeated in reverse order, creating a mirror in the very general sense.
As we have seen, there are two ways of dividing the work. The division into four times seven variations controls the note material and the rhythmic elements. Each set of seven variations has its own basic note-length (an already old serial technique!) on which the rhythm is based. The first two sets of seven variations conclude, moreover, with a 'summary' and - completely in accordance with the principle of a mirror structure - the third and fourth sets of seven variations begin with a summary. So the division into seven times four variations controls the character of the music, whereas the division into four times seven rather more controls the technical aspect of the composition. - JAN VAN VLIJMEN