Albie Cabrera wrote:

>This kinda thing bugs me.  Don't try to force a violin piece onto the
>viola...  It was written for the violin so play it on the violin...  Things
>like these amount to little more than stunts...  likely, if played on the
>violin, it probably would have been immeasurably better...

Curious reaction:  I wonder what some of the purists on this thread might
have to say about that (and we can all rejoyce that we have some purists
on this list, heh, heh).  I admit, the thought of transcribing from violin
to viola does not bother me.  I think it might depend on the instruments
involved:  I admit, violin to tuba might be a desecration.  And such
transcriptions are done frequently:  I'm guessing the Hammerklavier Sonata
was not written for the pianoforte, and Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata is
now virtually always played on the 'cello.  Moreover, I do not imagine
that Bach- who lived and wrote in the freely improvisational days of
the Baroque- would have objected to this, although I concede it's rather
presumptuous of me to think I can know the mind of Bach.  I'm sure I need
not point out to this list that Bach wrote nothing expressly for the piano,
which seems not to deter great pianists one whit from performing the
Goldberg Variations, but I'll do it anyway.

As for the specific performance I heard, well I did wonder to what extent
the less-than-wholly satisfying performance Miss Ngenyama gave of the
partita was a result of playing it on the viola.  However, even though
I am unfamiliar with the technical limitations that the viola imposes as
compared with those of the violin, my guess is that was a minor part of it:
I'll wager the Bach partitas could be played on the viola in a musically
satisfying way.

Tuba, anyone?

Larry Sherwood
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