Creating an idiomatic transcription for the viola in collaboration with the composer

Abstract

After researching and collecting South African viola repertoire, the limited amount of South African compositions available to violists became evident. Reasons for this are varied. The number of viola players in the country is still relatively small, compared to violinists and cellists. The viola is often still not regarded as a „solo instrument‟ by many in the music world or the general public. Add to this the small number of South African composers and the scarcity of funds to commission new works for the viola, and the reasons for relatively few South African compositions for the viola becomes self-evident. A limited repertoire for any instrument has negative influences on the learning, teaching and performing environment of that instrument. A larger repertoire has the potential to develop the technical and artistic aspects of students, performers and composers alike. A rich repertoire contributes to the exploration and unlocking of new sound worlds, technical challenges, discoveries and possibilities, philosophies and cultures. The transcription of existing works is one of the avenues to explore in order to generate new repertoire for an instrument. An attempt was made in this research to define the essential concepts of „transcription‟, „arrangement‟ and „idiomatic‟ and to determine aspects that contribute to the creation of successful transcriptions. These aspects of transcription for the viola were identified through extensive literature study, interviews and questionnaires and are presented as the framework employed to facilitate the transcription process in this research and to guide future creation of successful transcriptions that are idiomatic for the viola. In order to enlarge the existing South African viola repertoire, I examined the involvement of the composer during the transcription process. Two existing compositions of the South African composer Hans Huyssen were identified and transcribed. The collaboration between the author and the composer was documented. The final viola transcriptions of Responsorium für Solo Violine und Afrikanische Vogelrufe (1996) and Ugubhu (rising and falling… and rising) für Cello Solo (1996) are presented.