Description
Bridge, Frank: Romance and Valse Russe arr. for Viola and Piano
Ref
H475
Categories
Instrumental Music
,
Strings
,
Viola
By
Frank Bridge
Nos. 4 and 7 of the Miniatures for Piano Trio arranged for Viola and Piano by Michael Lieberman
These transcriptions of two popular pieces (Nos. 4 and 7 of the
Miniatures
for violin, cello and piano) make available a pair of very charming and accessible works for Frank Bridge’s own instrument the viola. There are opportunities here in particular for soloists to display their powers of
cantabile
delivery in high and low registers, supported by a sensitive and atmospheric piano accompaniment.
The unfolding melody of the
Romance
conveys a graceful nostalgia suggestive of Tchaikovsky’s most intimate songs and short piano pieces. In the
Valse Russe
a flow of melody freighted with Slavic melancholy is faultlessly imagined by this most versatile of English twentieth-century composers.
Michael Lieberman’s polished translation of the
Romance
and
Valse Russe
into the new medium preserves all that is essential of the originals and adds idiomatic fingering and bowing to the viola part. These pieces, which are of around Grade 5 standard, are potential new material both for examinations and for the refreshment of recital programmes with authentic yet unfamiliar romantic repertoire.
