Concerto for Viola Section and Orchestra is a two-movement work lasting nineteen minutes. Its first movement in entitled Frenetic, and the second, Song and Finale, is made up of a slow and fast section. The concerto is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in C, tenor trombone, bass trombone, four percussion, a section of seven violists, violins 1, violins 2, violoncellos, and double basses. Balance can be one of the main problems with writing a work for solo viola and orchestra. While the viola’s timbre makes it an enticing instrument, there is a restriction that keeps it from easily projecting over an orchestra. Composers have devised several methods for solving the problem. For example, Paul Hindemith was careful not to over orchestrate in his concerto entitled Der Schwanendreher. By limiting the number of cellos and basses to four and three respectively, and by omitting violins and other violas altogether, Hindemith thinned out and removed timbres that might obstruct the viola. In my concerto for a section of violas, I also consider orchestration as a solution to the problems of balance and projection. However, I focus on the soloists in contrast to the orchestra. By composing for seven violas, I utilize the thickness of sound achieved through chorusing. Using any combination of the violas, it becomes easier for the listener to perceive the viola timbre. Furthermore, this use of multiple violas allows for more complex counterpoint in solo passages, something a single instrument is not able to manage on its own. This piece is not a concerto grosso in any sense. The soloists do not perform as a smaller chamber ensemble extending from the larger orchestra. Instead, the soloists are treated as a single entity. They act as one unit, using seven performers to do the work of one soloist.

The six-movement work is scored for two violins, a viola, and a violoncello. A new approach toward the decision making of the compositional process is revealed which structures the parameters of the composition along an arbitrary frame of reference. This reference is selected prior to composition and influences every aspect of the work. The reference chosen is an existing musical work used in quotation and for stylistic modeling, paraphrase, and variation. Consonance, dissonance, and thematic development are defined in terms of this source.

Thesis (Ph. D.--Music)--University of California, San Diego. / Vita. For flute (piccolo), piano, percussion (1 performer), 2 violas, 2 violoncellos, and computer. Includes technical notes and instructions for performance preceding score.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Mus)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Music Studies, 1993?

Throughout centuries of great classical music, many viola compositions have been crafted from a wealth of literature for instruments of similar range. Clarinet, violin, and cello concerti and ensemble literature often adapt into challenging literature for the viola. In November 2009, Oxford Music Publishing gave me permission to transcribe and perform the Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale by Rebecca Clarke in New York's famed Carnegie Hall - Weill Recital Hall. This dissertation explains the process by which I transcribed the Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale from an original Bb-clarinet/viola duo, to a new arrangement for two violas (approved by Oxford Music Press arrangement license #7007940), and discusses challenges faced throughout the transcription process.