The 18th century viola sonata

The 18th Century Viola Sonata is an album featuring music for viola and piano. The repertoire consists of the following pieces: Sonata in F major for Viola and Continuo “Billiard Sonata” by Felice de Giardini (1716-1796); Viola Sonata in C minor, G. 18 by Luigi Boccherini (1745-1805); Viola Sonata in D major by Gaetano Brunetti (1744-1798); and Sonata in E-flat major for Viola and Bass/Piano by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799). The purpose of this album is to further expand the recorded viola sonata repertoire, particularly of the Classical and galant styles, and to serve as a resource for student and professionals.

The album was recorded on modern instruments and bows, as most students and performers do not have access to an instrument with a baroque setup. Since the overall aim of the recording is to make these pieces, as a grouping of these early Classical works, accessible to musicians unfamiliar with them, a recording on modern instruments helps create an obtainable sound for what most performers, teachers, and students are currently equipped with.

This thesis has two main components. The first consists of a recording of the four viola sonatas listed above. This recording was made by the author and pianists Peter Allen and Ria Kim. The second part is an accompanying paper which contains an overview of eighteenth-century European musical culture, the galant and early Classical style, a discussion on historically-informed performance practice with an brief explanation on the ornamentation, technique, and instrumentation chosen by the author, background information on the composers and pieces, and an analytical and interpretative commentary on each viola sonata.