top of page

UNACCOMPANIED VIOLA MUSIC

Contemporary Music for Solo Viola

The solo viola offers a uniquely introspective voice—dark, resonant, and deeply human. Lior Navok’s In Memoriam (Yizkor) expands this expressive tradition with a contemporary elegy written in response to the tragic events of October 7, 2023. Through fragile gestures, suspended tones, and quiet intensity, the piece creates a space for remembrance and reflection within the modern solo‑viola repertoire.

In Memoriam (Yizkor) 

for unaccompanied viola

​SOLO VIOLIN MUSIC

Duration:

4 minutes
 

Instrumentation:

violin solo
 

Year Composed:

2023

Premiere Performance: 
Bernardo Di Marco, viola
4 April 2025
Córdoba, Argentina

About In Memoriam

In Memoriam (Yizkor) is a work for solo viola (also available for violin) composed in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 tragedy and the war that followed. The piece reflects on loss, fragility, and the need to remember, carried by the solitary voice of the viola. Its gestures hover between lament, silence, and quiet endurance, offering a space for reflection within the contemporary solo‑violin repertoire.

Program Notes

In Memoriam (Yizkor) is a work for solo viola (a version for violin is also available) that I wrote following the tragic October 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel and the Gaza war that followed. As the world leans more and more toward the violent and uncertain, this piece serves as a global musical elegy.

Out of respect for the subject's sensitivity, the sheet music for In Memoriam is provided at no cost.

About Contemporary Solo Viola Works of Remembrance

The solo viola’s warm, introspective timbre makes it an ideal instrument for works of remembrance and reflection. Contemporary composers often use its solitary voice to explore themes of loss, memory, and emotional resilience. With its blend of vulnerability and depth, the viola becomes both storyteller and witness, offering performers a powerful medium for personal and collective contemplation.

Modern and Contemporary Music for Solo Viola

  • Igor Stravinsky, Elegy for Solo Viola, 1944

  • Olga Neuwirth, Weariness Heals Wounds I: In Memoriam Michael Glawogger, 2014

  • Lior Navok, In Memoriam (Yizkor), 2023

  • Chen Yi, Memory, 2021

  • Krzysztof Penderecki, Cadenza for Solo Viola, 1984

  • György Ligeti, Sonata for Solo Viola (Movement V: Lamento), 1994

  • Paul Hindemith, Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25 No. 1 (Movement V: Langsam, mit viel Ausdruck), 1922

  • Toru Takemitsu, A Bird Came Down the Walk, 1994

bottom of page